Consider Parish was born to Oliver and Anna (Parsons) Parish on December 10, 1806 in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. He graduated from Williams College in 1828 and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1831. He taught language at Nashville University for two years before he was licensed to preach by the Nashville Presbytery in 1833. He began his career as a minister in Clarksville, Tennessee, in 1834 and moved to Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1837. He then moved to Clinton, Mississippi, in 1847. Here, he served as the President of Mississippi College (1848 to 1850) and continued his religious work. He moved to Jackson, Mississippi in 1871 and again to Greenwood, Mississippi in 1877. He returned to Clarksville, Tennessee in 1883 and died there on November 17, 1887.

Parish was married five times. His first wife was Sara Ann Niles, who he married on May 23, 1838. The couple had two known children, Robert and William Henry. His second wife was Catherine S. Marr, who he married on December 11, 1842, and his third wife was Mary R. Marsh, who he married on December 17, 1848. Consider and Mary had one daughter, Mary Ann. His fourth wife was Sarah Thornton, who he married in 1854. His fifth wife was Jennie Weedy [also spelled Needy], who he married on August 8, 1866. He and Jennie had one son, Chester Consider.