Parkinson, Joseph G.

First deaf lawyer in America. Born in Maine; deafened from scarlet fever at age 9; went to the American School for the Deaf. One of Gallaudet College's first students, graduated 1869. Worked for the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, rising to Chief Examiner of Patents. M.A. (1874) from Gallaudet. About 1883, began the private practice of patent law in Cincinnati, OH, in partnership with his hearing brother, having resigned from the Patent Office. This firm eventually opened a branch office in Chicago. Instrumental in getting the name of the "National Deaf-Mute College" changed to "Gallaudet College" in 1894; in that same year, the law partnership was dissolved, Parkinson continuing to practice patent law alone until disappearing from the records after 1902.