Born in Westfield, Massachusetts, Rufus Parks was the son of Warham Parks (a Revolutionary regimental officer) and Rebecca Gorham; educated at Phillips Andover Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; and began his career as a merchant in Boston. Appointed the first land officer of the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 by President Andrew Jackson, he moved to Milwaukee in that year. When the Whigs came into power in 1842, he was relieved of his position. His wife was Harriet Eliza Fairservice (1815-1917). They had three sons: Warham (1840-1899), Marshall Hutchinson (1854-1887), and Nathanial Gorham (1859-1884). In 1846 they moved to Summit, Wisconsin, where Rufus became the superintendent of the school in 1849. He also served as a member of the First Wisconsin Constitutional Convention in Madison in 1846. A fervent abolitionist, he joined the Republican Party and was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 1867. Parks died in Summit in 1878.
