Our Parker Family History

Table of ContentsAbout This BookAbout This Book....................................................................................................6

Why?..........................................................................................................6

Who?..........................................................................................................6

Thanks to Cousins, Friends and Family............................................................7

Loretta Pauline Leroy Parker...................................................................7

The Parker History Team.........................................................................7

Grandmother Bess Carney Parker..................................................................8

An American Story....................................................................................10

Other Resources For You:........................................................................10

Ancestry.com................................................................................................10

Family Tree Maker........................................................................................10

My Computer Files........................................................................................10

Great Helpers...............................................................................................10

Beginning with Our Parkers......................................................................11

Three Parts...............................................................................................11

About Ireland............................................................................................11

Keep Our History Growing!.......................................................................11

The Parker Family in Ireland...............................................................................12

Why So Difficult?......................................................................................15

The Scarcity of Vital Records........................................................................16

Comparing Ireland with Iowa, 1860..............................................................16

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The Family in Ulster; County Down..........................................................17

Ballinteggart, Newry, County Down..............................................................18

Leaving Home..........................................................................................19

Arrival in America......................................................................................23

Our Parkers Arrive in America..................................................................23

Landing at New York.....................................................................................23

West Again...............................................................................................23

Farming in Scott County; Making Friends...........................................................24

Settling in Cleona Township, Scott County, Iowa.....................................24

The Farm..................................................................................................25

The Times.................................................................................................26

Church......................................................................................................27

School.......................................................................................................28

Neighbors, Friends and Relationships; Ross, Paul, Lavender..................28

Robert and Susanna Buried at Durant......................................................28

Life Without Father...................................................................................29

West Again; New Homes.....................................................................................30

The Farm is Sold......................................................................................30

Moving Near Gilman.................................................................................30

Why Here?................................................................................................30

New Generations, New Connections........................................................30

Parkers Near Gilman....................................................................................30

The Telephone Men............................................................................................31

Iowa and the Parkers and the Telephone.................................................31

Beginnings....................................................................................................31

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Robert Lavender Parker, Telephone Pioneer...........................................33

I Remember..................................................................................................34

Grandfather died...........................................................................................34

Growing at Gilman and Grinnell....................................................................35

The Family of Bess Carney...........................................................................37

Starting On and Down the Wires..................................................................37

The Traer Years............................................................................................37

Moving and Building.....................................................................................39

To Illinois, Bloomington and Geneseo..........................................................39

In Geneseo...................................................................................................39

His Family.....................................................................................................39

Back to Gilman.............................................................................................39

Robert Donald Parker, Telephone Man....................................................39

His Youth......................................................................................................39

With Esther Pauline Swanson.......................................................................39

Independent Telephony................................................................................39

With Mother Bell...........................................................................................40

Remembering Dad........................................................................................40

My Side...............................................................................................................40

Robert Marion Parker Family....................................................................40

With Mom and Dad.......................................................................................40

My Best Decision, Loretta.............................................................................42

After Bradley.................................................................................................42

My Children, My Pride...................................................................................42

The Places We Lived....................................................................................42

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Back to Story City.........................................................................................42

Diane Margaret Parker Little Family.........................................................42

Diane, My Sister...........................................................................................42

Roger H. Little...............................................................................................42

Their Children...............................................................................................42

Etc.................................................................................................................42

The Family in 2012...................................................................................42

Our Parkers: Histories of the 16 Who Came.......................................................42

Introductions.............................................................................................42

Father Robert................................................................................................43

Mother Susanna...........................................................................................44

Son James....................................................................................................45

Isaac.............................................................................................................45

Mary Ann......................................................................................................45

Robert...........................................................................................................46

Ester.............................................................................................................46

Susanna........................................................................................................46

David.............................................................................................................47

Jeane (Eliza).................................................................................................47

Matilda..........................................................................................................47

Agnes, 1st......................................................................................................47

Ellen..............................................................................................................47

Isabelle.........................................................................................................47

William..........................................................................................................47

Richard.........................................................................................................47

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Samuel..........................................................................................................50

Agnes, 2nd.....................................................................................................50

Unanswered Questions............................................................................50

Sources and Resources......................................................................................51

Grandmother Bess's Notes, a Family Treasure........................................51

Questions Remain....................................................................................51

Notes from The Team...............................................................................51

Stories......................................................................................................52

Web Sites.................................................................................................52

Photographs, Maps, Sketches..................................................................52

Sources....................................................................................................52

Notes...................................................................................................................54

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About This BookWhy? I’m writing this because I am very proud of my family’s history, and I want

to pass on all that I know about it to my children and grandchildren. Knowing our family

history helps us to answer some questions that seem to be born in us. These questions

seem to come to mind throughout our lives, as we try to understand who we are, why

God gave us life and what should we do about our problems.

Where did I come from?

How did I get here?

Who were my ancestors?

What kind of people were they?

How am I like or different from them?

How does my own history suggest I should act now?

I have been very interested in the history of my family, my country and our

human race since I was a little boy. I have been given hundreds of photographs,

stories, memoirs and personal items from our ancestors. I hope this work will help you

– my family – know yourselves and understand your heritage. I intend this book to be

your guide to all of the information I have assembled about our ancestors. I want my

heirs to be able to find in one place everything we’ve collected about our many

ancestors and relatives. We should respect and be proud of them. They were all

Christians and American Pioneers.

Who? Like most Americans, ours is a family of immigrants. Our Parkers –

fourteen of them - came to Iowa from County Down in Northern Ireland in 1861. Here

they met other families, some of whom had preceded them to Iowa. The earliest we

have found to be Thomas Brown. He came from England in 1635, and settled in

Newbury, Massachusetts. His descendants came across Iowa by stagecoach in 1853.

Bartholomew Carney (whose name may have been Cronin in County Cork) came

over from Ireland in 1836, and began building railroads in Masssachusetts. He brought

his family in a covered wagon to Poweshiek County in 1851. His son, John, became

Grandmother Bess’s father at Gilman.

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In this book, our family includes all of the people living now who are related to

me, Robert Marion Parker, plus all of our ancestors. My ancestors begin with my father

and mother. I have many resources on the other branches; on Dad’s side there were

Browne, Carney, Lavender, Paul, and Ross people. Mom’s side includes the Swanson

and Bartlett people. And there are Loretta’s family, the Leroys. The earliest we find in

America was Simeon Leroy, a master carpenter who was born in France and died in

Kingston, New York, in 1711.

Your ancestors begin with your father and mother. The ancestors of your son or

daughter begin with you. I might have a family tree with 700 people in it, but my

grandson or granddaughter will have a much bigger family tree because of the people

added by my wife’s family and the families of my daughters and sons. And so the trees

get bigger and bigger as the generations of our family succeed us.

I have been using two family tree programs for some years; Ancestry.com and

Family Tree Maker. Both are known as “Parker Family Tree 1,”and are publicly

available. You should be able to access them.

Thanks to Cousins, Friends and Family

Loretta Pauline Leroy ParkerMy principal enabler for the last 55 years has been my wife, Loretta. Not only

has she given me our five very good children, but she has understand and supported

my engagement with our family’s history. God Bless You, Loretta.

The Parker History TeamA few years ago, in November of 2007, two distant cousins and I got together to

research the backgrounds of our Parker ancestors. John Parker1, farmer at Gilman,

Iowa and Richard Frances Ross2, who has homes at Ames, Iowa and South Pasadena,

California are distant cousins of mine.

John David Parker owns and farms land that has been in his (our) family more

than one hundred years. John is a graduate of Simpson College. His great grandfather

was Richard Parker, one of those who came in 1862. He is our link with the many

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Parkers who stayed near Gilman. John is also acquainted with several other Irish

emigrant families who were neighbors and friends and even married with our ancestors

in Scott, Marshall, Jasper and Poweshiek counties in Iowa.

Dr. Richard Frances Ross retired from Iowa State University, where he taught and

studied veterinary medicine and was Dean of both the College of Veterinary Medicine

and the College of Agriculture. He was raised on a farm near Westchester, Iowa. His

great grandmother was Mary Ann Parker Ross, a child of Robert and Susanna Parker.

The Ross family were neighbors of our Parkers in Cleona Township.

Colin Rodgers joined us about two years ago. Colin is an anesthesiologist who

lives in Carlisle, England very near the border with Scotland. He is related to us through

families that were known to our ancestors in Ireland and in the early days in Iowa. Colin

still has close ties with his people in County Down. He’s made trips to Ireland and

discovered many old records of importance to us.

I want to thank Richard and John and Colin for their cooperation. I am proud to

know them. I wish I had found them many years ago. The four of us are still working to

uncover the exact location and circumstances of the Parkers in County Down. From

here on in this story I shall refer to the four of us as “The Parker History Team.”

Grandmother Bess Carney Parker

Bess Carney Parker, my grandmother, was through her long life a wonderful family

historian. She was mostly responsible for my own lifelong interest in the history of our

family and our country. A great many of the facts and stories concerning her pioneering

Browne and Carney families and her husband’s Parker family were passed on to us by

Grandmother Bess. I loved her very much.

Here is a photograph of Grandmother Bess taken in 1949, when I was 14 years

old. It is the way I remember her most.

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Grandmother Bess was a lady, personified. Born Annie Elizabeth Carney at

Gilman, Iowa on February 17, 1881, she was the

great historian of our Parker family. She studied

and wrote about the history of her mother Martha

Emma Browne’s family, who arrived by stagecoach

in Blackhawk County in 1853. She researched and

wrote about her father John McCormick Carney’s

family and their covered wagon journey from

Pennsylvania to Poweshiek County in 1854.1 She

met grandfather Robert Lavender Parker at a young

persons’ church party and married him on the last

day of December, 1901.

Their marriage produced three children;

Winifred, Muriel and my dad, Robert Donald Parker. Until her last days she wrote of

Parker history. Bess made charts and maps and notes and stories about our Parkers,

sometimes handwritten, sometimes typed and sometimes drawn by hand. She died in

1974. She passed them on to me and her granddaughter Carol Beachler. These

materials fill more than one filing cabinet drawer. You’ll see many of them quoted or

referenced in this book. Some are included in computer files, some still handwritten or

typed by grandmother Bess. There are many photographs, which I hope to index and

pass on to someone who will cherish them as I have.

I wrote a small booklet about Grandmother Bess in 1993. I won’t repeat all of it

here, but will see to it that readers can access it. May God bless Annie Elizabeth

Carney Parker!

An American Story

Our ancestors are an American story. This family is a story of immigrants and

entrepreneurs, who came to this country from thousands of miles away and made life

1 See “The Carney Family Saga” as available on the Grinnell College Web site:

https://digital.grinnell.edu/islandora/object/grinnell:3590/datastream/OBJ/view.

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and livelihood for themselves and their families. Coming to America from England,

Ireland, Sweden and Germany, they are great examples of the builders of the United

States of America. They came, on their own initiative, looking for a better life for

themselves and their children. They kept working in spite of great hardships, relying on

themselves and believing that God had settled on them the responsibility for raising and

educating their children. In a word, they left their homes in Europe because America

offered opportunity, and they expected nothing more. They moved on across the

country until they found places where they could build. We are here because they were

strong.

Other Resources For You:

Ancestry.com. Most important is our tree on the Web, at www.ancestry.com,

called the Parker Family Tree 1. It contains many more documents, dates,

photographs, maps and charts than I’ve been able to show in this work. This link should

get you there: http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/57515944/family. You’ll see our tree, with

me at the left hand side, and my children below me and Mom.

Family Tree Maker. My computer also contains a program called Family Tree

Maker, which is allied with the Ancestry.com tree, and which permits us to produce

many charts and reports from the information therein which can be copied and printed

from it.

My Computer Files. My desktop computer has many, many files pertaining to

our history, including this work. I will try to gather them all into one folder called Parker,

in a directory called Family History, and copy them all to a CD disk.

Great Helpers. Early in 2006 I met two third cousins, John David Parker and

Richard Francis Ross, as a result of queries on Ancestry.com. Richard, born as was I in

1935, descended from Mary Ann Parker, is retired Dean of the College of Agriculture at

Iowa State University. He lives at Ames. John, who is about ten years younger and is

descended from Richard Parker, has the last Parker farm near Gilman, Iowa. About a

year ago we found Colin Rodgers, who is an anesthesiologist in Carlisle, England, and

is related to us through the Paul and Buick families. Colin has close ties in County

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Antrim, Ireland, which is next to County Down. More recently we connected with John

Paul, who lives in California and is of the Paul family who were connected and related to

us during the early years in Scott County, Poweshiek County and Marshall County,

Iowa. A developing and very satisfactory relationship with all these men has resulted in

a huge increase in our knowledge of Parker family history3.

Beginning with Our Parkers. In this writing I am concentrating on the Parker side

of our family. But looking back just two generations; to Loretta’s and my grandparents, I

also have many resources on our other branches; Browne, Carney, Lavender,

Swanson, Karlsson, LeRoy and Block people.

And, of course, now my children have connections with families of their spouses.

I’d like to include them all later. I hope God gives me the time and energy.

As a convenience in writing, I’ll use the term Our Parkers often. By that I’m

referring to the 14 who came from Ireland together in 1861 and all of us who have

followed them. My lineage comes from William E. Parker, one of the 14. Please

remember that Isaac and Robert and David and little Agnes were also part of that family

but either died in Ireland or did not come to America.

Three Parts. There are really three parts to this story; first is the history of the

Parkers in Ireland, second is the history of Our Parkers in this country (beginning on

January 1st, 1862,) third is about the “modern” Parkers. This last part begins with my

grandfather, Robert Lavender Parker, and the generations following him up to today.

About Ireland. For most of us who grew up in a stable and generally

homogenous United States, Irish history can be challenging and confusing. That’s why

I’m starting this book with a chapter on the times and conditions in which Our Parkers

lived in Ireland. Our family might be easier to understand if we know from where, why

and how we came to America.

Keep Our History Growing! I hope that some of you who read this will share our

pride and enthusiasm for history and knowledge, and will want to keep our research

going. I’ll be very glad to help you get started.

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The Parker Family in Ireland

We think our family name originated in England. Wikipedia says: “Parker is a

family name of English origin, derived from Old French with the meaning "keeper of the

park." Parker was also a nickname given to gamekeepers in medieval England. It is the

51st-most common surname in the United Kingdom. Within the United States, it is

ranked as the 47th-most common surname.”

We have a hand-written note from Grandmother Bess, said to be sent her by

Ellen Thompson, who was a granddaughter of Ellen Parker, and thus a great-

granddaughter of Robert and Susanna. It says that “Descendants of William Parker of

Norwich, England were millers of wool goods, having factories in Scotland and County

Down, Ireland. One of those descendants was James A. Parker, born County Down

1760, manufacturer of linen goods.”

James Parker may have been the father of our Robert Parker. Robert and

Susanna named their first-born son James Parker. An interest in linen mills may have

provided the capital necessary for the journey to America and purchase of the farm in

Cleona Township.

Our Parkers came to America from County Down, in what is now called Northern

Ireland, a province of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. When Our Parkers left there,

in December of 1861, the entire island was one province, ruled by the parliament of

England. Here is a map of County Down, Ireland in 1860. You can see the towns of

Newry, Loughbrickland and Aghaderg near the left side. We believe that our Parkers

lived in that area.

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Figure 1, County Down

Our Parkers always said that they came from Newry in County Down. The city of

Newry was in Newry Parish. It seems probable that when our Parkers said they were

from Newry, they meant the Parish of Newry, not the city of Newry. We know that there

were several Parker families in County Down before 1861. Our question is; exactly

where in the Townlands of Newry did our Parkers reside?

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We Americans – particularly those from the wide-open spaces of the Midwest –

must realize the difference in scale between our maps and those of Ireland. We are

concerned to find where our Parkers might have lived between Loughbrickland and

Newry but the distance is only 11 miles, about the same as between Ames and Story

City, Iowa!

We do have a reliable record from a Loughbrickland Presbyterian Church that

states that the Parkers lived, at least for several years, in a Townland called

Ballintaggart, civil parish of Newry, in County Down, a part of the Province of Ulster,

now part of the United Kingdom of England, Ireland and Scotland. Church records

show that five of their children were baptized there between 1844 and 1857. Richard

Ross has seen this record while in Ireland. This church record serves as our

genealogical “anchor.” It confirms that Our Parkers did live in County Down in the

middle of that century. That church still stands, although rebuilt, and is located just

southeast of Loughbrickland on this map:

Robert was born in 1806 and Susanna in 1807. They were married in 1827. All

of our family notes and records agree that Robert and Susanna had 16 children in

County Down. James, the oldest, was born in 1829. Agnes, the second with that name

and the last of the children, was born in 1857. The first to be named Agnes died in

Ireland as a little girl. The rest came to America. Isaac, Robert and David came alone;

Isaac in 1848, Robert in 1852, and David came in 1854. The remaining twelve children

came with their parents in 1861.

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These dates show that our Parkers had many years of life in County Down. It

seems that a family of this size, existing as a unit for 34 years, could be located in an

area about the size of a few modern Iowa farms, but we have not yet been able prove

the exact location. Here is an expanded map of the Loughbrickland area that shows

clearly where Ballintaggart was; Newry was only about 11 miles to the south.

Figure 2. Loughbrickland, County Down

Why So Difficult?

There are several reasons for the difficulty of tracing ancestors in Ireland before

the Irish War of Independence in 1919-1922. They include the scarcity of vital records,

the relative size of Ireland contrasted with America’s states, counties and townships, the

nearly continuous turmoil of 800 years of Irish political and religious history, and the

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struggles between Irish nationalists and the British Empire which resulted in a divided

nation. We shall see how these historical factors have hindered genealogical research.

The Scarcity of Vital Records

Of all the nations which sent emigrants to America, finding records of ancestors

in Ireland is one of the most difficult. Ireland has been wracked with internal strife for

several centuries. As far back as A.D. 800, and until the 20th century, there have been

only occasional governments capable of collecting and securing substantial civil

records. Wars between Gaelic and Anglo-Saxons, English and Normans, Catholics and

Protestants, and British and Irish for independence have been almost constant. The

Irish soil was liberally sprinkled with castles, forts and earthworks (called Raths on old

maps) meant for defense against raiders and invaders. In the 18th, 19th, 20th and current

centuries, struggles between Catholics and Protestants and between Irish nationalists

(Republicans) and unionists (with Great Britain) have cost lives and split governments.

Until 1864, after Our Parkers emigrated, there were no official public records of births,

marriages and deaths kept in Ireland. Churches kept the records, and the records

seldom survived the passing of the church. Then, in late June, 1922, the Irish Public

Records office was blown up, resulting in the loss of all civil transaction records.

Comparing Ireland with Iowa, 1860.

It is very important that we Americans comprehend the importance of the size

and nature of the Irish island in comparison with our own state and nation at the time

when our family migrated. The area of the entire island of Ireland is approximately

32,600 square miles. In contrast, the area of the state of Iowa is about 55,860 square

miles, or about 1.7 times that of Ireland. In 1860, there were nearly 6 million people in

the whole of Ireland. There were about 675,000 in the state of Iowa. Although the area

of Ulster, including County Down, suffered less from the Great Potato Famine, a total of

47,235 people emigrated from Down during the ten years ending in 1860. The process

was well known.

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The Family in Ulster; County Down

We believe that discovering Robert’s family is the key to finding our Irish history.

We have not yet been able to establish exactly where our Parkers lived in County

Down, or exactly who were parents of Robert and Susanna. Before 1922, there were

two systems of county divisions – the civil system, which used Townlands to identify

areas in the county, and the Catholic Church system, which used parishes of the

Church.

There are two major sources of Irish records of the 1850’s, compiled by and kept

in England, that show evidence of Parker families in County Down. We can see Parkers

in County Down in the “Ordnance Survey of Ireland,” taken beginning in 1824 by the

British Army. Parkers are also seen in “Griffith’s Valuation of Irish Land” and other

property made between 1846 and 1864. Both can be seen at the Public Records Office

of Northern Ireland, at Ancestry.com, at Family Search.com, and several other Web

sites.

The name Robert Parker was popular in several of the families of Newry Parish,

County Down listed in Griffith’s Primary Valuation of Ireland. We find it in Ballinteggart,

Curley, Saval More, Castle Enigan, and Clonduff Townlands. Although the official

Griffith’s Valuation for County Down was published in 1864, after our Parkers

emigrated, we know that the survey of a large county took many months to develop and

record and publish, so it is very possible that relatives of our people are included in it.

According to Grandmother Bess, Our Robert Parker was born in 1805 or 1806.

Other references state that he was born in 1800. We are certain that he and Susanna

Lowery (or Lowry?) were married in 1827. Their eldest son, James, was born in 1829.

We know now, from baptism records of the Loughbrickland Presbyterian

Church4, that our Parker ancestors lived from at least 1842 to 1857 in Ballinteggart

Townland, Newry Parish, County Down, in what is now Northern Ireland, a part of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain. Seven children of Robert and Susanna are mentioned

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in those records; Matilda, Eliza (who must have been called Jeane Elizabeth,) Agnes 1st

(who died before 1857,) William5, Richard, Samuel, and Agnes 2nd. There are also

records of other branches of the Parker family in County Down.

The first baptism mentioned in the Loughbrickland Presbyterian Church records

was of Matilda in 1842. She was, we think, the 7th child of Robert and Susanna.

At present we do not know where the other children were baptized.

Ballinteggart, Newry, County Down

Ballinteggart Townland had about 800 people and about 500 acres in the 1850’s.

Today, the average farm in Iowa has 338 acres, so just one Iowa farm today is nearly

as large as was our ancestor’s Townland. Our Iowa state has 56,000 square miles and

has 3.5 million people now, whereas the entire Irish island contained only about 31,500

square miles and had about 8 million residents in the middle 1800’s.

During the summer of 1845 a terrible blight struck Ireland. Potatoes were the

common staple of diet among the mass of Irish people, for it was possible to raise many

pounds of them on small tracts of land. Because most Irish farms were so small, there

were no other crops that could sustain eight million Irish people. The average farm in

Ireland was about 1.5 acres; a very large farm was 30 acres. The blight caused a great

famine; more than three quarters of a million peopled died of starvation; another one

million and a half left the country. The population of Ireland declined by about 30% in

ten years! Here is a description of the causes and effects of the Great Famine6:

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/irish_potato_famine.cfm

The Great Famine was not so serious in northeastern Ireland, where Our Parkers

lived in County Down. That area had other crops, such as flax, sheep and cattle, and a

much larger industrial base producing linen, wool, meat and manufactured metal

products which paid for food imported from England and Scotland. When our Parkers

were there, few farmers owned the land they farmed – they leased or rented land that

was owned by absentee landowners, most of whom lived in England. It was very difficult

to buy land to increase the size of a farm. When the famine abated in the late 1850’s,

many more Irish families had the resources to emigrate to the United States, Australia,

and South America.

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We have found some church records of baptism for children of Robert and

Susanna Parker in the Loughbrickland Presbyterian Church between 1844 and 1857.

Eliza, Agnes (1st,) William, Richard, Samuel and Agnes (2nd) are mentioned. During

those years our Parkers lived in a townland called Ballinteggart which was just south of

Loughbrickland and north of Newry. Before and after that period we have found no

record of the residence of Robert or Susanna. We do know that Susanna’s last name

was Lowery (or Lowry.) We think her father was named James, and her mother’s

maiden name was McGaffey. The Parkers all said that their homeland was Newry, in

County Down. Loughbrickland and Ballinteggart, as well as Saval More and Savalbeg

and Curley and Donaghmore were townlands in Newry in those days. Families named

Parker lived in all of them.2

Leaving Home

By the last years of the 1850’s the potato famine in Ireland was nearly over.

Although the famine was not severe in Counties Down, Antrim or Armaugh,3 the

opportunity to buy land was very limited by the laws of Great Britain which were crafted

to maintain control of real property in the hands of large landowners. A large family that

desired to stay together found it next to impossible to buy enough acreage to maintain

themselves. Consequently, many Irish families chose to move to America where they

might acquire sufficient land to support themselves.

Moving to America was not a new idea to the Parkers in late 1861. Three of their

sons, Isaac, Robert and David are shown in ship records of voyage in 1848, 1852, and

1854, respectively. We believe that Robert the father made a trip to America in 1860 or

earlier 1861. It seems reasonable that he would have made plans for the journey of the

rest of the family as a result of that trip.

Records of other families suggest that emigrating from County Down took some

time to arrange and execute. A family of fourteen did not just pick up and leave their 2 One of Grandmother Bess’s records says that father Robert was a blacksmith in Ireland.

Another record shows that oldest son James was also a blacksmith.3 Not only Parkers, but Lavenders, Pauls, Wileys, Grahams, McCormicks and others in our

ancestry came from these mostly Protestant counties.

20

country to go 3,500 miles to a new home without planning the trip carefully. We can

imagine that preparation was necessary for several weeks of travel, including saying

goodbyes, arranging business affairs, packing clothes for 14 people, collecting and

packing household goods for the new home, all of this took time and organization.

Remember also that three sons of the family had already gone to America. Many

families leaving County Down went to Belfast or Dublin, thence to Liverpool. Some

traveled down the Newry Canal to the sea, thence to Liverpool. We don’t know which

route was used by our Parkers; both routes took at least two days. Most Irish families

went from home to Dublin, then by boat across the Irish Sea to Liverpool – this voyage

took about 14 hours.

Liverpool was then the busiest English port from which Irish and Scotch

emigrants crossed the Atlantic Ocean on British ships. An article in the Cork Examiner,

of Queenstown, County Cork, Ireland for December 19th, 1861, states that “The screw steamer Etna, Captain Kennedy, arrived in Queenstown this morning, having left Liverpool at one o'clock yesterday. She leaves to-day for New York with 250 passengers, a full cargo, and the mails, which arrived from Cork at 3 o'clock, immediately after which the Etna steamed away.” Our Parkers were among the

Etna passengers, which actually numbered 250. Here is a map showing the route of

the Etna’s voyage. Points on it are:

1. Liverpool, England, where they boarded the Etna.

2. Queensland (now called Cobh,) County Cork, Ireland, where the

Etna stopped on Dec. 18th.

3. New York, New York, USA, where Our Parkers landed on Dec. 31,

1861.

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The Etna, built in 1855 in Glasgow, Scotland, was one of the fastest “Iron Screw

Steamships” on the sea when she was built. Passage was often accomplished in less

than two weeks, whereas even the fasted sailing ships required more than twice that

time. The Inman Line brought more immigrants from northern Europe than any other

line for many years. Inman catered to steerage passengers; their rates were lower and

accommodations were better than on many other lines, and far better than on the sailing

ships taken by most emigrants from Ireland during the Famine.

Here is a likeness of the Etna:

22

Passage from Liverpool to New York cost about $8 per person, whether adults or

children. Here’s a contemporary description of the departure from Liverpool:“There were usually a large number of spectators at the dock-gates to witness the final departure

of the ship. The sad scene of the departure was described in the Illustrated London News in 1850: ‘The

most callous and indifferent can scarcely fail, at such a moment, to form cordial wishes for the pleasant

voyage and safe arrival of the emigrants, and for their future prosperity in their new home. As the ship is

towed out, hats are raised, handkerchiefs are waved, and a loud and long-continued shout of farewell is

raised from the shore, and cordially responded to from the ship. It is then, if at any time, that the eyes of

the emigrants begin to moisten’” [in: Préteseille 1999]. See http://www.eustice.info/irish-

emigration.htm

After leaving Queensland, Etna was at sea for thirteen days. Steerage

passengers had to take along and cook their own food on stoves used by all. On the

Etna’s passenger list as filed at New York, our Parkers were all shown as citizens of

Great Britain because Ireland at that time was not an independent nation but a part of

Great Britain.

23

Arrival in America

Our Parkers Arrive in America

On the last day of the year 1861, the steamship Etna, from Liverpool, England,

docked at New York Harbor. Among the passengers entering the United States that

day were Robert Parker, his wife, Susanna, and twelve of their children. They left their

home in County Down, Ireland, traveling first to Liverpool, England, there boarding the

Inman Line Steamship for New York. Three other sons of the family preceded them to

New York. And so, the first day of the year 1862 found all of Our Parkers in America.

Landing at New York

The Etna, like all immigration vessels of the time, was caused to anchor in

quarantine (passengers could not leave the ship) near Staten Island while a team of

inspectors from New York City boarded to check each person for dangerous diseases

like smallpox, typhoid fever or cholera. Those passing inspection were taken on to a

processing center at the very tip of Manhattan called Castle Garden. There an affidavit

from the ship’s captain, including a list of all passengers, became the immigration

record. The Ancestry Tree shows this list.

A description of Castle Garden and its procedures can be seen at

http://www.immigrantships.net/newcompass/ancestral/imm_exp/castlegarden.html

At Castle Garden there were railroad ticket agents from whom tickets to Iowa

may have been purchased. I suspect that one or more of the Parker sons – Isaac,

Robert or David - who had already come to New York, may have met Our Parkers

there. The family may have enjoyed a great reunion. The three sons had not seen their

mother or siblings for several years.

West Again

The fourteen Parkers were bound for Scott County, Iowa and a new home in a

young country that had just gone through the first year of a terrible Civil War. I believe

that they must have come across the country by railroad. We don’t know the date they

left New York, but by train, with one change at Chicago, they may have taken about 4

24

days. If they had come to Iowa by wagon, as did the Browne and Carney4 families just a

few years before, it would have been very difficult to journey and prepare to buy a farm

in less than two months’ time.

They would not have brought farming implements on a train, even if they had

known what to bring. Remember that they had no experience with large-scale farming

in Ireland.

Farming in Scott County; Making Friends

Settling in Cleona Township, Scott County, Iowa

We don’t know if there was a cabin or house on the acreage. The people who

previously owned, the farm, Sarah and David Young, had given it up to a trustee named

Charles H. Kent, a money lender, seven months before. On March 8, 1862, at two

o’clock in the afternoon, on the courthouse steps, Robert Parker purchased the North

East Quarter of Section 18 in Township 79 North of Range 1 East in Scott County. He

paid $1,416.21. It seems likely that the Parkers came to Scott County on advice from

former neighbors in Ireland, such as the Paul brothers, James and William.7

Next to the new place, to the North, was a farm owned by W. J. Paul. Both

William and James Paul – brothers - owned tracts only about five miles away, in Section

23. They came to Iowa from County Antrim, adjacent to the north of County Down.

“The first settlement made in the township was in 1851. In April, 1852, Robert

Johnson and James Paul, both from Ireland, entered the west half of the southeast

quarter of section 23, and the southeast of the northeast, and northeast of the southeast

of the same section. Mr. Paul alone entered the northeast of the southwest quarter of

section 23. At that time the only house in the township was John and Joseph Sinter's,

on the northeast quarter of section 12……”James Paul broke 30 acres in the same time

(1853.)….”In the fall of 1853 William J. Paul, a brother of James, with his family came

out, and James erected a house on his claim, in which his brother lived until 1858.

These Pauls came from Ireland.”8

4 Not only Parkers, but Lavenders, Pauls, Wileys, Grahams, McCormicks and others in our

ancestry came from these mostly Protestant counties.

25

We have not clear knowledge of why Robert and Susanna chose to settle in

Scott County, Iowa, or why in Section 18 of Cleona Township. We do know that three of

the Parker sons, Isaac, Robert and David, preceded the fourteen that came west in

1862. We believe that Robert himself made a previous trip to America in 1861, returning

to County Down. We also know that there were other Irish immigrants nearby them in

Cleona Township. The families of James Paul, William Paul, and Robert Johnson are

listed in the 1860 Federal Census, so we know that they were in the township before

our Parkers arrived. By the time of the 1870 census for Cleona Township, Parker and

Paul and Ross and Bennett families were very near neighbors, and families named

Wilson and Swindel, identified as being from Ireland, also were close by.

The Farm

On 2 March, 1862, Robert and Susanna purchased by Indenture (with a recorded

mortgage) 160 acres (a quarter section) of ground at the North East Corner of Section

18 in Cleona Township, Scott County, Iowa. That land is only 5 miles northeast from

the town of Durant, about 6 miles north of Stockton, and about 7 miles north of Walcott.

They purchased it through Mr. Charles H. Kent, who was trustee for David O. and Sarah

M. Young. The Youngs, it seems, had purchased the land from James Thompson for

$520 in 18609.

Below is a map of Cleona Township in 1868 that shows the location of the Parker

farm. See Section 18 (along the left side,) NE corner.

26

The plot in this map includes 240 acres. The initial purchase was for 160 acres (a

quarter section) that Robert and Susanna purchased for $1416.21 on March 2, 1862.

They purchased 80 adjacent acres on Oct. 26, 1866, for $1,040 payable in three annual

installments, from a Samuel Slemmons who lived in Ohio,. This made up a very good

sized farm for that day. Remember; no tractors then, only oxen and horses.

The Times

What was happening in this country and this state when the Parkers arrived,

early in 1862? Between 1861 and 1863, the population of Scott County increased by

only 1.5%, or 388 persons. That was a very low rate in comparison with previous years.

At least fourteen of those new residents were Parkers.

Of course, the Civil War which began in 1861 was the greatest influence on

those times. Many of Iowa’s young men were joining the Union Army; in fact, more of

the state’s population than from any other northern state. Some historians have stated

that approximately 80,000 of Iowa’s 150,000 men served in the Union army. Many Iowa

towns became camps and enlistment centers as the army grew in 1861 and 1862.

Davenport, only 15 miles away, was a very important embarkation point for army units

27

going south on the Mississippi and for railroads running east and west. Davenport was

also used as the place where many Iowa men set foot in Iowa after their injury or

discharge. Certainly, the War was much on the minds of all Iowans during the war

years. Market prices of Iowa farm produce were also higher because of the war needs

and the availability of rail transport to the east where farms were devastated.

When so many Iowa men went to war many farms and businesses were short of

manpower. This also caused increased opportunities for those who stayed. Although

thousands of Irish immigrants from the northern states had joined the army, none of the

Parkers can be found to have gone to war.

The building of railroads was another great story of the times. The first railroad

bridge across the Mississippi was built at Davenport in 1856. It was possible that our

Parkers may have traveled all the way from New York to Scott County by rail. By 1862,

the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad (later called the Rock Island Line) reached Iowa

City, passing very near the south side of Cleona Township. The towns of Durant,

Stockton and Walcott, all within ten miles of the Parker farm, were early stations on the

M & M where farm produce could be loaded on trains.

It is important to note that when our Parkers arrived, less than ten years after the

first pioneers, many of those pioneers were neighbors. Much of the prairie ground had

not yet been broken by the plow. A note in the History of Scott County says that in

Cleona Township, “James Paul broke 30 acres in the same time.10” The year was 1853. At

the rate of 30 acres per year per plow team it took several years to open 240 acres of

prairie.

By 1862, almost all of Iowa’s native Indian people had left the state. The years

from 1845 to 1855 saw the greatest exodus of native Indians from Iowa. However, an

incident occurred in 1857 at Spirit Lake in northwest Iowa that reminded many pioneers

of the insecurity they lived with in earlier years. The nearest settlement of Indians was of

the Mesquakie (Fox) settlement in Tama County.

Church

While in Cleona Township, the family connected with a Congregational Church in

Durant, less than ten miles from the Parker farm. Unfortunately, that church building

28

was sold to a St. Paul’s Episcopal Church congregation in 1896. We have not been

able to find any records from the Congregational church. Here is a picture of the original

church building as it stands today:

School

Neighbors, Friends and Relationships; Ross, Paul, Lavender

A close neighbor, Francis Andrew Ross, did enlist on Dec. 13, 1861, just a few

weeks before the Parkers arrived. We shall see more about Francis Andrew Ross later

in this study. Another close neighbor was James Paul, who with his brother William first

entered land in Cleona Township in 1852 and moved to this farm in 185711.

Robert and Susanna Buried at Durant

When father Robert Parker died on February 23, 1868, he was buried in the

cemetery just southeast of the town of Durant, Iowa, and only about 5 miles south of the

Parker farm. Son Samuel and daughter Susanna joined him. Mother Susanna’s body

was brought here when she died in 1893. Here is a picture of the grave site which I

took in 2006.

29

Life Without Father

30

West Again; New Homes

The Farm is Sold

The family sold 160 acres of the farm in 1879, ten years after Robert died.

Susanna’s name was still on the plat map of Cleona Township in

Moving Near Gilman

Why Here?

Another question that I have not yet solved is this: why did the family move to the

area around Gilman, in Marshall County?

New Generations, New Connections

Parkers Near Gilman

Richard

Samuel

William

Paul

Lavender

Carney

Etc.

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The Telephone Men

The business of telephony has been part of our family’s history for four

generations. My Grandfather, Robert L. Parker, was a real telephone pioneer. He

began his career building rural telephone lines in Iowa in 1901and stayed in the inde-

pendent (non-Bell) telephone business until he died in 1940. He taught the phone

business to my dad, Robert D. Parker. He also stayed in it throughout his career, first

as an independent and then for 30 years with Illinois Bell Telephone Company.

My first employer after college graduation was ITT-Kellogg, for many

years known as Kellogg Switchboard and Supply Company, in Chicago, one of the

oldest and largest manufacturers of phones and switchboards for independent

companies. I remember writing the design specification for a Kellogg “Relaymatic”

switchboard system for the town of Quimby, Iowa in 1959.

After graduating from Iowa State University, my son Roger D. Parker was

employed by the Iowa Department of Transportation in their communications

operations. He is still in the communications business today with the DOT at Ames.

Iowa and the Parkers and the Telephone

Beginnings

Although today’s phones may look very different from those of 1900, their basic

purpose is the same. In whatever shape or size, telephones enable personal

communication between people over distances.

In 1876, in Chicago, the Cubs won their first National League game, in

Wyoming, George Custer was killed in the Battle of Little Big Horn, in Massachusetts,

Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first patent for a speaking telephone, and in

Gilman,Iowa, Robert Lavender Parker, my Grandfather, was born. While grandfather

was growing up, the telephone business was also growing. They seemed to run into

each other right after Rob graduated from Iowa College in 1900.

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Many of us think about the telephone as beginning with the United States

patents awarded to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. Actually, many men had been

working on “telephone” ideas for several years. In addition to Bell, Thomas Edison,

Elisha Gray and several others were working on devices for speech transmission and

applied for patents during 1876. We know now that Gray and Bell applied for patent

protection on almost the identical device on the same day, in February of 1876.

Neither of them had actually constructed that device by that day. The story of

telephone invention patents reads like a minute-by-minute thriller novel. By 1900,

although the telephone had been in use in many of the great cities of the United

States, very few existed in Iowa. That’s because the Bell Telephone companies didn’t

pay much attention to rural areas or small towns.

One of the benefits that come from a U. S. patent is that the law gives exclusive

use rights to holders for as long as XX years. If you don’t want to use your invention

yourself, or to make and sell copies of it, you can sell those rights to others for money.

The Bell Telephone companies chose to keep their rights, so no other people could

make or sell or lease telephones for 17 years. If you lived in a small town, or out in the

country, expensive poles and wires had to be installed to give you telephone service.

The Bell companies decided to use their time and money where they brought the most

income and that meant in big cities. So, while the important Bell patents were in force

until 1893 and 1894, about 150,000 telephones (a lot!) were installed, but almost all of

them were in big cities and most near the east coast. Rural states like Iowa had just a

very few. The Bell companies set their prices for instruments and services high, to

give them good profits. When the Bell patents expired after seventeen years, in 1893,

thousands of small companies rushed to organize telephone service, at much lower

than Bell rates, in states like Iowa. That’s when Robert L. Parker began his telephone

career.

One of the earliest telephone companies in Iowa was at Brooklyn, in Poweshiek

County. The Web site of the Brooklyn Mutual Telephone Cooperative12 says that the

first phones were installed there in 187813. Brooklyn is only a few miles from Gilman

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and Grinnell. Some of our Lavender relatives lived near there. In 1900, when Rob

Parker graduated from Iowa College, he was working to build farm telephone lines

around Brooklyn.

Robert Lavender Parker, Telephone Pioneer

My grandfather, your ancestor, was an example of the American dream

realized. He was born and grew up on an Iowa farm. He was the first in his family to

graduate from college. He used his early working years learning a new technology

which began in the year of his birth. He lived a life pioneering that technology,

developing it in two states, was a proud family man and a respected business man

and a great community leader.

Yes, Rob (as his wife called him) L. Parker and the telephone were born in the

same year – the Centennial year of the United States. His father, William, was of a

family of 16 that came to Iowa from County Down in 1861. They bought land and

farmed in Cleona Township in western Scott County. In 1873, William and two of his

brothers, Richard and James, moved to the area where Marshall, Jasper, Poweshiek

and Tama Counties join. They bought land and farmed in northeast Jasper and

northwest Poweshiek Counties. There, William met and married Hannah Jane

Lavender, whose family also came from northern Ireland. Robert Lavender was born

on October 23, 1876 on the farm in Hickory Grove Township, Jasper County.

Grandfather made the development of telephone service to small towns and

farmers his personal business for all of his working life. He was certainly a Telephone

Pioneer in Iowa and Illinois. He introduced his son, my Dad, to the telephone business

and he, too, was a telephone man for all of his working life.

I Remember

Grandfather died when I was five years old. Here’s the way I think of him:

34

I felt good in his lap and his arms,

he helped me, and

I am very proud of him.

Here is a picture of him and me on the front steps of his

house, when I was less than a year old. Grandpa was still in working condition then,

and was already helping me to make word sounds.

Here is another one, taken about four years later, with

Dad. By that time, Grandpa was pretty sick. This picture appeared in The Geneseo

Republic on Feb. 10, 1939, in an article titled “Parker Serves as Head of Phone

Company 10 Years,” and in Telephony Magazine, in an article titled “Three Generations

of Telephone Men.”

Growing at Gilman and Grinnell

Rob was born on October 23,1876 on a farm a few miles southwest of Gilman,

in Jasper County. His father was William E. Parker and his mother was Hannah

35

Lavender Parker. He was their first child. His sister, Edith was born three years later

and a brother, William E, followed in another two years.

Rob’s father was a son of Robert and Susanna Parker, who came from Ireland

with twelve of their sixteen children. Hannah’s family, the Lavenders, also came from

Ireland. So you would definitely call my grandfather an Irishman.

Young Rob was a cheerful, friendly and gregarious kid. He was of only average

height and weight, but was well-coordinated. Rob and his parents were close, and he

was helpful to his father on the farm. He took part in school activities, and was a good

student. Their farm was about half way between the towns of Gilman and Newburg,

Iowa where Rob was active in young people’s groups at the Congregational Churches

in both Gilman and Newburg. After high school, he enrolled in Iowa College, now

known as Grinnell College, in Grinnell, Iowa. He graduated in 1900, with a degree in

History and Political Science. College records from that year show that at

commencement he was awarded a prize for excellence in extemporaneous speaking;

a very good skill for a future salesman. He got to know his future wife, Annie Elizabeth

Carney, whom everyone called Bess, at a young persons’ Christian Endeavor party.

36

Figure 3 - Spring, 1896, Gilman Congregational Church Y P S C ETop Row - Will Wylie, Linda Dunkle Wylie, Gertrude Ingersoll Evans, Clara Lavender Buck, Grant

Ramsey, Mariam Ingersoll Howe, Abi Ramsey Frankforth, Lillian Ingersoll Ramsey.2nd Row - Robert Lavender Parker, Roy Wylie, Archie Pence, Frank Williams, Mamie Paul Madill,

Elba Neely.3 rd Row – Jesse Ramsey, Rev. R. F. Lavender, Arthur Funk, John Frankforth, Edith Parker Lewis.Bottom Row – Jennie Lavender Fanton, Ida Hulin Carmer, Eva Williams, Ida Lavender Hayes.

Grandfather helped Bess enroll at Iowa College and helped her with college

costs. Her mother, Martha Emma Browne Carney, was one of the first women in Iowa

to graduate from college.

They were married on the last day of December, 1901 and took a honeymoon

trip to Chicago.

The Family of Bess Carney

Bess’s father, John M. Carney, was a realtor, a Justice of the Peace, and the first

mayor of the town of Gilman; a very interesting fellow. He was one of the first rural

school teachers in Poweshiek County. He was a member of the matriculating class of

1860 of Iowa College (now Grinnell College,) and joined all but three of that class who

37

joined the Union Army before completing their freshman year. A member of the 4 th Iowa

Cavalry Volunteers, he served as Regimental Commissary Sargent until the war ended

in August, 1865.

Starting On and Down the Wires

Shortly after his graduation, Rob visited a family friend southeast of Grinnell

who had recently installed one of the first telephones in the area. He was fascinated,

and decided to make the telephone his future. By that time, about 1901, there were

companies in many Iowa towns setting up telephone services.

Rob took his bicycle and went west, looking for a telephone job. We have two

letters that Rob wrote to his sweetheart Bess before they were married.

The Traer Years

The Robert L. Parker family moved from Gladbrook, Iowa to Traer in Oct. of 1905. Thru

the winter of 1905-06 they were living in rooms back of the telephone office which was located

in the central portion of the second story of the building, with living rooms to the north.

The Henderson Brothers owned, and operated, a grocery business on the first floor of

this building – located on the north-east corner of the main intersection of the town. The B.

Frank Thomas law office occupied the front room of the 2nd story.

Mrs. Parker, and her sister, were operating the telephone switch board when the first

news came over the wires concerning the great San Francisco earth quake of 1906.

In the spring of 1906 the Parkers moved into rooms owned by Mrs. Kordena, located on

the ground where Dr. Farnham later built his hospital. After living in these rooms for 6 months

the Parkers moved – in Sept. of 1906, to the McComas house on Woodlawn Avenue. Mrs.

Grace Armstrong, a friend of the Parker family, lived with them in this home for some time. The

Parkers lived in this home thru 1907 and 1908 but in the spring of 1909 Mr. Parker took a job for

the Central Iowa Telephone Co. and moved the family to Prairie City, Iowa.

38

This job lasted only one year and in 1910 Mr. Parker was hired by the Farmers Mutual

Telephone Co., of Traer, so back the Parkers came to the town of Traer, Ia.

At this time (Sept. 1910) the Parker family moved into the house at 302 So. Main St.,

which was owned by Mrs. Eleanor Carrick, and was located across the alley to the north from

the Methodist Church. This was the first of two spells of living in this home for the Parker family.

In the year 1913 the Parkers moved into the residence owned by Miss Grace Wood,

located just west of the Frank Thomas corner.

In the fall of 1915 the Parkers moved to a house located 2 blocks east of the park,

owned by the Metcalf family. After two years in this home the Parkers moved across the street

south into a house owned by B. Frank Thomas, remaining here for only a few months.

On Oct. 23rd, 1917, Parkers left this section of town, east of the park, moving for the

second time into the house on So. Main St. owned by Mrs. Carrick. After about 3 years the

Parker family moved, on April 1st, 1920, from this house on So. Main St, into a house which Mr.

Parker had purchased for a family home from Mr. Wm. Kuhl. It is located to the west of the high

school and across the street north from the school athletic field.

In the fall of 1928 Mr. Parker changed jobs again, this time to Bloomington, Illinois,

where he managed telephone companies.

Moving and Building

To Illinois, Bloomington and Geneseo

In Geneseo

His Family

Back to Gilman

Robert Donald Parker, Telephone Man

My Dad was born in Traer, Iowa on the 8th of September, 1914. His oldest sister,

Winifred (Winnie) was eleven and Muriel was six. The Parker family lived in a house at 302

39

So. Main St., which was located across the alley to the north from the Methodist Church, just

two blocks from Traer’s main business street. The church and the street (2nd Street) are still

there.

In the year 1913 the Parkers moved into a residence owned by Miss Grace Wood,

located just west of the Frank Thomas corner.

His Youth

With Esther Pauline Swanson

Independent Telephony

Mention Telephony Magazine, Jan. 7, 1939 for Dad’s article and other

ads.

With Mother Bell

Remembering Dad

My Side

Robert Marion Parker Family

With Mom and Dad

My story started on June 5th, 1935, when I was born in the Hammond Henry

Hospital in Geneseo, Illinois. Geneseo, in Henry County, had less than 3,000 people

then. It was mostly a farming town, but it had its own telephone company. My

grandfather was its manager. Dad worked for him as Line Chief, which meant that he

was in charge of building and keeping up the company’s lines and poles throughout the

40

town and for about 15 miles around. It was outdoor work, mostly, and he worked long

hours. When storms tore through, dad and his men went out to splice and put them

back up. I still have a pair of pole climbers with sharp hooks which he strapped to his

shins for mounting poles. Mom worked as a switchboard operator for a while.

Grandfather was a leader in the community. Both he and Dad were presidents of

the Kiwanis Club. We had a lot of family around us; Dad’s mother, Bess Carney Parker,

Mom’s father and mother, Swan and Olga Swanson, who farmed a few miles to the east

of town, Mom’s sister Lillian and her husband Tom, and one of Dad’s sisters, Winifred

Beachler and her husband. Aunt Lil’s husband ran the maintenance shop for a large

coal strip mine. Aunt Winnie’s husband Russ was personnel manger for the great John

Deere Harvester Works at Moline. Winnie also owned the Beachler Shop, the best

women’s wear shop in Geneseo.

I can’t imagine my parents’ feelings when I was born with a cleft palate and a

hairlip. I do know that they borrowed a substantial amount of money so I could have

corrective surgery in Chicago when only a few months old. It took them several years to

pay that money back.14 I’ve always felt a great debt to Mom and Dad, not only for their

love but for their extraordinary investments in me.

Sister Diane Margaret was born just thirteen months after me, and was a perfect

baby. We were playmates and friends for all of our lives together. Geneseo had to

elementary schools, then, the South Side and the North Side. I went to the South

School for kindergarten and first grade.

41

My Best Decision, Loretta

After Bradley

My Children, My Pride

The Places We Lived

Back to Story City

Diane Margaret Parker Little Family

Diane, My Sister

Roger H. Little

Their Children

Etc.

The Family in 2012

Our Parkers: Histories of the 16 Who Came

Introductions

This section is an introduction to the members of the family that came from

Ireland and started our history in Iowa. Many of their stories will be covered in the

chronological (more or less) sections above.

The notes below came from the wonderful little notebook made by my

Grandmother Bess in the 1940’s: Here is a picture of the precious little hand-made

memoir which my Grandmother Bess Carney Parker left me. Her husband, my

grandfather, was Robert Lavender Parker, son of William E. Parker, who was the son of

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Robert Parker who came from County Down in 1860.

This little notebook has 21 leaves, some written on

both sides, and is 4 ½ inches wide by 5 ¾ inches tall.

There are many mentions of our common ancestors.

Some of the pages contain handwriting not of

Grandmother Bess. Perhaps you can guess the

authors from the sense of the notes. If you think

seeing the hand would help, I can send you pictures of

the pages like the one above.

The memoir is not dated, although I see on p. 7

a note, obviously added, that one of our people died in

Sept., 1950. I suspect that most of it was written in the

1940s, after my grandfather died.

So you won’t have to read Grandma’s

sometimes difficult writing, I’ll summarize them for you hereafter, shown thus:

Father Robert

Robert Parker, 1st, as I call him, was born in 1800 or 1805 or

1806 in Newry, County Down, Ireland. He was the patriarch of our

Parker line. Husband of Susanna, father of 16. Died on Feb 23, 1868

at home in Cleona Township, Scott County, Iowa. Buried at Durant

Cemetery, Durant, Iowa.

“Robert Parker, born in Ireland in 1800, he came to America, bringing his family with him, in 1861, from Newry, County Down, arriving in January, 1862. They were of Presbyterian faith in northern Ireland, not being catholic as was the southern part.

In 1827 he married Susanna Lowery, also of County Down. Her home was in a town called Newry, near Loch Brickland.”

43

Mother Susanna

Matriarch of the family. Born Susanna Lowery, in Ireland in

1807, married Robert in 1827, came to Scott County, Iowa in 1861,

lived on the farm in Cleona Township for 17 years, moved to Jasper

County in 1879, where she lived with son James. She had 16

children. When she died in 1893 she was buried at Durant beside

Robert 1st and her son, Samuel, and her daughter, Susanna.

In 1827 he married Susanna Lowery, also of County Down. Her

home was in a town called Newry, near Loch Brickland. Her father’s name was James Lowery and her mother’s maiden name was Magaffin. After the death of her father, James Lowery, Susanna’s mother (Magaffin) married a 2nd time; James Wilson. Their descendants are Alex and Kimberly Wilson, of West Liberty, Iowa.

They were 6 weeks on a sailing boat crossing the Atlantic. They settled on a farm in Scott Col, Iowa, northeast of Durant. In this country they became Congregationalists, bringing their church letters from the church in Ireland.

He died 2/23/1868 at his home in Scott County, at the age of 67, and is buried in the cemetery at Durant, Iowa.

“My husband Robert L. Parker and young son Robert Donald (my father /RmP) visited this cemetery in 1930. This verse is engraved on the tombstone;

‘Go home, dear children, and cease from tears,We must be here till Christ appears,Repent in time, while time you have,There is no repentance in the grave.’

Son James

James, the oldest son of Robert and Susanna, was born in

County Down, Ireland on May 13, 1829. James never married. After

his father’s death, when the farm in Scott County was sold, he moved

to Hickory Grove Township, Jasper County, just southwest of Gilman,

44

Iowa. His mother, Susanna, lived with James for many years, as did . He died on June

10, 1899 and is buried at Prairie View Cemetery at Gilman.

Isaac

Isaac was born in County Down in 1831. He came to America in June, 1848 and

settled in New York City. He married Etta Conacher, daughter of John (a merchant)

and Eliza Conacher, with whom he had one child, named Euphemia. Isaac died on

January 7, 1879 and was buried in New York City.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann was the oldest daughter of Robert and Susanna,

born in County down on Christmas Day, 1833. She was 28 years

old when the Parkers arrived in Scott County. In 1867 she married

Francis Andrew Ross, a neighbor of the Parkers who had served in

the Civil War. In 1875 they moved to a farm that Francis bought in

Washington County, near Franklin. They had six children. She

always was proud of her family. Matilda, her unmarried sister, lived with her for some

time, and she was visited by her sister Esther. Mary Ann died on October 1, 1900, and

is buried in Elm Grove Cemetery, Washington County, Iowa. Richard F. Ross, of Ames,

Iowa, is the great grandson of Mary Ann.

Robert

Robert, third son of Robert and Susanna, was born in County Down in about

1831. He left Ireland at Belfast and came to America in 1852. He stayed at New York

City, where he married Sarah Jane Blackwood. Robert died on Nov. 5, 1866. He

founded and owned a substantial business called Parker Varnish Works, in Brooklyn.

They had two children, Jennie and Robert Alexander Parker. Jennie, who married

Charles A. Resch, had two children, Robert Parker Resch and Charles Arthur Resch.

Robert Alexander Parker had no children.

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Ester

Grandmother Bess’s notes say that Ester (or Esther) was born on Dec. 21, 1833

in County Down. However, several census records made during her life in Chicago all

point to 1843 as the probable year of her birth. On June 11, 1866, she married William

B. MacCauley (or McCauley, or MacAuley?,) in Scott County. He took her to Chicago,

where he became a policeman. They had six children. Esther (or Ester) lived until 1934.

She remained in contact with her family in Iowa.

Susanna

Susanna Parker was about 27 years old when the Parkers arrived in Iowa.

Grandmother Bess’s notes state that “Susanna was very good at needlepoint sewing.”

Susanna married Eralza Allen Bennett on June 17, 1865. Eralza’s family were

neighbors of the Parkers in Cleona Township. After Susanna died on May 13, 1869,

Mr. Bennett married Hannah Smiley on 4 July, 1870. Eralza and Hannah cared for

Evelyn, handicapped daughter of Eralza and Susanna, until she died on Nov. 30, 1905

at the Glenwood Institution in Mills, Iowa. Evelyn is buried with her father in Ida Grove.

Susanna lies with her mother and father and her brother Samuel in the Durant

Cemetery.

David

We think that David Samuel Parker was born on Dec. 11, 1836 in County Down,

and came to America in 1854 on the ship Alleron. We know that he came out to Iowa,

either with or after Our Parkers arrived there, where he married Georgia Margaret

Sherfey at Muscatine on his birthday in 1866. David and Georgia witnessed the

marriage of his sister Mary Ann to Francis Andrew Ross in 1867. He and Georgia had

three children named David Burton, Estelle Gay, and George Hull Parker. It seems

possible that David may have influenced Robert and Susanna to settle in Iowa. He and

Georgia moved to Chicago, where David was a salesman. He died on Dec. 26, 1889,

and is buried in Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery.

I’d like to know more about David.

46

Jeane (Eliza)

Matilda

Agnes, 1st

Ellen

Isabelle

William

William, born on September 10, 1849, was my great-grandfather.

Richard

The following piece on the history and family of Richard comes from the hand of

John David Parker, one of the Parker Team:

Richard Parker, one of 14 children of Robert and Susanna Lowery Parker,

immigrated with his family from County Down Ireland to Scott County, Iowa in the early

1860’s. Loughbrickland Church was the site of young Richard’s baptism into the

Presbyterian faith in Ireland.

Richard’s father died a few short years after their arrival in Iowa. He (and

eventually his wife Susanna along with a son Sam) is buried in the Durant, Iowa

cemetery. Robert acquired 240 acres in Cleona township Scott county prior to his

death. Oldest son James along with the younger boys and their sisters kept the family

together during those tumultuous years including the panic of 1873 by tending to the

farm together. Teamwork learned as a family and by working with other Cleona

township residents late of the Old Sod such as the Pauls, Ross’, and more served as a

template for the Parker’s for generations.

Eventually, Richard and his brother William, exercising their inherit Scotch-Irish

independence set forth to make their own way in the world. They arrived in central Iowa

and soon (1875) bought a farm in Hickory Grove township, Jasper County, Iowa. They

purchased 100 acres apiece plus sister Mary Ann’s brother-in-law S.H. Ross invested in

47

40 acres to make a 240 acre farm for the brothers to operate. Other family members

and Cleona township neighbors came to join the brothers in the ensuing years.

The brothers prospered. The young brother’s soon found themselves on the

path to marriage alter. William married Hannah Lavender and shortly thereafter Richard

married Matilda Paul. William and Hannah’s family history is recorded by Robert

Parker, their great grandson. Richard and Matilda were my (John D. Parker) great

grandparents. I will focus primarily on Richard and Matilda’s branch.

Matilda Paul Parker’s father was William John Paul. Her mother was Martha

Buick Paul. They hailed from County Antrim. William John Paul’s brothers were

amongst the very earliest settlers of Scott County, Iowa. The Paul family, along with the

Ross’, Buick’s, Lowry’s, McIlrath’s, Lavender’s, etc. are forever interwoven with the

Parker’s through marriage, land, church, spirit, money, and common heritage. Their

names are forever etched in the history and records of the Gilman (Marshall county)

and Newburg (Jasper county) areas of Iowa.

Shortly after their marriage and the birth of their firstborn William John Parker,

Richard and Matilda bought a 160 acre farm in section 12 Hickory Grove Township

Jasper county Iowa. (Brother William bought 160 acres just down the road a mile in

Poweshiek County, Chester township.) Soon brother James and Mother Susanna

arrived in Jasper county along with, at various intervals, sisters Aggie and Matilda.

Sister Isabelle married David Paul and lived nearby. Sister Ellen married James L. Paul

and also farmed in close proximity.

A close relationship was maintained with the Ross’ of West Chester—sisters

Aggie and Mary Ann married Sam H. and Francis Ross, respectfully.

Richard and Matilda were devoted to the land all of their lives. Two more sons

were born to this union, Samuel and James. Note that Richard named his boys after his

brothers---Matilda named her boys after her Dad and brother. As the boys grew to

manhood Granddad W.J. Paul, Uncle James Parker, Uncle Will Parker, Aunt Ellen

(Parker) Paul, Uncle’s James and John Paul all farmed in the vicinity. More Irish

relatives and friends were nearby together making a formidable enclave. Soon

German’s and Norwegians joined the group. Individualism reigned but no one was a

48

success without his neighbor prospering with him through utilization of joint thriftiness

and hard work. A neighbor’s problem was your problem.

Richard’s dream was a farm for each son. Before he died he had achieved this

goal but the land was mortgaged. His sons, William John, Sam, and James paid the

notes and bought more farms eventually owning farms in Jasper, Marshall, Poweshiek,

and Grundy counties.

Sam and his wife, Grace McIlrath Parker, had no children. James and his wife

Ester Wallace Parker had a son Paul and daughter Frances. Paul’s son Jim lives in the

area while his sisters are residents of other states. Frances and her husband Bob Ross

ran a highly successful resort near Spirit Lake, Iowa. Their children Carl, Larry, Kathy,

Mary, and Jane are spread throughout the county but maintain close communication via

modern technology. William John Parker and his wife Etta Shayer had a daughter

Marie and a son Richard. Marie’s daughter (her son Charles is deceased) maintains

ownership of a family farm north of Newburg. Richard’s daughter Mary is deceased—

her family keeps her property in Marshall county. Richard’s son John (the writer of this

missive) continues to farm (with wife Susan) in the Gilman Newburg area just like Dad,

and Granddad, Great Granddad, and Great Great Granddad in earlier times.

The entire Parker clan should be forever grateful to Robert and Susanna for

instilling all the intangibles such as independent spirit, self reliance, perseverance,

courage to try, common sense, respect for fellow man, perhaps some wit (and

wisdom?), and old fashioned work ethics throughout the family. We feature farmers,

inventors, scholars, warriors, pilots, business men and much more amongst our

numerous careers. But family ties (perhaps this is Susanna’s gift) built upon devotion,

caring, and more continue to shine through time and over oceans and miles to this day.

Thank you, Robert and Susanna.

Samuel

Samuel was born in 1856 in County Down. He died at age 19, on March 10,

1875. He’s buried in the Durant Cemetery, in the plot with his father, mother, and sister

Susanna.

49

Agnes, 2nd

Agnes was born on June 20, 1857, in County Down. She moved with her family

to Cleona Township, where she met and married Samuel Hildreth Ross. She died on

Feb. 22, 1945 and is buried in Elm Grove Cemetery, Washington County, Iowa.

Unanswered Questions

Why did not our family pass down stories about their life in the homeland?

Why did they come to America?

How did they get the money to do it?

Why to Cleona Township?

When arrive at Cleona?

Why to Jasper/Marshall/Poweshiek County?

Did William and his father, Robert; journey to America early in 1861? Did

William stay?

Sources and Resources

Grandmother Bess's Notes, a Family Treasure

Questions Remain

Our research has turned up several mysteries. Sometimes the notes of

Grandmother Bess (GB) do not agree with other records. We also have found several

conflicts between records. For instance, Grandmother Bess’s notes consistently state

that Robert Parker was born in 1800, whereas other records claim his birth in 1805 or

1806. Since there are no official birth records from Ireland, the truth is hard to

determine.

In another instance, the list of Parker passengers on the Steamship Etna

includes the name of a Millie, born about 1858. No other record of Millie has been

50

found. All family notes include son William as one of the 12, born in 1849, but there is

no William in the Etna list nor is there any other record of his passage to America. I

think that William (Willie) was the Millie on the list, even though the birth date is off by

about ten years15.

I’ve included a list of questions about our heritage that I think are still

unanswered in a section near the end of this work. I hope that the answers are found,

by someone some day.

Notes from The Team

Although Richard and John and I have met a few times, most of the information

passed between us has been via email. Of course, all of our communication with Colin

has been electronic. There are hundreds of messages, many of them very valuable and

great contributions to our history. I hope to make all of it available to readers of this

book.

You will also see messages from others who have been helpful; Ros Davies, who

has a wonderful County Down Genealogy Web site at

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/

Afrontpage.htm .

There is an Irishman living in Loughbrickland today, David Hanna, who might be

related to us (if we could only prove the relationship.) He sent me a chart showing his

line of Parkers and Hannas.

Stories

I want to include many family stories in this book. I’ve not yet decided on the best

way to do this. Links make that easy, so maybe I’ll publish this whole thing on a Web

site. I’ll have to digitize many of the pages from Grandmother Bess – perhaps as .pdf

files.

51

Web Sites

Photographs, Maps, Sketches

Sources.

From Prairie to Corn Belt, by Allan G. Bogue, is probably the best source on

agricultural practices in Iowa of the pioneer period, but see also John Hudson, Making

the Corn Belt: A Geographical History of Middle-Western Agriculture (Bloomington, IN,

1994);

David B. Danbom, Born in the Country: A History of Rural America (Baltimore,

1995);

Hall S. Barron, Mixed Harvest: The Second Great Transformation in the Rural

North, 1870-1930 (Chapel Hill, NC, 1997);

Malcom J. Rohrbough, The Trans-Appalachian Frontier, 1978, and

Lewis Atherton, Main Street on the Middle Border, 1954.

Cyrenus Cole, Iowa Through the Years, 1940 and George F. Parker, Iowa Pioneer

Foundations, 1940, both published by the State Historical Society of Iowa, contain many

reminiscences of Iowans who experienced the 19th century.

Earle D. Ross, Iowa Agriculture: An Historical Survey (Iowa City, 1951).

Marvin Bergman, Editor, The Annals of Iowa, State Historical Society of Iowa.

Dr. Bergman has helped me in both these pages and in my writings on Iowa Telephone

History. He can be reached at: Marvin-Bergman@uiowa.edu | 319.335.3931 |

iowahistory.org  , 402 Iowa Avenue, Iowa City, IA 52240. Here are some references he

sent me in April, 2015.

For the political culture of the period,

Robert Cook, Baptism of Fire: The Republican Party in Iowa, 1838–1878 (Ames,

1994)

52

Cook’s article, “The Political Culture of Antebellum Iowa: An Overview,” in The

Annals of Iowa 52 [Summer 1993], 225–50 [and reprinted in my Iowa History Reader].

For town development, see Lewis Atherton, Main Street on the Middle Border

(1954; repr., Bloomington, IN, 1984);

Timothy Mahoney, River Towns in the Great West: The Structure of Provincial

Urbanization in the Midwest, 1820–1870 (New York, 1990);

and Timothy Mahoney, Provincial Lives:  Middle-Class Experience in the

Antebellum Middle West (New York, 1999)

(or Mahoney’s articles in the Annals of Iowa [Summer 1990 and Fall 2002])

. On women’s experiences during the period (which, of course, reflect the

broader frontier experience),

see Glenda Riley, Frontierswomen: The Iowa Experience (Ames, 1981) (as well

as a number of articles Riley wrote for the Annals of Iowa and other publications, one of

which is reprinted in my Iowa History Reader).

For the immigrant experience, see Jon Gjerde, The Minds of the West: The

Ethnocultural Evolution in the Rural Midwest, 1830-1917 (Chapel Hill, NC, 1997).

For Iowa’s natural history, see Cornelia Mutel, The Emerald Horizon: The

History of Nature in Iowa (Iowa City, 2008). Also possibly relevant is Robert Swierenga,

Pioneers and Profits: Land Speculation on the Iowa Frontier (Ames, 1968); Steven Hahn

and Jonathan Prude, eds.

The Countryside in the Age of Capitalist Transformation (Chapel Hill, NC, 1985);

David W. Galenson and Clayne L. Pope, “Economic and Geographic Mobility on the

Farming Frontier: Evidence from Appanoose County, Iowa, 1850–1870,

” Journal of Economic History 49 (1989), 635–55;

and Fred W. Peterson, Homes in the Heartland: Balloon Frame Farmhouses of

the Upper Midwest, 1850–1920 (Lawrence, KS, 1992)

(or Peterson’s article, “Tradition and Change in Nineteenth-Century Iowa

Farmhouses,” Annals of Iowa 52 [Summer 1993], 251–81).

One of the best general accounts of the frontier experience is in Malcolm J.

Rohrbough, The Transappalachian Frontier: People, Societies, and Institutions, 1775–

53

1850 (New York, 1978), especially chapter 13, “The Last Frontier of the Old Northwest:

Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa.”

Notes

1 John lives at 3169 Yates Avenue, Gilman, Iowa on a farm that has been in Parker

family for over one hundred years. ETC.2 Dr. Richard F. Ross lives in Ames and in California. ETC3 Perhaps there is a lesson for you; John and I have both lived for more than 60

years! Richard Frances Ross and I were born in 1958. We should have met long, long

before. Please find and get in touch with your relatives! You’ll find it very rewarding. This

book and the Robert Parker Family Tree 1 at Ancestry .com will help you identify them, but

making contact is up to you.4 Loughbrickland Presbyterian Church baptism records, Parkers, 1844 to 1883.5 In the church record of baptisms the name of a child born in 1849 is blank. It must

have been William, who was born on Sept. 10, 1849.6 See also: “The Graves are Walking; TheGreat Famine and the Saga of the Irish

People,” John Kelly, Henry Holt, 2012.7 From The History of Cleona Township, History of Scott County, Iowa, 1882,

Chicago: Interstate Publishing Co.8Interstate Publishing Co: “The township of Cleona is an exclusively agricultural

one, there being neither village nor post office within its boundaries. It comprises

congressional township 79, range 1 east. It is wholly prairie, there being not more than 15

acres of timber in the entire township. Notwithstanding the late date of its settlement, in

comparison with the townships lying along the river, it is now (1888) all under fence, and

under a high state of cultivation. There is practically no waste land in the township.

“The first entry made in the township was by Jacob Royal, Sept. 15, 1851, and

comprised the southeast quarter of section 25, township 79, range 1 east. The last was by

Ebenezer Cook, eb. 28, 1856, the north half of the northwest quarter of section 34. The

first settlement made in the township was in 1851. In April, 1852, Robert Johnson and

James Paul entered the west half of the southeast quarter of section 23, and the southeast

of the northeast, and northeast of the southeast of the same section. Mr. Paul alone

entered the northeast of the southwest quarter of section 23. At that time the only house in

the township was John and Joseph Sinter's, on the northeast quarter of section 12. Early

in the spring of 1853 Robert Johnson built a house, hiring the Sinters to help him, and

boarding with them while the work was being done. Thomas Johnson, the father of Robert,

went on his claim in April, 1853, and during the same year broke 20 acres of land. James

Paul broke 30 acres in the same time.

In the fall of 1853 William J. Paul, a brother of James, with his family came out, and

James erected a house on his claim, in which he and his brother lived until 1858. The

Sinters came to this country from England. Joseph Sinter is now (1888) dead and John

now lives in Hickory Grove Township. The Johnsons and Pauls came from Ireland. James

is yet living in the township, and William is in Cedar County.”

IndexHere I hope to index the entire book.

9 10 “History of Cleona Township11 See “History of Cleona Twp,” att’d.12 See http://showcase.netins.net/web/brooktelco 13 I don’t know if that company stayed in business until the patents expired, but I’ll

try to find out.14Shulman, The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell’s Secret.

Just before I went to college, in 1953, they paid for another series of “cosmetic”

operations in St. Louis.

Isaac came to the United States in 1848 and lived in Brooklyn, New York. He

married Etta (Effie) Conacher, and died in New York in 1879. Robert came over in 1852,

married Sara Jane Blackwood, and built a varnish works in Brooklyn. He died in 1866.

David came to America in 1854.

Another daughter, Agnes, died as a child in Ireland before the rest of the family

came to America. We call her Agnes the first, because another, Agnes 2nd, was one of the

14 who came together. We believe that Robert and Susanna had 16 children in County

Down. Isaac came to the United States in 1848 and lived in Brooklyn, New York. He

married Etta (Effie) Conacher, and died in New York in 1879. Robert came over in 1852,

married Sara Jane Blackwood, and built a varnish works in Brooklyn. He died in 1866.

David came to America in 1854.

Another daughter, Agnes, died as a child in Ireland before the rest of the family

came to America. We call her Agnes the first, because another, Agnes 2nd, was one of the

14 who came together.15 I’ve found a problem in transcribed ship’s passenger lists: If you look at a copy of

the original, handwritten lists as signed by the ship’s captain upon arrival, you’ll see that a

passenger’s Age is listed, in years. The transcribed lists, shown as typed, often change

that information to Year Born. Because the transcribers have no other information at

hand, they must guess whether a passenger was born in the early or later part of a year.

For instance, a woman recorded as 30 years old may have been only a few days from her

31st, but a transcriber would not know precisely in which year she was born. Passenger

lists are not accurate records of date of birth.

Many Roberts You will see that Robert Parker is a very popular name in this

family. To reduce the confusion this causes, I will refer to them this way:

Robert 1st – Husband of Susanna, father of the fifteen immigrants,

Robert 2nd – Second son of Robert 1st, husband of Sara Blackwood and one

of the fifteen,

Robert 3rd – Robert Lavender Parker, son of William Edward of the fifteen,

husband of Bess Carney, father of Muriel, Winifred, and Robert Donald, my grandfather,

Robert 4th – Robert Donald Parker, son of Robert Lavender Parker, husband

of Esther Swanson, father of Robert Marion and Diane Margaret.

Robert 5th – Robert Marion Parker, son of Robert Donald, husband of Loretta

LeRoy, author of this book,

Robert 6th – Robert Dana Parker, my son,

Robert 7th, - Robert Paul Parker, son of Robert Dana.

There are several other Robert Parkers, sons of sons and daughters in our line and

scions of Irish families. Continuing research might prove their connection to us.

Our Iowa Pioneers. The history of the Parker family in the state of Iowa is deep

and broad. We have several other ancestors who came to Iowa and Illinois as early

settlers. Grandmother Bess’s ancestors included two families who were real pioneers; that

of William Penn Browne, her mother’s father, and John M. Carney, her father.

Browne came to Iowa from Massachusetts in 1853, traveling from Dubuque to

Blackhawk County by stage coach. We have traced his family back to England before

1635, when the first Brown came to America. John Carney came to Poweshiek County

with his father and mother and a brother and a sister by covered wagon from Pennsylvania

in 1854. LeRoys came to central Illinois from Indiana before the Civil War and settled in

the area from Champaign to Peoria. Since this story will be most about the Parkers, I

hope to write about the Browne and Carney and LeRoy families in another book.

Life Stories Wanted. This history needs life stories of Robert and Susanna

and their children. I hope this will motivate any descendant, whether direct or remote, who

has tales or reminiscences or anecdotes to send them to me. I’ll provide a Web Blog for

that purpose at www.ourparkers.info.

Thanks to Cousins, Friends and Family

The Parker History Team

Since Robert and Susanna, with twelve of their sixteen children, settled in Cleona

Township of Scott County, Iowa early in 1862, their residences and relationships have

been well recorded. Tracing their history in County Down, Ireland has been difficult for us.

About five years ago, in November of 2007, two distant cousins and I got together

to research the backgrounds of our Parker ancestors. John Parker, farmer at Gilman, Iowa

and Richard Frances Ross, who has homes at Ames, Iowa and South Pasadena,

California are distant cousins of mine.

John David Parker owns and farms land that has been in his (our) family more

than one hundred years. John is a graduate of Simpson College. His great grandfather

was Richard Parker, one of those who came in 1862. He is our link with the many Parkers

who stayed near Gilman. John is also acquainted with several other Irish emigrant families

who were neighbors and friends and even married with our ancestors in Scott, Marshall,

Jasper and Poweshiek counties in Iowa. He lives today on a farm north of Gilman that has

been a Parker farm since 1901.

Dr. Richard Frances Ross retired from Iowa State University, where he taught

and studied veterinary medicine and was Dean of both the College of Veterinary Medicine

and the College of Agriculture. He was raised on a farm near Westchester, Iowa. His great

grandmother was Mary Ann Parker Ross, a child of Robert and Susanna Parker.

Colin Rodgers joined us about two years ago. Colin is an anesthesiologist who

lives in Carlisle, England very near the border with Scotland. He is related to us through

families that were known to our ancestors in Ireland and in the early days in Iowa. Colin

still has close ties with his people in County Down. He’s made trips to Ireland and

discovered many old records of importance to us.

I want to thank Richard and John and Colin for their cooperation. I am proud to

know them. I wish I had found them many years ago.

Bob and Bob Recently, my son Robert Dana Parker, 6th, and his son, Robert Paul

Parker, 7th, sharing my interest in our family’s history, have agreed to join our Team.

Robert Dana lives in Dousman, Wisconsin, where he is Assistant Director of the Old World

Wisconsin museum at Eagle. Robert Paul, his son, lives near Minneapolis. Both of these

Parkers are graduates of Cornell College. From here on in this story I shall refer to the six

of us as “The Parker History Team.” We are still working to uncover the exact location and

circumstances of the Parkers in County Down.

Grandmother Bess

Bess Carney Parker, my grandmother, was

through her long life a wonderful family historian. She was mostly responsible for my own

lifelong interest in the history of our family and our country. A great many of the facts and

stories concerning her pioneering Browne and Carney families and her husband’s Parker

family were passed on to us by Grandmother Bess. I loved her very much.

Here is a photograph of Grandmother Bess taken in 1949, when I was 14 years old.

It is the way I remember her most.

Grandmother Bess was a lady personified. Born Annie Elizabeth Carney at Gilman,

Iowa on February 17, 1881, she was the great historian of our Parker family. She studied

and wrote about the history of her mother Martha Emma Browne’s family, who arrived by

stagecoach in Blackhawk County in 1853. She researched and wrote about her father

John McCormick Carney’s family and their covered wagon journey from Pennsylvania to

Poweshiek County in 1854.

The marriage of Bess and Robert Lavender Parker produced three children;

Winifred, Muriel and my dad, Robert Donald Parker. Until her last days she wrote of Parker

history. Bess made charts and maps and notes and stories about our Parkers, sometimes

handwritten, sometimes typed and sometimes drawn by hand. She died in 1974. She

passed them on to me and her granddaughter Carol Beachler. These materials fill more

than one filing cabinet drawer. You’ll see many of them quoted or referenced in this book.

Some are included in computer files, some still handwritten or typed by grandmother Bess.

There are many photographs, which I hope to index and pass on to someone who will

cherish them as I have.

I wrote a small booklet about Grandmother Bess in 1993. I won’t repeat all of it

here, but will see to it that readers can access it. Annie Elizabeth Carney Parker was an

inspiration to me.

Great Helps on Other Sides

Cousin Carol Beachler Wagner has given me many materials passed to her by

Grandmother Bess. She also has furnished stories and recollections of her parents, my

dear Uncle Russ and Aunt Winifred Parker Beachler, my Dad’s sister. Carol was born just

a few months after me, and has been a dear friend for all of our lives.

Cousin Tom Bartlett, Jr. is another lifelong friend of mine. He’s the son of my

Uncle Tom and Aunt Lillian Swanson Bartlett, my mother’s sister. Tom is a very well

known Jazz trombonist and a school teacher. His sister, Karen, a farmer’s wife and

mother, was also a musician and a dear cousin of mine.

Lillian Swanson Bartlett, mother of Tom and Karen, was a wonderful Aunt and

very interested in the Swanson family’s history. She and Uncle Tom made trips to Sweden

which give us insight into the lives and circumstances of my mother’s Swedish emigrant

parents. Thomas Bartlett, Sr. was also interested in his family’s history. He provided

information about the Bartletts, who also had Iowa ties.

Roger Vernon LeRoy should also be mentioned here. Roger, my wife’s older

brother, worked with his mother for many years on the LeRoy family history. He has

provided a very great deal of wonderful information about Loretta Pauline LeRoy Parker’s

family. We do owe a debt to Loretta’s brother Roger for his work on their family’s history.