After his resignation from the Commissioner’s office in 1871, Parker faced the same kind of pivot that had marked his earlier career transitions.

The political world of Washington, D.C. had not worked out the way he had hoped.

He needed a new direction.

He moved to New York City and spent the next several years as a stockbroker and businessman, attempting to capitalize on the financial opportunities that the post-war economy offered.

This period of his life was mixed in its outcomes.

He made some money in the speculative markets of the 1870s and lost more during the financial panic of 1873, which wiped out many investors who had built positions on optimistic assumptions about continued postwar growth.