Category Archives: Parker

Parker

Finding a Place for Rachel Throop in My Loyalist Parker Family

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Jonathan Parker of New Jersey, one of my 5X great grandparents, and a Loyalist who gave up home and friends to sail to Canada in the fleet of Fall 1783, left only a small paper trail.

Because of that, and maybe because he has hundreds, if not thousands of descendants today, online family trees in which he is found contain a LOT of undocumented information, suppositions and plain old fantasy.

My last Parker update was almost four years ago.

Since that time, I’ve seen the creation of a mythical person – Jonathan Benjamin Parker, who never existed.

My line of descent from Jonathan goes through his son Benjamin, born c1788 and Benjamin’s daughter, Sarah Ann Parker, who married Daniel Adams.

The Parkers sailed to New Brunswick on the Camel with three adult Parker men and their families on the passenger list:

  1. Jonathan Parker (Sr.) – He appeared alone on the 1783 ship’s list for the Camel. I surmised that he could possibly be the father of Benjamin. If he was the father of Benjamin, he likely was born before 1720.
  2. Benjamin Parker – with a wife, 3 children over the age of 10 and 2 under the age of 10. If his children were, say, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15, then he could possibly be the father of Jonathan Parker Jr. He might or might not be the father of other Parkers on the list, but if he is the father of Jonathan, then Benjamin was probably born not later than 1743 and possibly quite a bit before then.
  3. Jonathan Parker Jr., born c1764, based on his age on the 1811 militia list of Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.

Of these three men, Jonathan Parker Jr. is my ancestor. He was apparently unmarried and left New Jersey with a probable brother and either his father, an uncle or an adult cousin, also Jonathan Parker, but called Senior.

I don’t know what became of Jonathan Sr. but Jonathan Jr.’s movements around New Brunswick have been fairly well tracked by descendants, given the time period.

However, Benjamin Parker is the man who has recently caught my attention for two reasons.

First, a Parker from Campobello Island, part of the West Isles of New Brunswick, Canada where my Parker family settled, contacted me, hoping to share information about her Elizabeth Parker who married William McLellan and lived on Campobello.

Elizabeth was baptized as an adult and her birthday is entered in the church record as 10 May 1776, likely in New Jersey, as that was the Parker home before the American Revolution.

There is also a marriage record for Elizabeth and William – 6 August 1795 on Campobello Island.

Now, William McLellan is from Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada, born c1768. This is important for more than one reason.

My Parker cousin has her Elizabeth as part of the tree of my Jonathan Parker. I am quite positive that is a mistake, as Jonathan is found on a West Isles militia list with his age, which makes him born in 1764. Not likely that a boy born in 1764 would be having a daughter born in 1776.

I believe her Elizabeth was the daughter of Benjamin Parker, found on the 1783 passenger list with the two Jonathans. Benjamin had six children in his family at that time, including two under the age of 10. Elizabeth would have been about 8 years old in 1783.

More importantly, I think I have finally discovered the source of the conflated, non-existent “Jonathan Benjamin Parker.”

Look what has turn up in the indexed FamilySearch Canadian records – one single record, but which may answer more than one nagging question:


Thomas Parker, 93, Widower, born NJ,
Parents – Benjamin Parker, Rachel Thropp Parker
died 4 September 1868, Halls Harbour

Thomas Parker was reported to be 93 years old when he died in 1868. That puts his birth year c1775.

Furthermore, his parents are named!

Benjamin Parker and Rachel Throop!!!

At some point, I think the mythical Jonathan Benjamin Parker was created to account for the unknown wife of Jonathan Parker.

Note, too, that Thomas Parker died in Kings County, Nova Scotia and that Elizabeth’s husband, William McLellan, was from Nova Scotia.

The Isles families were all fishermen. It wasn’t unusual for them to move from the mainland to islands and back again. My family lived on Deer Island and Adams Island as well as in Eastport, Lubec and Calais, Maine.

It appears that Benjamin and Rachel might have settled in the area that stayed Nova Scotia after New Brunswick was formed. I don’t think they were ever known to have lived on Campobello Island.

I think I will be digging around Nova Scotia records once more to see if I can piece together some of Benjamin’s and Rachel’s other children.

Parker

Benjamin Parker of Campobello Island: 3rd Generation, Part 4

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Today’s post will cover the youngest set of children of Benjamin Parker and wife Susan Herson. Three of the four children married and had children.

James A., born about 1848 on Campobello Island; died 1934. He married Susan E. Beaney on 3 November 1874 in Eastport, Washington, Maine. She was born 23 January 1852; died 1926. In 1881, the family was living on Deer Island. His half sister, Susan Carr, and her family lived two doors from him. Next door was his newlywed brother, Owen, Owen’s wife Catherine, and their mother, Susan Parker.  However, none of the family has been found after 1881, except for the gravestone of James and Susan in Eastport, Washington, Maine. NOTE: This is not the James, close in age, who married Adelia Boyd and had a large family.

Child (Parker):

1. Arthur I., born 1874; died after 1881 census; no further information.

Benjamin, reportedly born 25 July 1852, probably on Campobello Island. His death date has been given as 7 February 1941. He married Jane Adaline Leslie about 1877, as they have a 3 year old son in 1881. They also lived  on Deer Island, but not next door to the rest of the Parker family.

Child (Parker):

1. Lindon, born 12 December 1877; died 1967; married Agnes Ethel Gardner, c1903. They were the parents of five children – Davada, Florence Lillian, Edward Cecil, Elbert and Horace A.

Thomas, born c1853. He may have died young as he is not found after the 1861 census. There are no known descendants.

Owen Waters/Walters/Wellington, reportedly born 12 March 1858 on Campobello Island. His death date has been reported as 23 May 1944 in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada. He married Catherine Anne Kelly about 1880, reportedly in Chamcook, New Brunswick.

Children (Parker):

1. James Robert, born 8 December 1881; married Lottie G. Maloney, 27 May 1904, Portland, Cumberland, Maine; no further information.
2. Nelson, born 17 November 1884; died after 1901 census; no further information.
3. Martin Luther, born 15 July 1887; married Mabel Claire Smith, 30 April 1919, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada. They were the parents of at least one child – Nina Mae.
5. Cranmer Latimer, born 12 June 1890; married Florence Barry Parker, 29 July 1916, York, New Brunswick, Canada. They were the parents of two children – Jessie Jean and Jack Malvin Gilbert Hay.
6. George Skiffington, born 7 July 1893 or 8 July 1894; married Nora L. Griffin, 19 January 1918, Queens County, New Brunswick, Canada. They were the parents of at least one child – George Owen.

This completes the families of the grandchildren of Benjamin Parker (1787-1870) of Campobello Island.

If you are a cousin and can add any additional details, please leave a comment.

Parker

Benjamin Parker of Campobello Island: 3rd Generation, Part 3

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Today, we’ll take a look at three children who may or may not be Parkers.

Benjamin Parker married Olive Mitchell on 28 July 1828 on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.

The Eastport Sentinel carried a death announcement on 25 October 1828 of Mrs. Parker, wife of Benjamin Parker. No other details were provided and, as far as I know, there was only one Benjamin Parker who could be marrying in that era.

That begs the question about whether Olive died a couple of months after her marriage and, if so, who did Benjamin marry by 1832 who would have given birth to George Edwin/Edward Parker? No marriage record has been found indicating a marriage to someone in between Olive Mitchel and Susan Herson.

There is another sticky wicket here in that Susanna Parker Carr’s death certificate names her parents as Benjamin Parker and Susan Herson. However, she was born long before Benjamin and Susan married.

Did she consider Susan her mother or was Susan her mother by a previous marriage and Benjamin Parker not her father? No death record has been found for George Edwin/Edward Parker, which might have shed light on the matter.

Is it possible that one or all of these three children were born to Susan Herson by another unknown marriage?

Some have conflated Olive Mitchell and Susan Herson into one person, with Susan marrying Benjamin in 1828, but that is wrong as I have images of both marriage records.

The only scenario that makes any sense to me is that there was another Benjamin Parker. There was, in fact, a Benjamin Parker born c1803, whom I’ve written about in the past.

I don’t have the answers to any of these questions or any proof of a possible married Benjamin Parker, but these three children were enumerated as Parkers in the 1851 census.

George Edwin/Edward, born May 1833, probably on Campobello Island and died 1924, Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts. George married Eliza Ann Morrison about 1858.

The names of their children are uncertain because there is a daughter Victoria Adelaide, born 1 June 1871, per late birth registration, but the 1881 census shows both an Adelaide, born 1877 and an Addie, born July 1880. Something is wrong here, both with Victoria’s birth date and two Adelaide/Addie daughters in 1881.

Unfortunately, this family hasn’t been found in 1900 or 1901, which would answer questions about the children.

Children (Parker):

1. Patrick, born 13 March 1858/59; died 10 November 1933, St. Andrews, Charlotte, New Brunswick, Canada; married Laura Emma Black, c1884. They were the parents of five children – Annie, William Charles, Lawrence and Marjorie.
2. Augusta Jane, who may be aka Rebecca, born 11 June 1860/61; died 20 October 1944; married William John Greenlaw, about 30 April 1885, when it was published in the newspaper. They were the parents of seven children – Ransford Arnold, Mildred, Delphina Harriet, Cecil Leslie, Lena Catherine, Charlotte Alene and Vincent John.
3. John Lincoln, born October 1863; died 1944, Massachusetts; married (1) Fannie Jane Linton, 23 July 1891, Carver, Plymouth, Massachusetts (2) Elizabeth Black, 30 August 1892, Carver, Plymouth, Massachusetts. John and Elizabeth were the parents of five children – Fannie M., Angus Lincoln, Emma Lavinia, Bessie Victoria and John Nelson.
4. Warren Wesley, born 1865; died 10 April 1938, Carver, Plymouth, Massachusetts; married Mary Catherine Selena Gross, 25 October 1890, Carver, Plymouth, Massachusetts. They were the parents of ten children – Bertha Jane, Abbie Emeline, Lena Adelaide, Theodore, Gertrude Louise, Elsie Rebecca, Irene Dorcas, Leslie Warren Allen, Olive Ellen and Barbara Marie.
5. Tobias Lord, born 1867; died after 30 March 1922, when he crossed into McAdam, New Brunswick, Canada;  married Alice Peterson, 11 September 1892, Plympton, Plymouth, Massachusetts. They were the parents of five children – Hattie Eliza, Susan A., Lois Frances, Annie Alberta and Ida Marion.
6. George, born 1871 (3 months old in census); no further information.
7. Adelaide Victoria, born 1871, or 1873 or July 1880; died 1 June 1966, Norfolk county, Massachusetts; married Alson Gilmore Churchill, 7 May 1893, Carver, Plymouth, Massachusetts. They were the parents of three children – Ethel Louis, Edith May and Myra.
8. Benjamin, born 1874; died after 1881. No further information.
9. Alexander, born 1 March 1876/79; died 14 February 1928, Plymouth County, Massachusetts; married Laura Ann Cole Bradford, 31 March 1907, Middleborough, Plymouth, Massachusetts. They had no known children.
10. Martha Mary, born 25 July 1880; died 22 October 1956, Plymouth County, Massachusetts; married William Braddock, 25 June 1896, North Carver, Plymouth, Massachusetts. They were the parents of 11 children – George Allen, Edna Gertrude, Reuben Russell, Bessie Louise, Gladys Myrtle, Elna Blanche, Myron Alexander, Elmer Lafayette, Norman Clifton, Bertram Parker and Lester Irving.

Susanna, born about 1835/37, also probably on Campobello Island and died between 1900, when her family lived in South Portland, Cumberland County, Maine and 1911, when her widower husband was living in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada. Susannah married William Louis Carr about 1862.

Children (Carr):

1. Harriet A., born January 1863; died 1938, probably Portland, Cumberland, Maine; married (1) Beecher Mosley, c 1885 (2) Charles W. Hathaway, 4 September 1913, Portland, Cumberland, Maine. Hattie and Beecher were the parents of four children – Lewis Bernard, Willard L., Lowell Edmond and Percy Reed.
2. John Warren, born cNovember 1866; died 1928, probably Portland, Cumberland, Maine; married Jennie Quigley. They were the parents of six children – Nora Odessa, William Burnham, Hattie Amelia, Hilda May, Earl Way and Percy Walker.
3. Nahum H., born August 1867; died 1945; married Caroline B. Corkum, 9 June 1903, Portland, Cumberland, Maine. Nahum has no known children.
4. Everett W., born 8 April 1871; died 4 December 1935, probably Portland, Cumberland, Maine; married Laura B. Forsyth, c1902. They were the parents of two children – Preston Forsyth, who died at one year old and Lillian A., who married John Stults in 1921 in Portland.
5. Edmund, born 1873; died between 1881-1891. Edmund has no known children.

Benjamin, born c1837; died after 1851 and probably before July 1852, when Benjamin and Susan named another son Benjamin. There are no descendants in this line.

At the moment, I have no idea if these three people were Parkers or children of Susan Herson by an unknown marriage. I suspect that future DNA matches might solve this mystery.

If they are Benjamin Parker’s children, there are many descendants through George and Susan.