On January 26, 1898, after working for a short time as a secretary for the Eckstein Norton Institute in Cane Springs, Kentucky, she married Charles Henry Parrish. Parrish at that time was president of Eckstein Norton Institute, pastor of Louisville's Calvary Baptist Church, and president of the Executive Board of the General Association of Negro Baptists in Kentucky. She moved back to Louisville to work as the financial secretary for her husband's church. The following year, their son, Charles H. Parrish, Jr. was born.
