Talk:Florence Parpart

Significantly updated article
I've gone through and redone most of this article using the patents and websites mentioned here, as well as doing original research in Google Books and Google Scholar to find new mentions of Parpart.

I trimmed back the refrigerator section considerably as it sounded like a personal essay. It now needs to be expanded using actual sources. Parpart's invention should likely also be added to the article for refrigerator which currently does not mention her or her patent at all.

It's possible that there may also be other non-patented inventions that can be traced to Parpart but I haven't found anything beyond the silver polishing tray in my searches today.

Parpart's married name was Layman but I think it still makes sense to keep this under "Florence Parpart" as that is the name that every single secondary source I have found uses. Fujibeard (talk) 21:34, 20 October 2022 (UTC)


 * Many good improvements, thanks. I agree that leaving at "Florence Parpart" makes sense. This is interesting and I may try to help polish/expand the article a bit more myself. Skynxnex (talk) 21:54, 20 October 2022 (UTC)
 * She was likely born in 1873 as this article says she was 30 last July. That date coincides with a marriage record in July 1903, giving parents as Edward H. Parpart and Wilhelmina Koblich. Dad's obit doesn't give much other than that they lived in Brooklyn, but mom's obit says her daughter (in 1913) was Mrs. E. J. Walsh. Invented a boat and a corset, more about the corset and a photo, this says she was from New York. Don't know if any of that is helpful. SusunW (talk) 22:44, 20 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Good stuff, thanks! I tried to look around a little in familysearch but was stymied by the interface. The silver polishing ad also mentioned her residence as still in NYC (as of 1914) and one of her husband's later patents says they were resident in Portage, PA.
 * Will take a look at those articles soon. :) Fujibeard (talk) 23:19, 20 October 2022 (UTC)
 * I am hip deep in 3 reviews right now, but will try to come back to researching newspapers. Haven't yet checked newspaperarchive.com or Old Fulton. One other thing, she was the only child listed with her mother on the 1900 census, thus the "daughter" listed in 1913 is likely her. And here is proof that Layman died. SusunW (talk) 13:32, 21 October 2022 (UTC)
 * More stuff heiress/stenographer, husband's death, her death and confirmation it's her . So I was confused about the daughter in Wilhelmina's obit and went back to the 1880 census, apparently Florence had an older sister Johanna who married the Walsh dude. So why is Florence not listed in her mom's obit? Hmmmm, no clue. SusunW (talk) 22:37, 22 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks for this! I have updated the personal life section with a summary and to point out that this differs from many publications, which tend to simply repeat "not much is known about her life." Fujibeard (talk) 21:45, 24 October 2022 (UTC)