EDWARD PARKER AND FAMILY
OF, VIRGINIA AND DAVIE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
Hazel Nut and Chincapin bushes were hanging heavy with nuts along Bear Creek in the fall of 1796 when Edward Parker and wife Susan moved their large family from Halifax County, Virginia to Rowan County, North Carolina (now Davie County, N. C.) and settled on Bear Creek a few miles down the creek from Mocksville, North Carolina.
Ancient records in the Register of Deeds office of Rowan County at Salisbury, North Caroline, reveal that Edward Parker of Halifax County, Virginia purchased from Joseph Rowland and wife Catherine on March 19, 1796 a tract of 200 acres of land on Bear Creek adjoining the property of Daniel Hendricks and John Rowland for the consideration of 200 pounds.
Eleven days after he secured his first tract, Edward Parker enlarged his farm by buying an adjoining tract of 160 acres from John Rowland and wife Easther for 200 pounds.
It seems that Edward Parker was a man of considerable wealth. He bought and sold numerous tracts of land during his lifetime. On the 17th day of June 1808 Edward Parker sold to one George Mumford one acre of land in Mocks Old Field next to Hugh Wilson for the consideration of twenty pounds. The indenture was witnessed by Nicholas W. Gaither and Little Berry Rose and proven in the Rowan County February term of Court 1809. Soon after Edward Parker moved to that section of Rowan County, North Carolina known as the Forks of the Yadkin River his neighbors discovered that he was a man of sound business sense. It was in the month of August of the year of 1800 that he was called on to prove the last will and testament of Thomas Maxwell who lived near the Parker plantation on the South Yadkin River.
Edward Parker on the 31st day of May in the year of 1816 being old and realizing that life would soon be over and wishing to improve the financial condition of his youngest son, Turner S. Parker, gave to him that parcel and tract of land of 209 acres located on both sides of Bear Creek in the Forks of the Yadkin River in Rowan County, North Carolina. The deed was witnessed by friends of the Parker family John Little, James Smoot and Beal W. Hendren.
The two hundred acres of the above tract was the first property purchased by Edward Parker in 1796 when he first came to Rowan County, North Carolina from Halifax County, Virginia. The extra nine acres of land was purchased from Daniel Hendricks and wife Mary for 94 pounds on September 2. 1797.
On the sane day that Edward Parker gave to his son Turner C. Parker the family plantation he also gave to another son Peter Parker the farm of 174 acres cm the North side of Bear Creek.
Peter Parker retained the farm in Rowan County, North Carolina until the 30th day of December of the year of 1830 and then sold it to George Miller the father-in-law of Lemuel Bingham the former editor of the Western Carolinian at Salisbury, North Carolina.
The last will and testament of Edward Parker made on the third day of May 1819 and probated in May of the year of 1821 lists daughters, Susanna, the wife of Thomas Hughs, Polly, the wife of William Abbott, Rebecca, the wife of William Wammcok, Ketty, the wife of Moses Nelson, Patience, the wife of William Rouzee, Nancy the wife of William Prudsley and Betty, not married at that time. Sons: Daniel, David, Miles, Peter, and Turner S. Parker.
The beauty and fertility of the rolling County side of Western Tennessee lured Daniel Parker the oldest son of Edward Parker to leave the Parker plantation and settle in Sumner County, Tennessee.
The Register of Deeds book 22 page 136 of Hawaii County at Salisbury, N. C. informs us that on November 27, 1810 Daniel Parker of Sumner County, Tennessee has appointed his trusted friend John Giles of Salisbury, N. C. his lawful attorney to collect from John Henry Freeling of Rowan County, N. C, the debts due the said Daniel Parker. Records in the Sumner County Registry show that in less than seven years after Daniel Parker left North Carolina he was the owner of several hundred acres of valuable land in the state of Tennessee.
David Parker, the second son of Edward Parker according to the will lived only a few years after the death of his father. On the first day of March of the year of l825, the children of the deceased David Parker: Henry S. Parker, Uriah C. Parker, and Susannah, the wife of Ishmael Bailey let John C. Carter all of Rowan County, North Carolina have 160 acres of land on Bear Creek next to John C. Carter, Lawrence Clement and Daniel Hendricks for the consideration of $700.00. We see from the above deed that David Parker died a short time before March 1, 1825 and left three children namely: Henry S. Parker, Uriah C. Parker, and Susannah, the wife of' Ishmael Bailey.
Henry S. Parker the son of David Parker was a man of excellent character and remarkable ability. He was appointed administrator of his fathers estate and in a few years later was appointed guardian of George, Susan, Mary, and David-minor children of the deceased Thomas McGuire of Davie County, North Carolina, and later Madison County, TN. Henry S. Parker and wife Susan F. Pinkston Parker moved to Madison County, Tennessee where the father became a successful farmer. Their son David, who was born in Davie County, North Carolina became a prominent doctor in Jackson, Tennessee.
George Smith the present owner of the Smith Funeral Home of Jackson, Tennessee is a grandson of Dr. David H. Parker who was born in Davie County, North Carolina
The only record that the writer has found on Uriah C. Parker is his marriage to Martha Golding, which took place on September 8, 1823. The marriage bond being signed by Preston Parker. Maratha Golding was the daughter of William Golding of Halifax County, Virginia and Rowan County, North Carolina.
The families of William Golding and Edward Parker left Halifax County, Virginia for Rowan County, North Carolina about the same time and it appears that the families had been close friends for many years.
It has been said that Martha Gelding was 12 years of age when her father William Golding moved from Halifax County, Virginia to Rowan County, North Carolina in the year of 1801. Martha Golding was 34 years of age when she married Uriah C. Parker in the fall of 1823. To this blessed union were born one daughter, Sallie Parker who some years later married John William Harris of Davie County, North Carolina.
To this couple was born four children: Elizabeth Harris Taylor (1844-1929), John William Harris (1848-1928), Charles Harris and Sarah Ann Elizabeth Harris Rouse (l852-1890).
Sallie Parker Harris, the wife of John Harris, Sr. died on December 30, 1852 five minutes after the birth of her daughter Sarah Ann Elizabeth Harris who twenty six years later married Joseph Anderson Rouse a native of Marion County, South Carolina.
After the death of Uriah Parker, Maratha Golding Parker married William Britton Meroney, Jr. a member of a pioneer Davie County Family. The marriage occurred late in the life of the couple and the home was not blessed with children.
Maratha Golding Parker Meroney lived to the ripe old age of lob years and was loved by numerous friends and especially by her grand daughter, Sarah Ann Elizabeth Harris Rouse whose home she lived in until her death in the year of 1893.
During her last years "Aunt Patsey Golding", as she was called, was blind and had to be led about the house by her great grand children, the children of Joseph Anderson Rouse and Sarah Ann Elizabeth Harris Rouse.
Maratha Golding Parker Meroney bad a great desire to serve her family and friends. An old deed on record in the Register of Deeds office in Davie County, North Carolina shows her spirit of generosity. On the 25th day of January of 1878 for the small consideration of $5.00 she granted to Ned Brown and Peter Parker (colored) agents of the Publishing House of Zion Methodist Episcopal Church at Liberty a plot of ground f or a colored grave yard. The indenture was witnessed by her grand daughters, Sallie Harris Rouse and W. T. Smith.
Much credit is due Miles Parker, one of the sons of Edward Parker for his outstanding contributions to the beginning and organization of the Liberty Methodist Church of Davie County, North Carolina. It is a matter of record that on the 29th day of November of the year of 1820 that Miles Parker purchased from Alexander Daniel of Raven County, North Carolina a small tract of 28 3/4 acres of land adjoining the property of the said Alexander Daniel, John H. Freeling and near the school house lot for $150.00. Five years later on the 28th day of November of the year of l825 Miles Parker gave one acre of the above tract to Joseph Jones, Burgess Garner and Daniel Hendricks "trustees" of the Methodist Meeting House at the old Muster Ground. About a year later Miles Parker sold the rest of the tract of land to Cal. John A. Meroney, a prominent man of the Liberty Church Community of Davie County, North Caroline.
After the Red Buds and Dogwood trees had shed their blossoms in the Spring of the year in 1832 Peter Parker and wife Sarah Hendren Parker and children joined the great migration of the settlers that were leaving Rowan County, North Carolina, Tennessee.
The settlers wishing to find a farm in the Blue Grass section of Tennessee drove their cattle across the mountains of Western North Carolina. They traveled through the villages of Statesville, Morganton, and Old Fort crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains at the Swannanoa Gap, near the present town of Ridge Crest, North Carolina. Once over the Blue Ridge Mountains, they passed through "Eden Land" the Swannonoa Valley to Asheville, North Carolina and then into the state of Tennessee.
When the caravan reached Central Tennessee the families separated settling in various sections of the state. Peter S. Parker not finding a suitable farm in Madison County, Tennessee near his nephew, Henry Sharp Parker crossed over the state line and settled in Lauderdale County, Alabama. The U. S. Census for Lauderdale County in Alabama in 1840 reveals that he was engaged in the business of agriculture and that he was the owner of slaves.
The last will and testament of Peter Parker made during the Civil War list married daughters as Cleraelia Cook, Mary Ann Hodges, Nancy Armstead and Sarah Reynolds. Sons Turner S. Parker, William E. Parker and Andrew Parker.
The last will and testament of Edward Parker lists five sons, however, the old Turner S. Parker Bible now in the possession of Armond Daniel of Davie County, North Carolina tells us that Edward
Parker was the father of six sons. A section of the Bible devoted to the history of the Turner S. Parker family reveals that Turner Southall Parker was the sixth son of Edward and Susan Parker and that he was born in Halifax County, Virginia on the 27th day of June in the year of 1791 and that he married Betsey Daniel (born on the l5th day of February of the year of 1802, the daughter of John and Nancy Daniel of Rowan County, North Carolina).
The beautiful old Bible purchased from Hunt and Hargrave Company of Lexington, North Carolina in the year of 1829 give the children of Turner Southall Parker and Betsey Elizabeth Parker as Edward Newton Parker born on the 4th day of August in the year of 1820, Daniel Sneed Parker on the 22nd day of October in the year of 1822, Goshen Parker born on the 24th day of December in 1823, Susan Maria Parker born on the 25th day of May l825, Doctor Martin Parker born on the 24th day of March in 1827, John Randolph Parker born on the 16th day of March in 1829, Bushrod Washington Parker born on the 14th day of May in 1831. Lawrence Franklin Parker horn May 29th, 1333, and Rebecca Parker born February 7th in the year of 1836,
The writer does not attempt to give the family history of all the children of Turner Southall Parker and wife Betsey Elizabeth Daniel Parker but will mention only one of their children, Rebecca Parker.
Rebecca Parker fell in love with a young schoolteacher who was teaching school in the Liberty Methodist Church Community Davie County, North Carolina by the name of Absalom Turner Grant, and a native of Yadkin County, North Carolina. After a brief engagement the marriage took place on the 11th day of November 1860. The marriage how ever was interrupted in 1862,when young Grant enlisted in Company "A" of the 57th Regiment of the North Carolina Troops under General Stonewall Jackson.
After the War between the States Absalom Turner Grant returned to the teaching profession and some years later was elected Clerk of Superior Court in Davie County, North Carolina a position that he held for 40 years.
The children born to Absalum Turner Grant and Rebecca Parker Grant were: Lelia Elizabeth, Annie Parker, Ada, Sarah, Robinson, and Absalom Turner Grant, Jr.
Will of Edward Parker
Edward Parker, 3 May 1819; Probated May Court 1821
Sons: Turner S. Parker
Daughters: Polly Parker (wife of William Abbott)
Rebecca Parker (wife of William Wammock)
Kitty Parker (wife of Moses Nelson)
Patience Parker (wife of William Rousey)
Pudsley Parker (wife of William Rudsley)
Thomas Hughes, husband of my daughter Susannah
Shelby Parker, son of Royal Parker
Executor: Son, Turner S. Parker
Witnesses: J.A. Pearson, Beal W. Hendron
Edward Parker Familyhttp://jack0204.tripod.com/gen/parker/edward_parker.html
The home of Edward Parker - http://members.tripod.com/~jack0204/gen/parker/parker200_hom...
More information on the Parker Familyhttp://jack0204.tripod.com/gen/parker/gif/armand_daniel_1964...
Edward Parker Familyhttp://jack0204.tripod.com/gen/parker/edward_parker.html
David and Henry S. Parker familyhttp://members.tripod.com/~jack0204/gen/parker/parker.html
Some spelling errors may exist.
Information correlated by Marvin Schubert, firstname.lastname@example.org
, and available at the Davie County Public Library, Mocksville, NC