William Barclay Parsons

William Barclay Parsons (April 15, 1859 – May 9, 1932) was an American civil engineer. He founded Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the largest American civil engineering firms. Personal life Parsons was the son of William Barclay Parsons (1828–1887) and Eliza Glass Livingston Parsons (1831–1922). His siblings included Schuyler (1852–1917), Harry (1862–1935), and George (1863–1939). His maternal grandparents were Ann Eliza (née Hosie) Livingston (1805–1838) and Schuyler Livingston (1804–1861), a descendant of Walter Livingston who ran a line of clipper ships from the New York harbor named Barclay & Livingston. His paternal grandparents were William Burrington Parsons (1794–1869) and Anne Barclay Parsons (1788–1869). He was the great-grandson of Henry Barclay, second Rector of Trinity Church in Manhattan. In 1871, he went to school in Torquay, England, and studied under private tutors for four years while traveling in France, Germany, and Italy. He received a bachelor's degree from Columbia College of Columbia University in 1879, and a second from the Columbia School of Mines in 1882. He served as class president and president of the Philolexian Society, and he co-founded the Columbia Daily Spectator in 1877. He later served as chairman of the university's board of trustees. Parsons married Anna Dewitt Reed (1858–1958) on May 20, 1884. (She was the daughter of Rev. Sylvanus Reed (1821–1870) and Caroline Gallup Reed (1821–1914). Her brother Sylvanus was the aerospace engineer who developed the modern metal aircraft propeller.) Their children were Sylvia (1885–1962), who married Rudolph Weld (1883–1941) in 1908, and William (1888–1973), who married Rose Peabody (1891–1985), daughter of Endicott Peabody (1857–1944).