Résumé

Engineer, New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad, Maintenance of Way Department, 1882-1885.

Chief Engineer, Cape Cod Canal, Cape Cod, MA, 1905-1914.

Chief Engineer, New York Rapid Transit Commission, New York, NY.

Chief Surveyor, Canton–Hankou Railway, China.

Principal, William Barclay Parsons, Engineer, New York, NY, 1885-1906.

Partner, Parsons and [Henry M.] Brinckerhoff, Engineers, New York, NY, 1906- . Later iterations of this venerable engineering firm have included: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas; Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Jackson.

In 10/2009, the British engineering and construction giant, Balfour Beatty Group, bought Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) and made it one of its six divisions. Parsons gained his engineering expertise building railroads and canals all across the world from China to Panama.

In 10/2014, the firm was purchased by WSP, and became known as "WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff" until 05/10/2017. It then became known simply as "WSP." In 01/2017, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff had over 8,000 employees in 100 offices in the US. (See WSP.com, "WSP Parson Brinckerhoff Rebranding as WSP," published 01/12/2017, accessed 05/23/2022.)

Professional Activities

Member, Isthmian Canal Commission, Panama, 1904-1905.

Private schooling, Torquay, UK, 1871; private tutored study, France, Germany and Italy, four years, c. 1872-1876. B.S., Columbia University, Columbia College, New York, NY, 1879; B.S., Columbia University, School of Mines, New York, NY, 1882.

Parents

Parsons was born the son of William Barclay Parsons, Sr., and Eliza Livingston Glass in New York, NY.

Spouse

William B. Parsons, Jr., married Anna Reed on 05/20/1884; she was one of four children of Reverend Sylvanus Reed (who was the Rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Holy Innocents in Albany, NY, from at least 1851-1862) and Caroline Gallup Reed (born 08/01/1921 in Albany County, NY). She married the Episcopal minister Reed in 1851 and would become the Head of the Mrs. Sylvanus Reed's School for Girls, New York, NY, 1864-1894. Parsons probably knew Sylvanus Albert Reed (born 04/08/1854), Anna Reed's brother, at Columbia University.

Children

Parsons had two children with Anna Reed: Sylvia Caroline Parsons (born 11/19/1885) and William Barclay Parsons, III, (born 05/22/1888).

Colonel, US Army, American Expeditionary Force (AEF), 11th Engineers, France, c. 1917-1919; Brigadier General, US Army, Engineers Reserve Corps, 1919- ; Trustee, Columbia University, Board of Trustees, New York, NY.

• New York, NY (Architect's Birth)
  New York, NY

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