Pierre Parmentier was among the Protestant refugees who settled in Mannheim in the Palatinate between 1650 and 1660. His name and that of his wife Antonette Terrin indicate French ancestry. The threat of invasion by the French influenced many of the Huguenots to leave Mannheim and seek passage from Holland to the New World. So it was that Pierre Parmentier, with his family embarked from Amsterdam on the ship "Brindled Cow," April 16, 1663.

Bringing papers from Mannheim, they were received by the Brooklyn Church on September 23, 1663. With other refugees from Mannheim, Pierre settled his family at Bedford, New York. He was named one of the four trustees at Bedford who bought land from the Indians in 1670. He also bought a farm and a grist mill at Bushwick which he gave to his only son, Michael, probably about 1679. In 1675 his holdings were quite large, judging from the fact that he paid the second highest tax in the colony. Pierre sold property May 31, 1684 to a Jacques Laxillere and moved to Harlem where he attempted to purchase a mill from his friend Jan Louwe van Schoonderwoerd, also known as Jan Louwe Bogert. For some reason the purchase was never completed and Pierre Parmentier was no longer listed among the Freeholders (land owners). They moved North, near Kingston, probably about 1700, perhaps to the home of their son, Michael. The record of his death in 1701 is at Kingston, where the church officials attended to his burial and to the wants of his widow.

The only son of Pierre and Antonette Parmentier was Michael, born about 1654, probably in Mannheim. He married Neeltje Damen. No mention of daughters has been found.