PARKER, John - Putnam

Among the long established and highly respected families of Putnam county, Indiana, none have occupied a higher place in public esteem than the Parker family, numerous representatives of which reside here and who for many years have taken a prominent and active part in the advancement of the various business interests of the county. The emigrant ancestor of the Parker family was John Parker, who was born and reared in England, but who, because he accidentally injured the wife of a nobleman, was banished from his native land. His coming to America was sometime prior to the war of the Revolution and relics of this ancestor are now in the hands of his great-grandson, Benjamin A. Parker, of this township. Among the children of this John Parker was a son, William, who was born in South Carolina about 179o. On reaching mature years, the latter married Candace Austin, and to them was born a son, William Henley Parker. On November 27, 1827, William and Candace Austin arrived in Putnam county, Indiana, and located on section 17, Mill Creek township, of which they were the third settlers, their pioneer home being located in the heart of the forest. Here William Parker entered eighty acres of land, and this tract of land has remained in the family ever since, being now the property of his grandson, Benjamin A. Parker, The log cabin which they built there served as their home for many years and remained standing as late as 1906. William Henley Parker was reared on the parental homestead in Mill Creek township and lived practically all his life there. He devoted himself to farming pursuits and was rewarded with a fair measure of success. About 1847 he and his cousin, Joel Wright, started a general store on the farm, which they conducted until about 1867. At the time of the inception of this enterprise there was no other store between Stilesville, Greencastle and Cloverdale, thus they drew trade from a wide territory. Mr. Parker also engaged to some extent in the shipping of livestock, which had to be driven to Indianapolis, as many as four hundred hogs being shipped this way in one year. He was active in politics, being affiliated with the Democratic party, and served as the first trustee of Mill Creek township. He was the leader of his party in the township and exerted a wide influence. His death occurred in 1875, his wife having died the previous year. They were active members of the Primitive Baptist church and commanded the respect of all who knew them. William Henley Parker married Bethena P. Dobbs, the daughter of Joel Dobbs. She was of German descent and came to Putnam county in 1825, with her parents, who were among the early settlers in this section, their farm adjoining on the west to that owned by Mr. Parker. To this worthy couple were born the following children : Martin, Candace, Sarah, Benjamin A., Martha W., Mary, Joel D., Matilda, Hugh H. and Lucy Ann. Brief mention is made of these children as follows : Martin died at Eminence, leaving two sons ; Candace is the widow of James S. Parish and lived at Freeman, Missouri, where he died ; Sarah is the wife of David W. Sherrill and lives south of Stilesville, Hendricks county, this state ; Benjamin A. is referred to in a later paragraph; Martha W. is the widow of Solomon Dorsett, deceased, of Eminence; Mary, who was the wife of Richard Stringer and lived in Morgan county, south of Stilesville, died in 1906 ; Joel D., who lives in Shattuck, Oklahoma, is a widower and the father of seven children; Matilda is the wife of Marion M. Hurst and they live north of Belle Union; Hugh H. is the immediate subject of this sketch; Lucy Ann, of Eminence, is the widow of Thomas Surber, deceased. Benjamin A. Parker, the fourth in the order of birth of the children of William Henley and Bethena Parker, was born on the old homestead June 30, 1838. In 1860 he married Hannah Pruitt, of Morgan county, who died in 1861, leaving a daughter, Mary Esther, who died in the summer of 1892. In 1863 Mr. Parker married Rachael Brown, of Owen county, Indiana, the daughter of Rev. John and Lydia (Smith) Brown, the former being a native of Scotland and a minister of the Campbellite church. To Benjamin and Rachael Parker were born the following children : Hannah A., Willis R., John W., Daniel, Clara, Noah, Charles, Rena and Ona. After his first marriage Mr. Parker moved to a farm near Broad Park, where he resided up to 1874, when he moved to Alaska, Owen county, where he lived two years. In February, 1876, he located where he now resides, in Mill Creek township. Mrs. Rachael Parker died on February 28, 1897. Of their children, the following facts are noted : Hannah A. is the wife of Charles M. Dorsett, of Mill Creek township, and they have eight children, Thomas, Flora, Paul, George, Willis, Viola, Eddie and Evaline ; Willis R., who married Martha Lewis, died in September, 1906; John W., who lives in Hendricks county, married Victoria Arnold, and they have four children, Clona, Clyde, Emory and Emma, the two last named being twins ; Daniel. of Mill Creek township, married Effie Lewis, and to them have been born three children, Lester. Verlin, Lloyd and Nola Marie, the last named dying in infancy ; Clara first married John Grimes, by which union was born one child, Sarah Melissa, and she afterwards married Wilfred Ogles, of Morgan county, and they have a daughter, Myrtle ; Noah, of Martinsville, Indiana, married Viola Humphries ; Charles, who resides near his father, married Lottie Keller and they have a daughter, Garnet Myrtle ; Rena married John George and lives near her father in Mill Creek township; Ona lives at home with her father. Hugh H. Parker, whose name appears at the head of this sketch, was born in Mill Creek township. Putnam county, August 28. 1852, the son of William Henley and Bethena Parker. He received his education in the common schools of the neighborhood and has always pursued the vocation of farming, in which he has met with a gratifying measure of success. He owns five hundred and seventy acres of land in section 8, the land extending into Morgan county, and he also owns land in Jefferson township. He is a practical and systematic worker, keeps in close touch with every detail of his business and is numbered among the successful men of this part of the county. His splendid estate is highly improved and the residence property is comfortable and attractive, the general appearance of the entire place indicating the owner to be a man of good taste and excellent judgment. On February 28, 1875, Hugh H. Parker married Sorilda Wood, a daughter of Elisha and Rhoda (Broadstreet) Wood. Elisha Wood was born in Washington county, Indiana, oi�February 3, 1822, the son of Daniel and Margaret Wood, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Pennsylvania. The paternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, serving valiantly for seven years. He was among the first settlers of Washington county, Indiana, and died there at the age of eighty-four years. When Elisha Wood was fourteen years old his father died and in 1840 he and others of the family came to what is now Mill Creek township, Putnam county. On June 1, 1840, he married Rhoda Broadstreet, the daughter of Thomas Broadstreet, a pioneer settler of Putnam county, and of their seven children Mrs. Hugh Parker was the youngest. Mrs. Rhoda Wood died April 20, 1857, and on September 8th of the same year Mr. Wood married Phoebe C. Phillips, to which union seven children were born. Mr. Wood located on a farm in section 6, Mill Creek township, in 1845, at which time it was practically covered with a heavy growth of timber. Commencing life for himself with a cash capital of only ten dollars; he eventually became the owner of two hundred and eighty acres of good land, the result of hard work and economy. He was a faithful and active member of the Missionary Baptist church, of . which he was a trustee. His death occurred on March 14, 1906, and his widow died in June,I909. Six children Were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hugh H. Parker, namely : Elmer, who died at the age of nine months ; Victory, who died on February 15, 1894, at the age of seventeen years ; Bessie died at the age of four years; Bertha D. married Ancil Dorsett, who died in 1904, and they had one daughter, Gladys, who, with her mother, are now living with the subject, Hugh H. Parker; Grover Cleveland, who lives a half mile east of Broad Park, married Dolly Coffman, the daughter of Andrew Coffman, of Cloverdale township, and they had one son, Gerald Ray Parker, who died at the age of seventeen months; Vernie Clyde, the youngest son, who lives at home with his parents, attended the Normal School at Danville, but is now a student in the high school at Broad Park. Politically Mr. Parker is aligned with the Democratic party and has taken an active interest in local public affairs, having served as trustee of Mill Creek township for seven- years. Religiously he and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church, to which they give an earnest and liberal support. Mr. Parker is a man of large physique, is genial and whole-souled in his relations with his fellow men and in every relation of life he displays a candidness and honesty of purpose that has gained for him the esteem of all whom he has come in contact with.