A Danbury Horatio Alger
Charles D. Parks was born on August 15, 1869 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was orphaned in 1872 and sent to live with relatives in Danbury. At the age of 9 (1878) he was sent as an indentured servant to work on a farm in Iowa. He returned to Danbury in 1888 and in 1889 married Eleanor Parks. He went into business immediately and was a hard worker with superior business skills. He was so successful that he was able to purchase several other businesses which he made even more successful. One of his companies was the American Hatters & Furriers Corp. which converted rabbit skins into filler for hats. He also went into the real estate business and was as successful in that venture as well. One of his purchases was the Tarrywile Mansion (in 1910) which he proceeded to make an extremely profitable venture of its farm. He died on September 14, 1929 and was lauded as one of the pillars of the Danbury business community.