Benjamin Parker is my 4X great grandfather. As I worked through cleaning up my genealogy software, I inevitably came across some families who had long been neglected. That turned out to be a very good thing, though, because with the passage of time, more primary records have become accessible.
Although this post centers on the wives and children of Benjamin Parker, mention does need to be made about his parentage.
I was a bit surprised to see some online trees attributing his parents as Benjamin Parker and Rachel Thropp. I can understand how the connection was made in spite of no documentation because an extended Anabaptist Parker family left New Jersey at the close of the American Revolution and sailed in the Fall Fleet to New Brunswick, Canada.
However, those who have assembled names in the Benjamin and Rachel family have included way too many children, as the last child would have been born when Rachel was 54 years. Of course, there are no sources cited.
However, there is a very handy primary document available concerning the Parker families who lived on Campobello Island, Charlotte, New Brunswick, Canada bearing the very early date of 1811.
It is a militia list compiled by David Owen on 16 July 1811 and contains the names and ages of the 84 males living on the island who were of militia age.
More importantly, they appear to be placed in family groups when more than one male in the household was of age.
There are two Parker groups. The first is John Parker, 57, with John Parker Jr., 24. They are numbers 37 and 38 on the list.
Numbers 43-47 are Jonathan Parker, 47, Benjamin Parker, 24 (so born c1787), Thomas Parker, 18, Richard Parker 38 and William Parker, 17.
The Parkers were all related and because of the way they are listed, I believe that John Parker Sr. and Jr. were father and son, Jonathan Parker was the father of Benjamin and Thomas, while Richard Parker was the father of William.
The age of this Benjamin Parker closely fits with my Benjamin in the census records with a birth year about 1788.
Sadly, no clue has ever been found as to the name of Benjamin Parker’s mother.
Because of this militia list, I think it is way more likely that my Benjamin Parker is the son of Jonathan Parker and his unknown wife. If Benjamin Parker (who actually settled in Beaver Harbour, not on Campobello Island) and wife Rachel Thropp had a son named Benjamin, it was another man of the same name.
Now, to the life of Benjamin Parker. Although the 1861 census gives Campobello as the birthplace of Benjamin Parker and I suppose it might be possible, given that Benjamin was born c1787/1788, it seems more likely that he was born in Parr Town (today Saint John), Charlotte, new Brunswick, Canada as that is where the Parker clan first arrived in 1783 and Jonathan Parker was known to have lived there off and on.
The militia list is closest in time to Benjamin’s birth, so he was likely born in 1787 and might even have been born in 1786 if his birthday hadn’t yet passed in July 1811.
Early marriage records do exist for Campobello Island and Benjamin is found in them marrying Maria Wilson on 12 April 1812. Her age is not recorded, but given that she had about seven children with the last born c1828 (she died in October 1828 per the newspaper announcement), she was probably born c1791 and married when she was 21 years old. That was common practice for the time period and the marriage record doesn’t state that she was underage with parental permission.
Piecing together the family of Benjamin and Maria is tricky.
Children:
- Robert Wilson, born c1813; died between 1851-1861; married Jerusha Wilson, 19 March 1838, Eastport, Washington, Maine. They had seven children.
- Sarah Ann, born 27 January 1817; died 7 February 1900, Calais, Washington, Maine; married Daniel Adams, 15 September 1836, Deer Island, New Brunswick, Canada. They had nine children.
- Hannah, born c1819; drowned 12 July 1835 in Head Harbour Passage while boating with six friends between Campobello Island and Casco Bay Island. The boat capsized and several drowned. One Benjamin Parker was also on the boat, but survived.
- Eliza J., born c1822; died between 1891-1901; married Robert Rogerson, 15 August 1843, Eastport, Washington, Maine. They had five children. The Rogersons were only 5 pages away from Benjamin Parker in 1851, which was only a handful of families, so they lived in the same neighborhood.
- Mary Jane, born c1826; died before 1851; married Thomas Nash, 17 February 1847. They had two children. Thomas’s mother was a Wilson, so there might be a family connection.
- Maria, born c1828; died between 1891-1901; married John Mathews, 22 February 1864, Campobello, Charlotte, New Brunswick, Canada. It appears they had no children. She is placed in the family because Maria is not a common name in the Parker family and she was born close to the death of Maria (Wilson) Parker.
Some place Fannie Parker (1823-1896) in this family. However, I question that because when Fannie married Thomas Mathews, the marriage record said with consent of her guardians. If her father was Benjamin Parker and he didn’t pass away until 1870, I would expect the record to say her father gave consent.
She may have been placed in this family because Maria Wilson, believed to be the youngest child of Benjamin and Maria, married John Mathews.
Why is this family tricky?
Because there are no birth records, marriage records don’t name the parents and the only death record found is for Sarah Ann (Parker) Adams. It names her parents as Benjamin Parker and Maria Wilson.
The other sure bet seems to be Robert Wilson Parker, the first child born to Benjamin and Maria. She was the daughter of Robert Wilson.
The other children have been placed in the family mostly by them not fitting in any other family and there weren’t many choices as seen by the 1811 militia list.
As you can see, the two known children of Benjamin and Maria would be Robert Wilson and Sarah Ann. The others are only possibilities.
Now, Benjamin Parker’s life doesn’t get any easier because he married (2) an unknown woman, probably about 1831. I was hoping to find his marriage announcement in the Eastport Sentinel, but apparently issues for most of the 1830s and 1840s are missing.
By the 1851 census, the first in which all members of the household are listed, we find Benjamin Parker with wife Susan (Herson), who he married on 19 December 1848, Deer Island, West Isles, Charlotte, New Brunswick, Canada. However, also in the home were three children – George, Susanna and Benjamin.
Children of Benjamin Parker and Unknown Second Wife:
- George Edwin, born c1833; died 11 December 1924, Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts; married Eliza Morrison, c1858. They had twelve children.
- Susanna, born c1835; died 16 April 1910, Portland, Cumberland, Maine; married William Louis Carr, c1861. They had five children.
- Benjamin, born c1837
George has a death certificate on record. However, he died at the State Farm (like the poor house) and the informant was Superintendent Harry Strann, who had no idea who George’s parents were. It is quite sad that none of his children who lived in the area took him in during his last years. He died of carcinoma of the lower lip – perhaps by chewing tobacco?
Susan Parker Carr also had a death certificate on record. Hers names her parents as Benjamin Parker and Susan “Person.” However, Susan Herson married for the first time in 1848 and the record says with the consent of parents, so it isn’t likely that she had a child born in 1835 (although she would have been 22 years old even in 1835, so not impossible.) I’ve never figured out why her parents gave consent when she was 35 years old in 1848.
Benjamin is another complete mystery as we shall see in the 1861 census.
Benjamin and Susan are listed at home on Deer Island. Also in the home are three sons – James Parker, 13, Benjamin Parker, 11, and Thomas Parker, 8.
As you can see, the 1861 census is not only very faded, but it seems to have bleed through from the other side. This is the best that Photoshop could do with the enhancement:
Benjamin is the fourth entry in the list. After his family, his son George and family are enumerated right after 8 year old Thomas.
Okay, so who are James and Benjamin, born c1848 and c1850, respectively? They are not living with Benjamin and Susan in 1851 and the Benjamin that was at home in 1851 was already 14 years old and born c1837.
Benjamin Parker married Addie Leslie in 1874 in Saint Andrews, Charlotte, New Brunswick, Canada and died c1941. By 1881, and 1901, his birth years were estimated to be 1851 and 1852. Those are both possible if Benjamin born c1837 died after the 1851 census and Susan was pregnant with a child. His parents are reported to be Benjamin Parker and Susan Herson in his marriage record.
James Parker married Susan Beany, 23 November 1874, Eastport, Washington, Maine. They had a son, Arthur, born c1874, in 1881 and they were living the same house as Susan (Herson) Parker and her son Owen. that doesn’t straighten out the mess of the missing and appearing children, but they were definitely related. James, Susan and Arthur aren’t found after 1881.
Furthermore, Benjamin Parker Sr. died in October 1870. In the 1871 census, widow Susan is living with her stepson George Parker’s family AND another mystery pops up. With her is her son, Owen Waters Parker, born c1858! There is no child named Owen Parker found in the 1861 census anywhere. There is a man Owen Parker, 46 years old with 44 year old wife, Mary, and a 21 year old daughter Emeline.
In the case of Benjamin Parker time has not only provided access to more records, it has also created even more questions about exactly who his children were.
The Calais Advertiser newspaper is supposedly going to be digitized soon. I have been waiting decades for this project to happen. Although the Calais newspaper didn’t start in business until 1835 so won’t have a marriage notice for Benjamin’s second wife, it may well have information about her death and possibly even clues about these children.
