Descendants of Benjamin PARKER
Notes
RECORD: McManus, Jane Parker, Pioneers West of Appalachia, 1976 citing: + Petition to King of Spain, Wilkinson Co., MS, 14 Nov. 1808 + Conv/Marriage Records - St. Helena Par., LA
+ Conv/Marriage Records - St. Tammany Par., LA
+ Conv/Copiah & Hinds Co., MS
McManus, Jane Parker, Supplement to PWOA, 1979
McManus, Jane Parker, Pioneers West of Appalachia, 1984.The following account of the history of Benjamin Parker was recorded by Jane Parker McManus, beginning on page 17 (1984):
Benjamin Parker was born in North Carolina about 1771/80. He married Nancy __?__ probably in North Carolina, as their first child was born there in 1798. Nancy Parker was also born in North Carolina about 1771/80, according to census records. Six known children of Benjamin and Nancy Parker have been traced and recorded in the above referenced book:
1. Mary Parker, born 1798, NC; md 30 Apr. 1814 in St. Helena Par., La to William S. Little
2. Nancy Parker, born 29 Apr. 1801, GA; md 8 Apr. 1817, St. Tammany Par., LA, Samuel Williams
3. Benjamin Parker, born 1803, KY; md. 11 Nov. 1825, Copiah Co., MS, Dempsy Clark
4. Lydia Parker, born 18 Oct. 1805, KY; md (1) 2 Jul. 1827, Hinds Co., MS, John S. Johnson; md (2) Josiah Cutts
5. Anderson Parker, born 1807, TN; 12 Aug. 1834, Hinds Co., MS, Nancy Melinda Mabrey
6. Isaiah Parker, born 1812, MS; md. 15 Mar. 1831, Hinds Co., MS, Dicy Ann Calcote
[Note by me, Joyce Parker Hervey: It was not uncommon for families of the early 1800's to move frequently. The Parkers, in this respect, were very typical.]
Considering the places of birth of their children, one might assume that Benjamin and Nancy traveled overland through the Cumberland Gap, down the Tennessee River, and possibly down the Natchez Trace into Mississippi. Their arrival in Mississippi was proved by a petition which Benjamin Parker signed to the King of Spain in Wilkinson County, Mississippi on November 14, 1808.
The Parkers left Mississippi by 1814 and moved into southern Louisiana, settling for a short period in St. Helena and St. Tammany Parishes. It was here that two of their daughters were married and several land transactions took place between the families.
In 1817, Benjamin and Nancy Parker returned to Mississippi and purchased property in Copiah and Hinds County. An important land transaction occurred there in 1826, in which the name of Benjamin's wife was given as Nancy Parker. This is the only record that has been located which actually mentioned the given name of Benjamin's wife:
"Benjamin Parker of County of Copiah, State of Mississippi, sold ... to William A. Cain ... property described as West Half of SW 1/4 of Section 7 of Township 9 Range & East containing 78 and 19/100 acres ... for a sum of $300 ... Nancy Parker, wife of Benjamin Parker voluntarily relinquishes title which was acquired by dower or otherwise ... on the above state property."
Benjamin and his son Anderson went into the lumber business together while they were living in Central Mississippi. They were instrumental in constructing several of the first buildings in the area, including the courthouse and school in Hinds County, Mississippi.
Quote from McManus, page 18:
"For reasons not readily apparent at this writing, Benjamin and Nancy Parker, although between 60 and 70 years of age and not exactly the age to be uprooting life again, moved in 1840 with several of their married children to North Central Louisiana. One might assume that as the older children were anxious to try their luck west, the parents went along rather than stay alone. The Parkers settled in Ouachita and Claiborne Parishes of Louisiana. By 1849, all traces of Benjamin and Nancy Parker were gone. Because of courthouse fires and other lost data, it is impossible to pinpoint an exact date or burial for this couple, and no succession has even been located. Shortly after their parents died, the Parker children split up, each going his separate way, one to Texas, one back to Mississippi, and the remainder staying in Louisiana."
RECORD: McManus, Jane Parker, Pioneers West of Appalachia, 1976
He was a lumberer in Hinds Co., MS