Trenor William Park was born on December 8, 1823 in Woodford, Bennington County, Vermont, United States. His parents were Luther and Cynthia (Pratt) Park. The Park family was descended from Richard Parke who emigrated from England to Cambridge, Massachussets, in 1635. William Park, the grandfather of Trenor, was a quartermaster of Massachusetts troops in the Revolutionary army. During the boy's childhood his family lived in poverty.
Due to family poverty Trenor William Park's educational opportunities were meager and irregular.
At the age of sixteen, Trenor William Park entered the law office of A. P. Lyman, was admitted to the Vermont bar soon after he had attained his majority, and began to practise in Bennington. When his wife's father, Gov. Hiland Hall, was appointed on the federal commission to settle land titles in California, Park and his family followed him, in 1852, to that state. Here he became junior partner in the firm of Halleck, Peachy, Billings & Park, which included Henry W. Halleck and Frederick Billings. Park is credited with doing a very large share of the business created by the controversies on land titles in California. The close relation of the firm to commissioner Hall is suggested by the fact that after Hall was displaced by President Pierce he remained for a time as its "general adviser. " With such connections the firm and its junior partner reaped their full share of the profits accruing to the lawyers in the tortuous land title business of that period.
An important chapter in Park's business career, and a considerable factor in the building up of his fortune, was his connection with the famous Mariposa estate of Gen. John C. Frémont. Park had advanced large sums on the security of the estate, had a mortgage covering one-eighth interest, and was in possession as local manager. When the estate was offered for sale in 1863, he proposed to give possession if his accounts were cleared for $1, 400, 000. In 1863 a company was organized and took over the estate at a valuation of $10, 000, 000, based almost entirely on the showing made by gold mines in operation. Park returned to the East in that year and had a major role in forming the company. It was shortly discovered that the output of the mines, which reached $100, 000 a month at the maximum, had been achieved by the familiar expedient of exploiting the richest seams to the full and neglecting development and exploration work. The company, not being provided with adequate working capital to meet the actual conditions, shortly collapsed with disastrous loss to its shareholders.
During the remainder of his life Park made his home in Bennington, where he built a handsome residence. He established the First National Bank of Bennington and became interested in Vermont railroads, assisting in the reorganization of the Vermont Central, purchasing the Western Vermont Railroad, and commencing construction of the Lebanon Central. He seems to have had visions of a system of lines centering in Bennington; but the project failed and he lost heavily. He had narrowly failed of election as United States senator from California in 1862, and he now became active in Vermont politics, serving four terms in the legislature (1865 - 1868). He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1868, aiding in the nomination of General Grant, and serving as a member of the national committee. Going to Utah in April 1871, Park acquired a controlling interest in the famous Emma mine. By his own statement he "worked it vigorously. "
In early September he went to London, accompanied by Senator William M. Stewart, and, succeeding in forming an English company to take over the mine, received as his share half the stock. In connection with the sale he had induced Gen. Robert C. Schenck, then ambassador to the Court of St. James's, to become a director in the new company. Park loaned Schenck $50, 000, without interest, to invest in shares of the new corporation, guaranteeing him by written contract one and one half per cent. a month return on his investment. At the time of the sale the mine was producing $75, 000 in silver monthly. Park sold out his remaining interests at a large profit in the fall of that year, and returned to the United States in July 1872. It speedily became evident that the Emma mine had been exploited and its possibilities grossly overstated. Park was sued for fraud and after a five months' trial acquitted.
Later Park was interested in the Pacific Mail Steamship lines, of which he was a director from 1875 to 1882. He bought a controlling interest in the Panama Railroad, administered its affairs, and held the position of president from 1875 to his death. In 1881 he sold it to the De Lesseps Panama Canal Company at $300 per share, having stimulated the purchaser by judicious firmness in maintaining the extremely high passenger and freight rates on the shipment of canal building machinery, labor force, and supplies. Trenor William Park died on the steamship San Blas, while he was making a voyage to the Pacific on December 13, 1882.
Trenor William Park was a distinguished lawyer. He was a founder of the Halleck, Peachy, Billings & Park firm. Park was also a noted civic activist and philanthropist. His benefactions to his home city included $5, 000 toward the establishment of the Bennington Public Library, to the maintenance of which he made liberal gifts later. He donated an art gallery to the University of Vermont, of which institution he was a trustee. When the Civil War broke out he sent a check for $1, 000 from California as his contribution to the outfitting of Vermont troops.
Trenor William Park started his political career as a Whig, but then became a member of Republican party.
Trenor William Park was modest and unobtrusive but thoughtful, an inveterate reader and possessed of great mental power.
On December 15, 1846, Trenor William Park married Laura V. S. Hall. They had three children. Park's first wife having died in 1875, he married Ella F. Nichols of San Francisco on May 30, 1882.
