The Parrish Family: A Walloon Centennial Family

Lee and Jackie own the Parrish family cottage, built in 1917.

The Parrish Family of Hamilton, Ohio A WALLOON CENTENNIAL FAMILY

By Lauren Macintyre

In the early twentieth century, the people of the prosperous small town of Hamilton, Ohio had a remarkable affinity for Walloon Lake…at least if you counted the number of them who settled here! Lured by the beauty of the area and a desire to pursue outdoor activities, a multitude of Hamilton businessmen and their families came north seeking the blue waters of Walloon Lake.

Most prominent among them in the early days was a gentleman named Oakey Van Hise Parrish. Businessman, banker, Civil War veteran and trustee of Miami University, Oakey was a distinguished citizen indeed. His love of the great outdoors led him to Walloon in the 1880’s. Later in 1915, Oakey and his wife Augusta Curtis decided to purchase Del Rey Court, a small enclave of cottages situated on a beautiful plot of sloping land on South Shore Drive. Oakey bought the entire resort and renamed it “Hamilton Court” in honor of his hometown.

The new Hamilton Court featured 24 lots, a large farmhouse, a small park, its own water pumping system, a variety of picturesque cottages with fireplaces, and, of course, an idyllic setting on Walloon. Oakey moved the original farmhouse to a lakefront setting, where it still stands today. The Parrish’s soon invited a number of family and friends from Hamilton to join them, many of whom are still on the lake today. At one time, the social page of the Petoskey newspaper, which regularly noted the coming and going of the Parrish clan at Walloon, reported that there were 40 families from Hamilton enjoying the lake.

Oakey and Augusta had four children, sons Charles and Lee and daughters Bessie and Luellen. Sadly, Oakey and his wife Augusta passed away within a few days of each other in January 1921, but their children continued the family commitment to Hamilton Court. Sons Charles and Lee each founded a branch of the family that remains on the lake today. Charles, a banker like his father, married Rebekah Nulton and had three daughters and a son Lon Nulton Parrish, also called Bud. This branch of the Parrish family occupied the farmhouse on the court.

Bud Parrish married a beautiful, musically talented young lady from Hamilton named Nettie Mae Kinsolving. “Aunt Nettie Parrish” as she was known by many of the young people in the South Shore neighborhood was a muchloved figure around the lake. Nettie Mae and Bud had two daughters, Louise and Mildred. Louise married Glen Cahill, a successful business man from Hamilton. Louise, who now lives in Denver, is still very much a Wallooner.

Bud and Nettie’s other daughter Mildred married Pete Rentschler, another successful businessman and community leader from Hamilton. Milly and Pete were very well known in Northern Michigan, at one time owning the New York Restaurant in Harbor Springs. Pete was also instrumental in the reorganization of the Walloon Lake Association, where he served two terms as president. The Rentschlers had