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John K. Parlett Sr., 68, former delegate, founded St. Mary's County farm museum
 
By Frederick N. Rasmussen
Sun Staff

May 7, 2005

John K. Parlett Sr., a former member of the House of Delegates and founder of a nationally acclaimed St. Mary's County farm museum, died of emphysema Sunday at his Charlotte Hall farm. He was 68 and had lived at Green Manor Farm.
Mr. Parlett was born in Leonardtown and raised at Patuxent View Farm in Mechanicsville, where his parents raised cattle and grain. He attended Charlotte Hall Military Academy, and when he was 17, married the former Catherine Ann "Kitty" Mattingly.

John K. Parlett Jr. of Charlotte Hall said in his eulogy that his father had "worn many hats during his lifetime."

The elder Mr. Parlett had been "a mechanic, volunteer fireman, National Guardsman, turkey farmer, chicken farmer, salesman, restaurant owner, politician, gardener, collector, and most recently curator of the museum he created with his wife," the son said.

"All my life I loved the farm and really wanted to farm," the senior Mr. Parlett said in an interview last year with The Enterprise, a Southern Maryland newspaper.

In the 1970s, the cattle and grain farmer decided to become a full-time county commissioner, and served as vice president of the St. Mary's County Board of Commissioners from 1975 through 1978. He ran for the House of Delegates in 1978 but failed by 77 votes to win nomination for the Democratic primary.

In 1980, he was appointed to fill the seat, which was vacated by Roy P. Dyson when he was elected to Congress. Mr. Parlett was elected to fill the same House of Delegates seat two years later but did not seek re-election in 1986.

After leaving the General Assembly, Mr. Parlett returned to his farm, and he and his wife began collecting farm implements, hand tools and tractors, eventually filling all outbuildings on the 150-acre farm.

"I have always thought the history of the American farmer was so great. They've worked so hard," Mr. Parlett said in the interview with The Enterprise.

"We built a large 20,000- square-foot building and have a total of 60,000 square feet of exhibition space for the collection that documents American rural life," his son said.

"When I was invited down there to see the collection, I was blown away by what he had put together," said Larry M. Jones of Waynesboro, Pa., a retired agricultural specialist, who had worked for the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History in Washington.

"Here was a man who turned an interest into one of the best rural farmlife collections I've ever seen. It ranged from the 18th century to modern times. And John had such an eye for good and appropriate stuff. It's just a sensational collection," he said.

Mr. Parlett also included artifacts from general stores, blacksmith shops and hardware shops.

"These would be found in a traditional farming community and were needed to support farm life. I always liked walking through the buildings looking at the collection. It was so peaceful," Mr. Jones said.

Mr. Parlett was no idle or uninformed collector.

"He was straightforward, knew the collection, and could answer questions," Mr. Jones said.

He encouraged visitors to see the collection and never bothered charging admission.

For the past eight years, Mr. Parlett and his family held an annual Farm Life Festival on the grounds of the farm in the fall, which raised money for Christmas in April, a program that rehabilitates houses for the low-income, elderly and disabled.

"The collection was a full-time vocation and meant zero income to him," the son said. "It was just something he wanted to do."

Mr. Parlett was a communicant of St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Compton, where a Mass of Christian burial was offered Wednesday.

Surviving, in addition to his wife of 50 years and son, are three other sons, Joseph L. Parlett and Robert W. Parlett, both of Charlotte Hall, and William T. Parlett of Huntingtown; daughters Cathleen Parlett Moeller of St. Leonard, Cynthia Parlett Pickett of Wilmington, N.C., and Julia Parlett DeCesaris of Davidsonville; 20 grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.

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