Edward Randolph Parry was bom 27 July 1832 at New Hope, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In October 1856, he moved to Mankato, Minnesota with his brother, Richard Randolph Parry. The two brothers purchased some real estate, and in the spring of 1857, they opened the first bank in town under the name of Parry and Brother. The bank, located at 316 South Front Street, continued to operate until the summer of 1862 when Edward Parry entered the army and Richard Parry retumed to Pennsylvania to engage in business. During their days in Mankato, the Parry brothers platted an addition to the city that bears their family name.

When the Civil War broke out, Edward Parry was Mankato's first volunteer and on 14 May 1861 was commissioned first lieutenant in the Eleventh United States Infantry Regiment. He served throughout the war and was reportedly the only citizen of Mankato to win a regular army commission. By the end of the war. Parry had attained the rank of major. He remained in the army, and in 1868, he commanded Forts Philip and Jackson at the mouth of the Mississippi River and Fort Ripley, Minnesota in 1869. He resigned because of ill health in 1871 and died at the "Old Parry Mansion" near Philadelphia, 13 April 1874.

Edward Parry was a grandson of Major Edward Randolph, who served in the Revolutionary War, and Benjamin Parry, an inventor and merchant in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Edward Parry married Frances E. Dimick, daughter of General Dimick on 17 December 1863. They had one daughter, Katherine.

Biographical information was taken from Mankato: Its First Fifty Years. Mankato, Minnesota: Free Press Printing Co., 1903, 282-284.