Parks - Elijah
Elijah Parks (Elijah, Micajah 1,
Joseph, Joseph, Roger, Roger, Allan, Sir John (II), John) was born 14 May 1832
in Linden, Montgomery Co., IN. He grew up in Montgomery Co. with his brothers:
Thompson, Oliver, Omer and Oscar. (Orren, his younger brother having died as an
infant), and sisters; Elizabeth and Mary Ann, although Mary Ann died when he
was a young boy of 12. During his childhood, he learned to read and write and
read books such as "Adventures of Celebrated Travelers" by Henry
Howe, dated 1855. I have inherited this and other books of his family. The
title page has a beautifully hand painted picture of a traveler with the
caption "The children pointed at me and cried: "See there! HE is from
America!" and the men took off their hats and bowed. What young man would
not want to explore the vast American wilderness after reading this book? He
grew up near Miss Elizabeth Ann Stoddard (b.26 Apr 1841) in Montgomery Co., IN
and on 11 Mar 1858, they were married. The Montgomery Co. census for 1860 has
Elijah farming and living in Coal Creek twp. with Elizabeth Ann, but no
children are listed. They lived not too far from Elijah's brother, Oscar, who
married Elizabeth Ann's sister, Mary Ellen Stoddard. Both Mary Ellen and
Elizabeth Ann were the daughter's of Joel and Ann Margaret (Henry) Stoddard.
Ann was a near relation to William Holmes McGuffey, who along with his brother,
Alexander, started the famous McGuffey Reader series of schoolbooks. Sometime
between 1860 and 1867, Elijah and family moved to Tama, Tama Co., Iowa, where
brother Oscar and the Stoddard family also relocated. In 1867, nine years after
they married, on 25 July, Elizabeth gave birth to a son: Ezry "Eddie"
Thompson Parks, in Iowa. Elizabeth had given birth to three other children
before Eddie, but all died as infants. There was an infant daughter born in 23
Mar 1860, who lived three days, an infant son born 26 Jul 1866 who also lived
three days, and a son they named Elijah Cerdilly Lewen Parks, born 4 Aug 1862
who died 5 Sep 1862. During their stay in Tama, Elijah continued his work as a
farmer and stock dealer. He won a trophy from the Tama County Agricultural
Society: a silver cup with his name inscribed in it, and the date
"1871". The information I have on Elijah's son, Eddie Thompson Parks,
shows that he was learning to read from "The Independent Reader"
series of school books, and his Second Reader has his name inscribed in the
inside front cover and an address of Tama City, Tama Co., IA, which could mean
that Eddie was born in Tama. Eddie's Third and Fourth grade readers show an
address of Lamar PO, Ottowa Co., KS. His only living sibling, Ionia Lillian
Parks, was born 10 Sept 1877 (ten years later) near Lamar, Ottowa Co., KS, so
the family was in Lamar in 1877, and probably sooner. Ottowa County is
described as being, in general, undulating prairie with rough lands along the
divides and slopes leading down to the bottomlands. The 1880 Federal census has
Elijah and Elizabeth living in Lamar, Logan twp., Ottowa Co., KS, where Elijah
worked as a Grocer, Elizabeth was keeping house, and Ezry was attending school.
They missed a massive grasshopper raid, which occurred in 1874, but were there
for a cyclone that hit Salt Creek in May of 1879, which killed several people. On
the night of June 10, 1879, another cyclone came through Ottowa Co., following
the course of the Solomon River, which wrought havoc through the center of the
county. No lives were lost at that time, but the property damage amounted to
$26,000. On June 9, 1881, two months after Elijah moved his family to Garnett,
Anderson co., KS, a third cyclone occured in the southern part of the county,
moving east from the Saline River. Six homes were destroyed and 3 people were
killed. Many others were injured but recovered. According to Ionia's life
story, written by her husband while she was still alive, Elijah and his small
family moved to Garnett in April of 1881, one month after a devastating fire
which destroyed most of the Garnett business district in the center of town.
They lived there until July of 1890, after both Elijah and Ezry had died.
Elijah passed away 6 April 1890 in Garnett, KS at the age of 58 of consumption,
and Eddie died three months later on 24 July 1890 at the age of 23. Family
history says that Eddie died of "measles that wouldn't break out".
Ionia and Elizabeth Ann moved back to Tama, Iowa, to be with family, in July of
1890, after Eddie died, and had both bodies transported back with them, as they
are both buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Tama, next to Elizabeth's father, Joel
Stoddard and his second wife; Julia Ann (Ward) Stoddard. Both Elizabeth and
Ionia are found living together in the 1892 Tama City Census. With both husband
and son gone, Elizabeth Ann worked as a seamstress and milliner for wealthy
women. She might have supplemented her income by painting portraits and
landscapes, too, as both Helen (my cousin) and I have her works in our homes.
Elizabeth's sister, Cynthia Jennifer Stoddard, had married Emlen G. Penrose,
who was a prominent citizen in Tama, holding the office of Mayor in 1878 and
later on, became an Iowa Senator. Perhaps this is where her clientele came
from? Another of her sisters, Margaret Catherine, married Philander Hixson,
(born Montgomery co., IN) a broom maker and another Mayor of Tama City. Ionia
Lillian Parks, the only surviving heir of Elijah and Elizabeth, married Arthur
Leon Bruner 16 Jan 1901 in Tama, Tama, IA at the home of her mother, the Rev.
McMasters, officiating. The Bruners were an old, respected, pioneer family in
Tama Co., and can be found in "The History of Tama Co.", 1883 ed. In
February of 1901, Ionia moved with her husband to Marshalltown, Iowa, where
they had two sons: Gerald Parks and Charles Kenneth Bruner. They lived there
until sometime after 1904 when they moved to Winterset, Iowa, where they lived
until January 1908, when they moved to Billings, Montana. It is unsure exactly
how or when Elizabeth Ann Parks moved to Billings, Yellowstone Co., MT, but she
is buried there, having died 18 May 1911. Since Ionia and Arthur lived there
from 1908 to 1909, it is logical to assume that she moved there to be near her
only remaining child. On July 2, 1909, Ionia, Arthur and their family moved to
Butte, Montana, and later moved to Livingston, Park Co., MT, where they had
four more children: daughters Dolores Iona, Chloris Lillian, Lois Irene, and
Iola Iris. Ionia, Arthur, Gerald, Kenneth, and Chloris are all buried in
Livingston.
Judy Landauer geniegal@g14.myrf.net – note this
e-mail is likely unworkable at this point - 2017