Clergyman and social reformer of New York City; born in Framingham, MA, on the 17th of April 1842; graduated at Amherst in 1866; studied theology at Halle in 1869, and at Leipsic in 1872 and 1873. He became president of the Amherst High School in 1867; professor in Williston Seminary, Easthampton, MA, in 1870; pastor of the Congregational church at Lenox, MA, in 1874, whence he was called, about six years later, to the pulpit of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, New York City. He succeeded Dr. Howard Crosby as president of the Society for the Prevention of Crime, and in that capacity made a vigorous campaign against the evil-doers by having them prosecuted and punished in spite of police indifference. In the spring of 1892 his exposure and denunciation of those in control of the city became more determined and made him famous as the leading municipal reformer in America. He opposed party politics in city affairs. The campaign which he initiated, after going through various phases, resulted, in November 1894, in the defeat of the Tammany organization and the election of the Strong-Goff reform ticket. In theology Dr. Parkhurst was an earnest advocate of a revised confession of faith, and was one of the foremost champions of the cause of Dr. Charles A. Briggs upon charges of heresy for approving some of the so-called “higher criticism.” He published sermons, essays in periodicals, The Blind Man’s Creed (1883), and Our Fight with Tammany (1895). In 1895 he organized the “City Vigilance League” in the interests of good government. See also “A Remarkable Dream.”
