A Joshua Parker Chronology v4a

JOSHUA PARKER

A

Family Chronology

JOSHUA, Born 1778, AT

Cortlandt Manor, NEW YORK

And His Descendents

BY

ROBERT CARLTON SMITH

JOSHUA PARKER A FAMILY CHRONOLOGY

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JOSHUA PARKER a Family Chronology

First Printing INTRODUCTION

I started this project in 2003 in response to a newly found Parker cousin. This cousin, after hearing me say that Joshua isn’t a descendent of the “New England” Parkers, asked “How do you know we don’t descend from Joshua Parker born 1740 in Massachusetts?” Melanie Dewsnup, another Parker cousin, had asked the same question several years earlier, at that time I gathered together all the evidence I had to prove my statement to her. Afterwards, I filed it all away, so now I had to dig it all out again. I thought that if I put it all together in one paper then all I would have to do was e-mail or send it via snail mail, thereby saving lots of time. This project, as a lot of mine do, found a way to migrate to the “back burner”. I’d open it up from time to time and add to it, correct it, but then I’d save it away and not touch it again for weeks, all without an idea as to when or how to finish it Although it was growing in length I saw no end to it. Then in November of 2004, cousins Suzanne Hansen and Debbie Hadden told me of the “Parker DNA Project” and of Dr. Greg Parker. When I e-mailed Greg and mentioned this paper and he was interested in it. So I began working on it again and although it isn’t perfect, I hope it will serve the useful purpose of informing others about my / our progenitor, Joshua Parker. I have scanned most of the pertinent documents and embedded these scans directly into the text. I have also supplied my conclusions that you, the reader, are free to accept or reject. I’ve decided to finalize this paper, convert it to a PDF format, and pass it on to those that may be interested, in the hope of stimulating others to further research our Parkers.

Update Here it is January 2005 and I’ve just had confirmation that a Charles Parker, a Moses Parker’s descendent, is an almost perfect DNA match with Keith Parker, a previously tested descendents of Joshua, brother to Moses Parker To help understand what is: updated material from the original material, in this paper all updated information is shown in blue or is blue highlighted.

© January 2005 v1 Robert Carlton Smith

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Second Printing INTRODUCTION

Here it is July 2007 I’ve reread this paper I wrote in 2003. It still has valuable information although it needs to be updated to reflect newer information learned since 1st printing in 2005 some of the original paper has been corrected. I have added my numbers (#1, #2 etc) to the name Joshua Parker to help end the confusion going from generation to generation. Some sections that have been disproved by DNA testing have been eliminated. And some pages have been re-written to incorporate new information or conclusions. Again, I’ve continued to use blue for updates. A new cover was added in the “Emerald Isle” font and in it was printed in ‘Kelly’ green reflecting the new Irish Progenitor DNA Information. Although all information is believed to be accurate there are no guarantees implied or given. All readers and users should check all sources before using the information contained within. This document may not be reprinted, in whole or in part. Nor shall it be posted on any public website without the written permission of the author. Parker family members may copy or post this information on private sites if credit to the author is given.

©July 2007 v2

Robert Carlton Smith

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Third Printing INTRODUCTION

This update is to correct a date typo from 1788 to 1778 and include an enhanced the Albany Tax Chart on page 14 In November 2011 a summary, in chronological order of discovery, of all the evidence proving that the Joshua Parker that married Sarah Rogers was not the same person as the Joshua Parker that was born in Massachusetts in 1764 was prepared. This summary has been added to this book as Appendix A. and a reference to it is added on page 6. Although all information is believed to be accurate there are no guarantees implied or given. All readers and users should check all sources before using the information contained within. This document may not be reprinted, in whole or in part. Nor shall it be posted on any public website without the written permission of the author.

©November 2011 v3


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Fourth Printing INTRODUCTION

This update is primarily to incorporate new information recently discovered that adds additional weight as to who the parents of Joshua b1778 possibly were.

• In November 2011 a newspaper story on Moses was discovered. Moses in 1825 was in a NYC street gang called the “Spring Streeters” or Spring Street Fencibles. They attacked and killed a man, were arrested and tried for murder.

Moses’ lawyer called character witnesses in his defense. These witnesses provided corroborating evidence that the Joshua Parker’s father may have had two wives. Changes to pages 13 and 14 were made.

• Also added a newly found Aaron Parker information to page 20

• Also some minor changes to the new Appendix A that was added in Version 3 update.

• In a final attempt to convince others of the “Non Connection to the Massachusetts Parker families; I have added a ten pages as Appendix A “One Parker Descendant’s Adventure Into Genealogy”. In it, I detail my entrance into genealogy, beginning in 1989 and through the early part of 1990s and how I came to the conclusion that, Joshua isn’t a descendant of Massachusetts Parkers as all other Parker cousins believed.

Although all information is thought to be accurate there are no guarantees implied or given. All readers and users should check all sources before using the information contained within. This document may not be reprinted, in whole or in part. Nor shall it be posted on any public website without the written permission of the author.

©July 2012 v4a


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Joshua Parker Family Chronology

Compiled by Robert Carlton Smith, © Copyright May 2003

Beginning with

Joshua b. 1778 Joshua Parker (Jr.) was born about 1778 in Cortlandt Manor, NY.

Some of my Parker cousins have assumed a connection or descendency from specific Parker families in Massachusetts or in Monmouth County, New Jersey. However I’ve found both to be in error. In the former case the error exists in confusing Joshua Parker b.1778, I’ll call him our Joshua #2, with a Joshua Parker born in Massachusetts on 31 December 1764. This Joshua is also the son of a Joshua Parker but he was born 13 December 1740. Both of these “wrong” Joshua’s were born in Massachusetts.

Hannah Jackman &Joshua Parker

Joshua b.1764 removed to Cavendish Vermont. In Vermont, he and his family lived, married, and died. His father b.1740 also joined him for a time in Vermont, but then in his later years he removed to Gouverneur, NY where his daughter Dorothy resided. In about 1831 he died and he is buried in Gouverneur. This “wrong” Joshua b.1764 and most of his family are buried in Cavendish Vermont. See the photo, (at right) which was taken in 2001. Also see Appendix A for a more detailed analysis. The second or latter “New Jersey Case”, will be covered later in this paper beginning on page 28. I’ll begin at Cortlandt Manor, NY. This is as far back that I, or any other Parker family members, can trace our Parker Ancestry with almost 100% accuracy. Our Joshua #2’s birth place was Cortlandt Manor, NY. This came from the entry for him in the municipal ledger of deaths in NYC. I found this at the NYC Municipal Archives in Lower Manhattan in the early 1990’s. [Above] The information for the ledger entry was most likely made by his widow, Sarah (Rogers) Parker. Although the place of his birth is slightly misspelled “Courtland Manor S.NY” (State of New York), it is however, unambiguous and clearly stands for Cortlandt Manor. I’ve accepted Cortlandt Manor, NY as his birthplace. A little background of the manor systems along the Hudson River during the Revolution may be helpful.

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In the 1600’s manors were formed along the east side of the Hudson River from NYC north towards Albany and between the river and the States of Connecticut and Massachusetts. In Westchester County there were six manors established: Pelham, Fordham, Philipsburgh, Morrisania, Cortlandt, and Scarsdale. These were also known as "freehold" manors. The manor proprietors could lease land to tenants or sell it to them outright. Although a proprietor was called the "lord of the manor," he was not a "Lord" in the sense of British nobility. Cortlandt Manor and the Cortlandt Manor House, which is still standing today, are located where the Croton River flows into the Hudson River. This is about twenty miles north of New York City. Cortlandt Manor was formed in 1697 and encompassed 86,123 acres. It stretched all the way East to the Connecticut Border. Upon the death of Stephanus Van Cortlandt in 1732 it was partitioned into 40 different parcels. About 37% of the land was sold to non-family members by the ten surviving heirs of Stephanus Van Cortlandt prior to 1776. Although the original Cortlandt Manor was subdivided and given to different heirs of Stephanus it was still known as The Cortlandt Manor. Manor owners had to do a good deal more than just collect rents. Depending upon the type of lease the tenant had, they were required to build mills for their tenants; to survey lots and provide livestock for the farms; to provide mechanics, millers, boat builders, and, if possible, a doctor, a clergyman, and maybe a schoolmaster.

During and after the Revolutionary War everything changed. The war had devastated Westchester County; seven years of raids and plundering had left much of the countryside in waste. Many homes had been burned. The population of the county was reduced by more than 1000 through war, casualties, and the emigration or fleeing of the Loyalists to Canada or back to England. As Westchester began the task of rebuilding, there was one big change that benefited local farmers. Many of the landholdings in the county that had belonged to Loyalists were confiscated by the state and sold by the ‘Commissioners of Forfeiture’. In all of Westchester County the holdings of fifty-four Loyalists were confiscated and thus sold off. As a result of such sales, many farmers were able to buy the lands they had previously farmed as tenants. In 1788 Westchester County was formally divided into twenty towns. The first federal census, taken in 1790, showed a Westchester population of 24,000, mostly concentrated in the northern part. The chief occupation was farming during the early part of the nineteenth century. Vegetables, fruit, corn, and wheat were the primary crops. Every farm had dairy cows and poultry, and sheep were grazed on land too rough for cultivation. In all my research I could not find any other information that a Joshua Parker was a leaseholder at Cortlandt Manor. Several Parkers were found but none had any connection to our Joshua#2. A James Cortlandt Parker and his wife Gertrude of Perth Amboy, NJ were heirs to Stephanus Van Cortlandt. 2007 Update: Although a link to our Parkers was suspected, DNA testing in 2007 proved there is no connection between this Perth Amboy Parker (descending from Massachusetts - Abraham Parker that married Rose Whitlock) and our Parkers. All reference to these Parkers has been removed. (Also see page 30 for additional DNA results) Our Parker branch ‘appeared’ in Westchester County (Cortlandt Manor) almost out of ‘thin air’ and after Joshua #2’s arrived it disappeared almost as suddenly leaving almost no ‘footprint on that area. I suspect the Revolutionary War in that area had a lot to do with the appearance then disappearance of out Parkers.

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Joshua #2’s (jun) Siblings Not everyone is familiar with Joshua#2’s sisters and brothers; I’ll briefly mention them here. In Parker family records (Mormon Baptism for the Dead performed in 1873 by Joshua#3) Joshua was the third son of Joshua #2 and Sarah [Rogers] Parker. He was the proxy for two male family members. It was recorded that he had two uncles, Daniel Parker and Talmage Parker. Since the above baptisms were performed in person by Joshua #3, a Mormon, I’ll assume his knowledge of his uncles was ‘firsthand knowledge’. (See the middle two names below in yellow dots)

Baptism of the Dead (left and right side of the book) 1873 (yellow=males, red=females) Two years later in 1875 in “ Baptism For The Dead” now performed by Mary Melissa (Parker) Summerhays, Joshua #3’s granddaughter, it was recorded by Mary Melissa that she was the grand niece of both Mary Carlin and Susan Riker. Since Joshua and his wife Drusilla were both was still alive, and active in genealogy, I’ll assume that they advised their granddaughter. In fact I believe Drusilla went with Mary Melissa to the Temple to perform the baptisms for the dead in 1875. I’ll also assume that the knowledge of the grand aunts is also ‘firsthand’. Few dispute these conclusions.

Baptism of the Dead (left and right side) 1875

A Summary of the above establishes Joshua Jr. [#2] and his siblings as follows:

1. Joshua b.1778 2. Daniel 3. Talmage 4. Susan 5. Mary

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Is Joshua Parker really a Jr? Our Joshua #2 was listed as “jun” in only a few early NYC City directories >> > There were only two Joshua Parkers in NYC city directories in the early 1800’s. Although they weren’t in every city directory they were in most. The other was a tailor and he was still alive well past 1820. At this point I want to state that as far as the father of Joshua Parker also being a Joshua, thus making our Joshua a junior comes only from a few City Dir. 1808, 1810, & 1811. The abbreviation “jun.” is all anyone has to go on. Out of 14 or more different years in city directories only a couple, in the middle years, have “jun.” and ironically those years only list the initial “J” appears instead of a first name. I haven’t found or heard that anyone else has another or second source that shows Joshua #2’s father was also Joshua. So I ask you “Is that enough or could “jun” be a mistake?” I am not sure?. If it is correct and I’m continuing on that assumption, then we must find another Joshua Parker in or around Cortlandt Manor prior to 1778. After an exhaustive search I was able to find one. This ‘possible’ father to Joshua b.1778 was mentioned in a list with others in a local Westchester newspaper.

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The Elusive Search for Joshua During the pre-Revolutionary period in Westchester County, farmers and residents were peaceful and there was, in general, “good will” until the “Meeting at the White Plains” on the 11th of April 1775. At this meeting there was talk about a Call for a Provincial Congress. Then there was a Military Expedition to Concord on the 19th of the same month. There began a rein of terror following these events that disturbed the good will, feelings and quiet in Westchester County. Jonathan Fowler esq. and George Cornwall esq. (Judge of the Court of Common Pleas) were two respectable leaders in the County that had signed a “Declaration and Protest” as well as the “Resolves” against that infamous Meeting in White Plains. They were now forced, by public opinion to publish a recantation of these loyalist political opinions. They did this in the Gaines New York Gazette: and the Weekly Mercury No.1229 dated Monday May 1, 1775. In this recantation they declared themselves “Friends to the Colonies”. An act of terrorism was done against Isaac Wilkins a leading member of the general assembly of the colony after he was unwilling to “raise his hand against his Sovereign, the King of England” In order to secure his safety he was forced to abandon his home and family to take refuge in England. This he did on May 3, 1775. Lewis Morris, the Chairman of the “Meeting at White Plains”, was a secure member of the Congress of the Colonies. He made an attempt to belittle the Protest Against the Proceedings (previously published in Rivington and Gains Gazette, after the Meeting at White Plains) by those who had objected to the Proceedings. He prepared an elaborate reply on May 7,1775. A few days later he gave it to the local newspapers. In this ‘reply’ he named 170 “Men” of the 312 who supposedly protested the proceedings and added the following comment “In this formidable catalogue of 312 sober and loyal protestors there are not less than one hundred seventy who after a most diligent inquiry, I cannot find have the least pretensions to a vote, and indeed many of them are lads under age” (A list of 170 names followed) In this list of 170 were the names of a Joshua Parker and a John Parker (Remember: The year is 1775 three years before Joshua #2 is to have been born) He then added the following paragraph about the remaining 142 names. “Of the others who are Freeholders”(land owners), ”many also hold lands at the will of Col. Philips, so that the truth really is that very few independent Freeholders objected to the appointment of Deputies.” My Conclusion: The above Joshua [#1] is very possibly the missing Joshua, the father of our Joshua (making our Joshua #2 a ‘jun’.) The 170 “Sober and Loyal Protesters” were not Freeholders (landowners) therefore their names failed to appear on tax lists or deeds. Where these men or “lads” came from or lived isn’t known but there were two Manors mentioned in the article “Philipsburg” and “Cortlandt Manors”. They are next to each other in Westchester County on the Hudson River. This “Newspaper article” was re-printed in “History of Westchester County” Vol. II pp 254-255 by Thomas Schraf in 1886. More research is needed to locate other possible references to this obscure Joshua Parker in Westchester County, NY, if any exist...

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In addition to the above Parkers, I have another source (taken fromVan Cortlandt papers) that lists an Elisha Parker and an Augustine Rogers as but 2 out of the 15 “tenants at will” (a tenant at will is one where the landlord furnished farming utensils, equipment, livestock, and a house) at Cortlandt Manor. It also lists an Annanias Rogers as 1 out of 14 “tenant with tenure” Annanias’ tenure was from 1743-55 (extended) but in all my searching there were no other Parkers found in Cortlandt Manor Papers? None of these can be linked to our Joshua. 2004 Update: In November 2004 another Joshua record in Westchester County surfaced. Debbie Hadden’s daughter, while working on a school project, located, on a Library of Congress website, a notation about some petitions for military pensions. It was in the US House of Representatives. One of the petitions was from a Joshua Parker, of Tarrytown, NY. Tarrytown is only a ‘stones throw’ from old Cortland Manor. This request was for a pension for Naval Service on board the USS Constitution. In which Joshua Parker of Tarrytown, NY was injured somehow? (See below for a partial copy of pages 201&202)

The USS Constitution was one of six frigates authorized by act of Congress, approved 27 March 1794. She was launched on 21 October 1797 and christened by Captain James Sever. She put to sea on 22 July 1798, commanded by Captain Samuel Nicholson. Following her trial runs in August, she was readied for action in the Quasi-War with France and ordered to patrol for French armed ships between Cape Henry and Florida. It saw action again in the War of 1812.

Initial attempts to locate the actual “military pension record” have not yet been successful. Two different fires destroyed many early pension records and I’m not sure if this one was among those destroyed. Whether or not the pension record is found isn’t important for this paper. The simple fact of the mention of another Joshua Parker, who was residing in Tarrytown, is what’s important. A second named-Joshua in Westchester could actually be the same Joshua as the one in the previous newspaper article. This simply adds to evidence that there were other Joshuas in Westchester that could be the father of our a Joshua Parker that married Sarah Rogers.. Maybe some cousins have read or heard of Harold Parker’s letter to Director of the New York Historical Society in New York, NY. Harold wrote this letter on 6 Dec 1966 requesting help. Suzanne Hansen sent a photo of it in an E-mail last month and Debbie Hadden translated it into MS Word format and sent me a copy of the translation. I mention this letter, and after reading

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the sentence below, quoted from that letter, I ask you to read again the above pension request of a Joshua Parker from Tarrytown. “It seems to me like , I have heard my father, whose name was Daniel Parker, [(1866-1932] say of Joshua Parker as many years that his g grandfather was a sea captain or mariner of some kind and that he went to sea on a voyage and never did return here again”. A sailor or mariner? Now that would make him harder to find in census, land, taxes, etc records. I wonder when that Daniel Parker’s “g grandfather” was supposed to have disappeared? There are lots of coincidences in this story that beg further investigation. I wonder if any other cousins have heard this Daniel Parker tale before? 2007 Update:I’ve recently found a new descendant of Joshua#2, a George Terwilleger, coming through Benjamin, son of Joshua #2. His mother, Marie E. Parker, deceased, also told him a long time ago, that the Parkers descended from a Parker that was a “Sea Captain”.

Joshua #2’s Parents Again, referring to the earlier mentioned baptisms, notice that there are two entries for a Sarah Parker by Mary Melissa. One reference was to “Sarah Parker- Gd. mother” and the other was to “Sarah Parker- Gt. Gd. mother” This is puzzling as there is no mention by Joshua of a “Gd. father” Joshua” or any other grandfather for that matter when he was baptizing the dead. If Mary Melissa is accurate then a Sarah _?__ (was the wife of Joshua Parker sr.) and may have had five children, one of which was Joshua Parker jun. that married a Sarah (Rogers)? This is not impossible but surely adds to the confusion. I still can’t guess as to why Joshua #3, and his family baptized his Grandmother Sarah__? __ and not his Grandfather Joshua #1 Parker (sr.)? However, I sometimes wonder if the second Sarah notation might be a mistake for I would think that if Joshua #3, was “baptizing” for other dead relatives and since he included his grandmother (Sarah [?] Parker), he would have at least known and included his own Parker Grandfather, especially since he was also a Joshua? He also never baptized for his Rogers grandparents. This is also puzzling, although it’s more likely to assume that he didn’t know his “Rogers” grandparents, than his own “Parker” grandfather. A new conclusion is provided with the version 4 update as a footnote (see page 14) Summary: Our Joshua #2 was born about 1778. This was during the Revolution; the Manors were still in existence. When Joshua died in 1819 his birth location was given as Cortlandt Manor. The parents of our Joshua Parker were not formal tenants and I found no record of them existing within the Cortlandt Manor Papers. Since I can find no record of them as landowners or freemen, no record of taxation, births, marriages, or deaths or even for that matter no cemetery records on them anywhere in Westchester County before, during, or after the Revolution. One conclusion is that they were a young family, without roots or family anywhere in the area. They arrived while Cortlandt Manor was still in existence, Joshua was born, and then they emigrated from Westchester County soon after the war began. But to where, that is the million-dollar question? The “First US Census” of 1790 may supply the answer. In the 1790 Census only the name of the head of household was given, then a count of males and females, broken down by age category. There are no Joshuas anywhere in or near Westchester County; in fact there are only three

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Parkers in the 1790 census in all of Westchester County, John and Joseph in the town of Harrison and Moses in the town of Yonkers. In all three households there are no males over 16 years of age not counting the head of household.

Pittstown, NY In the 1790 Census there is however, a Joshua Parker in Albany County, in the town of Pittstown. (Between the 1790 and 1800 censuses this area became Rensselaer County with Troy, NY as the county seat). This Pittstown, Joshua Parker is in the 1790 Census and matches our family’s count almost exactly. This Joshua was active for the next 20 years in this area.

In 1787 a Joshua Parker bought 121 acres in Pittstown, NY. I have a copy of that deed. Joshua subsequently sold the farm in 1797. In the deed of sale his wife also signed it. She was Mary (not Sarah?). It’s possible that this could be our missing Joshua #1 if Mary was his second wife (note: Joshua #2 has a sister Mary possibly from this second wife) or Mary Melissa may have made a mistake in her gt. grandmothers name or designation as such. Accept this possibility for the moment and allow me to continue1. Next, I have a deed of Joshua Parker buying property in Lancingburgh (a northern section of Troy, NY on the Hudson river) in Oct of 1797. I have a deed of Joshua & Mary again selling the above (Lancingburgh) property in Feb 1814. This appears to be the same Joshua from Pittstown. Rensselaer Manor was a large manor on the east side of the Hudson River across from Albany, NY it was the northern most Manor in the Colonial Manor System. It included Troy and Lancingburgh but not Pittstown. Like all of the colonial manors it was also dissolved after the Rev War. I looked at the Rensselaer Manor tax lists for 1786, 1787, and 1788 (at right) (the only years available) and found several Parkers. (Hezediah Parker in 1786, ___?___ Parker in 1787, and Thomas Parker in1788). Although the ‘1787 Parker’ had no first name I’ll assume Joshua.

One male head of household [Joshua] Three males under 16 yrs old [Joshua, Daniel, Talmadge] Two females. [Mary {wife}, Susan *] *Assuming that the youngest daughter Mary is not yet born it fits perfectly.

Three years after purchasing the Pittstown farm this Joshua Parker was enumerated in the US Census of 1790 in Pittstown, NY with a family. 1 2012 Update In October 2011, I discovered that Moses Parker, son of Joshua b1778, was arrested for Murder in NYC in 1825. At his trial he had several (character) witnesses testify on his behalf. Two of the witnesses that appeared were family members. “Mrs. Mary Carling” and “Mary Parker”. Mary Carling would have been his Aunt Mary, a sister to his father. BUT, Mary Parker? There is no known, ‘additional’ Mary Parker, as either an Aunt or a child of any uncles? Possibly she could be Moses step-grandmother! The second wife of his father Joshua b.1750s. She appears to be living in NYC, possibly with her daughter Mary Carling’s family, as they both appeared together at the trial together. This does strengthen the idea of a second wife theory that I previously offered as a possible way to explain the name Mary instead of Sarah as the wife on the Pittstown and Troy Deeds. (Rcs 2012)

[The above mentioned 1825 Moses Parker Trial booklet was reproduced and can be ][ found at the Parker ‘DropBox’Site. or contact this author , Robert C. Smith. ]

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Following this same Parker family to the 1800 Census (now Rensselaer County) I found the family as follows:

Assuming that the oldest son and daughter have left the household, and since I don’t know the precise order of births of the children, they all could fit our family. Following this family further and with the same assumptions, I now need to find another Parker (the son Joshua, that moved out). In the State Archives in Albany I found tax lists for the years 1799-1803 as follows:

Note: These were the only years available

Conclusion:

Year Name Real Personal value

1799 Joshua Parker 370 60





1802 Daniel Parker 150 25



1803 Daniel Parker 1000 25


one male > 45 [Joshua head of HH] two males 16 –26 yrs old, [Daniel / Talmadge] (The oldest son {most likely Joshua} on his own) one female < 10 yrs old [new daughter] one female. 16-26 yrs [Susan/Mary] (Oldest daughter married) one female > 45 [Mary {wife} wife]

In 1799 the only Parker taxed in Rensselaer County was a Joshua. Then in 1800 the same Joshua had real estate valued at $1500 However in 1801 there was Joshua taxed on $1500 In addition now a second Joshua is being taxed on $100 (1st son that was not in the 1800 census) Also a Daniel showed up being taxed on $150 (another son now on his own). Now assume that sons Joshua and Daniel and moved out and established themselves, then the smaller valuations probably belong to them but Joshua the father is still valued at $1500. The following year, 1802, is the same except now the ‘elder’ Joshua is valued at $2000. However in 1803 (the last year the tax list is available) the elder Joshua is still at $2000 but now Daniel increased to $1000 while the second Joshua remained at $150. (There is a conflict here as our Joshua married in 1802 in NYC? Unless Joshua although having relocated in NYC still owned property and therefore still appeared in Rensselaer County tax rolls at the rate of the year before. All the above proves nothing, but I can find nothing to disprove this scenario either. Are they our Parkers? It is entirely possible that this is a totally separate family, but then where was our family from 1790 to 1803 and where did this family go? In addition to deeds and tax records I looked for wills in both the Albany County and Rensselaer County surrogate courthouses but

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found none from the late 1700’s to well into the latter 1800's for either Joshua Parker, or Talmadge. As I remember the indexes went past the 1880’s but none were found. At the Rensselaer County Historical Society in Troy, NY. I found a complete cemetery listing or rather many listings. They were in large loose-leaf notebooks. I was told they cover every cemetery in Rensselaer County. No Joshuas at all and very few Parkers either (no Daniels or any other names that I’d I recognize). The few Parkers that were there were all born in the latter part of the 1800’s or early part of the 20 century? th

There is a lot of territory between NYC and Albany. Maybe the family returned to Westchester and he is the Joshua that applied for the Revolutionary Pension from Tarrytown? (If that is where they came from). One thing is obvious they simply disappeared. There is, even today, a very small presence of Parkers in NY along the Hudson River. At this point my knowledge on the parents of Joshua b.1778 ends. Now I’m sure I haven’t exhausted all sources but more time in the field is required. I have scoured the internet to the point where I’m looking at the same things over and over! Actual field research in NY State (boots on the ground) is necessary…

Joshua Marries Sarah Rogers The marriage of Joshua b.1778 to Sally Rogers (both residents of New York City in 1802) was listed in the New York Weekly Museum (newspaper) on Sat July 3 1802. They were married on “Wednesday evening last”

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Joshua #2 and Sarah resided in NYC from 1802 until about 1811, where they had 2 daughters (Pamela and Margaret) followed by 3 sons (Moses, Aaron, and Joshua #3). According to Longworth’s NYC directories the parents (Joshua & Sarah) were still living at 440 Greenwich St. NYC during 1810 & 1811. Then there was no listing for Joshua in any NYC directories from 1812-1818. During the period of time from 1811-1818 the final two children, both sons (Caleb and Benjamin) were born. They were not born in NYC but rather they were both born in New Jersey. About ten years after Joshua died Sarah died of TB. Sarah and the family were still in NYC. Sarah was listed as “Parker, Sarah wid. of Joshua” Joshua #2’s wife was a Rogers from Connecticut, as per her Death certificate. Sarah died of T.B. on 9 Feb 1829 and was buried in Methodist Episcopal Cemetery in NYC.

Sarah Rogers Death Ledger

JOSHUA and SARAH’S Children [PAMELA, MARGARET, MOSES, AARON, JOSHUA, CALEB, BENJAMIN]

It would appear that Sarah Rogers was pregnant before Joshua married her. Only 5 months after their marriage on July 3rd, Pamela was born. Then seventeen months later a second daughter, Margaret was born. Two years later the first son, Moses arrived, followed shortly by a second son, Aaron. He was followed by the their third son, Joshua #3. Finally after relocating to NJ Caleb (my gg-grandfather) was born in Fort Lee, Bergen, NJ and then the last child, Benjamin, was born in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, NJ.

1. Pamela (the first child of Joshua and Sarah) was born 30 Nov 1802 just five months after their marriage.

1802 Joshua and Sarah were living at 273 Greenwich Street in NYC.

2. Margaret (the second child of Joshua and Sarah) was born on 29 Apr 1804...

1804 Joshua and Sarah were living at 43 Chambers Street in NYC.

3. Moses (the third child and first son of Joshua and Sarah) Moses, was born 1 Feb 1806 in NYC. He later (in 1827) married Susan Glass but he was not listed

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in the city directory until 1829-30.He was at first a mason and eventually became a successful builder in NYC It was during this time that Moses and Susan had their first child of the seven that they eventually would have. This son was born on. 24 Oct 1828 and they named him Joshua #4, of course!

The year after Moses’ mother Sarah died he is found in the 1929-30 NY City Directory, listed as a mason living on Hudson St.

4. Aaron. (The fourth child and second son of Joshua and Sarah) was born in 1807. Almost nothing is known about this son. He was listed in the NY City Directories of 1829/30, 1831/32, 1832/33, and 1835/36 as a tinsmith.

In 1808 Joshua and Sarah were living at 440 Greenwich Street in NYC. Soon after Aaron was born the first four children of Joshua and Sarah were baptized. On 24 July 1808 in the NYC Methodist Church records Pamela, Margaret, Moses, and Aaron along with their exact birth dates appear. Aaron is first found on his own in the 1829-30 NY City Directory, listed as a tinsmith. He was living with his older brother Moses on Hudson St. He was also found in 1832-33 to be living with his brother Moses and Moses’ wife Susan at 266 Hudson St. Fredrick A. Parker 1859-1946, a Joshua#3 descendent, in 1920 also performed "baptism for the dead". In the lists there are 2 Aarons one b.1807 the second son of Joshus#2 and Sarah. The other was born about 1830 and died about 1880. This second Aaron, which Frederick had as the older Aaron’s son, was purported to have moved to E. Bloomfield, NY. In 2000 June and I spent several days in East Bloomfield researching this second Aaron Parker. Below is a summary that was made of that trip.

“East Bloomfield is in Ontario County, NY. Canandaigua is the County seat. I found many Aaron deeds there, made copies, and notes on other Parkers in the county. At the surrogate courthouse I found the Wills of Aaron, his Brother Benjamin and most importantly his father ”James C. Parker”. (See notice of will probate at the right) “Maybe there was another Aaron that didn’t own any land? So, I next went to the E. Bloomfield Historical Society. The Historical Society was in an old brick schoolhouse on the village green. It was the neatest, best organized, and best equipped one I have ever been in, but no Aaron. The full time, paid, director was very helpful. He even called a historical society member at home; she came in and helped me. She had done a lot of Parker research and personally showed me the “Parker Homestead”. It is still standing. She also knew the location of

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the undocumented “Parker family burial ground” and took us there. From the road one could only see a clump of trees in the middle of a fallow farm field.” (At Right) “From the road I hiked through weeds as tall as my chest to get to the clump of trees. There was only one large 6-foot tall pyramid type gravestone in the overgrown thicket. It was close to the HUGE Locust tree that I’m standing next to below. It had 14 Parker names on it but none were ours? “

“Back at the Historical Society she found an old hand written list of all the Parkers buried in the cemetery that I had just came from. There were 14 names in all. James and his wife Sally were the oldest. Aaron, Benjamin, David, Silas, James, and John all Sons of James and Sally were among the other 14 Parkers found there.”

Here I am, deep into the clump of trees seen in the photo at the upper right corner of the page. Taken about 1997,

Conclusion:Although the death date we had for our Aaron matched this E. Bloomfield Aaron! This Aaron had a daughter Mary, as ours was reported to have had! However his wife was Barbara A.? There were many other family similarities including a brother Benjamin but this was indeed a different Aaron! Although there was an Aaron Parker in E. Bloomfield, NY he is the son of James Parker and not Joshua Parker. It appears Frederick A. Parker has mistakenly crossed our Aaron with this E. Bloomfield Aaron Parker. Since I don’t have access to his notes as to where Mary Blauvelt is from and why he chose her. I now doubt the wife Mary or son ‘Aaron Jr’. info as well. Another cousin, descending from Moses, has applied a Barbara Ann Parker as Aaron’s wife. This is the correct wife for the Aaron in Bloomfield (1850 census) but not for our Aaron born in NYC in 1807. It was known by the family that Aaron died before 1873 (see page 9). Since the above Aaron, from western NY State, was eliminated, a search was on for the correct one. I had searched all the indexes in the NYC Municipal Archives for a death certificate on Aaron Parker, none was found. Aaron is the most elusive of Joshua’s children to do research on.

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2007 Update: I found a newspaper article, actually several, detailing a steamship that hit some rocks and sank off the coast of California. In the Passenger list was an Aaron Parker from NYC. He left NYC bound for Central America, from there passengers go by land from the Gulf of Mexico side to the Pacific side where they board a steamer and travel up to San Francisco. An Aaron Parker from NYC was killed in this shipping accident in 1853. The following is from a California newspaper.

Daily Alta California, April 2, 1853 LOSS OF THE STEAMER INDEPENDENCE

300 OF THE PASSENGERS AND CREW LOST!!

The ship hit rocks off the southern coast of California (Baja Peninsula) on its way from Central America to San Francisco. This could explain the lack of a death certificate in NYC. 2012 Update There is one more Aaron Parker that I found in 2011; he was a baker by trade. This Aaron was born 27 Jan 1833 and died 23 Feb 1900. He married Nancy Angevine, who was Cornelia Van Tassel’s niece. Could this Aaron have been a son of our Aaron b1807? I have nothing to suggest that, it is just an open thought. Nancy Angevine was born in Westchester County, NY. Could Aaron have met her while visiting his Parker relatives? I have to assume that Aaron was well acquainted with Caleb Parker’s family because in addition to marrying Cornelia’s a niece, he is also buried in Harriet Parker’s (Caleb and Cornelia’s daughter) cemetery plot in Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst, NJ. His connections haven’t been explored in any detail, more work is needed.

5. Joshua, this third son and fifth child was the last child born in NYC. He also is the child that was to become an early pioneer in the Mormon movement. Joshua ended up in Salt Lake City in 1852. He eventually died 17 Jul 1780 and is buried in SLC.

Joshua #3, son of Joshua#2 Jr, is first found on his own in the 1830-31 NYC Directory listed as a cabinetmaker living on Vandam St. (below)

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2007 Update: The following spring in the 1830 US Census (below) Joshua was found living on Van Dam Street but the only other person in his household is a female age 20-30? In the 1831-32 NYC directory Joshua, cabinet-maker, is listed as living at “rear 48 Van Dam which agrees with the 1830 Census (remember the city directory information can be a year behind when it is actually printed)

US Census 1830 NYC 8th Ward

Like Aaron, Joshua was last listed in the NY City Directory of 1835/6.

Note: This is the only year in which all fiveParker Brothers were listed in the same NYCcity directory.

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Joshua Becomes a Mormon In June of 1837 Parley P. Pratt, a Mormon was sent to NYC by Joseph Smith to do missionary work for the Church. It was here that Joshua was introduced to Mormonism. He was baptized in the East River, NYC into the Mormon religion during the winter of 1837/1838. Parley Pratt and Elijah Fordham performed this baptism.

Right) This Page, the account of Joshua Parker and his Mormon beginnings, is from “Sacred Places” By Lamar Barrett. In this book Lamar’s source for baptizing of Joshua was the autobiography of Parley P. Pratt.

(Right) This part of page 61 is from the same book. In it there is reference to “the families of” and Joshua Parker is one. The author was contacted by Melanie Dewsnup but has no details of exactly who was included in “the families of”

According to "Sacred Places" In April 1838 Parley P. Pratt led a small group of Saints from NYC to Missouri. The names of the "Saints" weren’t given, Very likely Joshua was part of the "small group of Saints” mentioned above. The normal land travel route from NYC to the West during the early 1800’s was up the Hudson River to Albany, then turning west following the Erie Canal to Buffalo then southwest through Erie, PA and into Ohio and beyond or by sailing on the Great Lakes to Chicago.

Drusilla came from Mercer Pa. just north of Pittsburgh and a little south of the route that the Mormons may have used going to Kirkland, Ohio. Somewhere along the way Joshua and Drusilla meet and eventually married.

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Conclusions: Both Aaron and Joshua ceased to be listed in NYC city directories. They both “disappeared” at the same time from NYC. After 1837 they never were found in general commerce or business again in NYC. However, the remaining three brothers (Moses, Caleb, and Benjamin) were listed in most every city directory for many more years as well as much other documentation including census, death, and cemetery records. 2007 Update: I originally ‘hinted’, at least I was thinking, that Aaron, like Joshua, traveled with him and maybe even converted to Mormonism but never went further west than E. Bloomfield, NY. Now however, with the east Bloomfield Aaron proven not to be our Aaron and the possibility that our Aaron was the one killed in the steamship sinking I think it’s just a coincidence that they both ‘disappeared’ at the same time.

Joshua’s Final Two Children Sometime in 1811 the family moves from NYC across the Hudson River to New Jersey. It was here that the last two children were born.

6. Caleb was the sixth child and third son of Joshua and Sarah. Caleb was born in Fort Lee, NJ on 2 Jan 1812. Caleb had nine children over an 18-year period. He owned much property in Lincoln Park, Passaic County, NJ. All Caleb’s children were born in NYC. Caleb, at first was a blacksmith, then a machinist, finally a whitesmith. In about 1862 He moved to Lincoln Park, NJ, became a farmer, as did his son Caleb H. Parker. He remained in NJ until his death in 1888. The meaning of “Fort Lee” on the Caleb’s death certificate is not clearly understood. The present day town of Fort Lee was not incorporated until 1904. There was a Military Fort named Fort Lee during the Revolution but exactly what it meant in 1888 on Caleb’s Death Certificate is not clear. There were many small villages all around the area of the actual “Fort Lee”. I would assume his brother Benjamin and, or, his wife Cornelia were the informants on his death certificate. I surmise that Caleb died either while visiting his brother Benjamin in Teaneck or on a trip to bring goods from his farm in Pequannock, NJ to the docks below Fort Lee for delivery to NYC. He suffered a heart attack and 19 hours later on June 10, 1888 he died. I assume he died at Benjamin’s House in Teaneck. His wife Cornelia died one-year later in Lincoln Park. Both are buried in Caleb’s cemetery plot in Trinity Church Cemetery (uptown) in NYC This

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cemetery is directly across the Hudson River from Fort Lee, NJ in northern Manhattan, NYC

2007 Update: Before Caleb relocated to Pequannock, NJ he bought property in 1859 in Ramapo, Rockland, NY. He moved his family there, but after only a year or so sold it and returned to NYC. Weather the Joshua Parker family was only traveling through the Fort Lee area or looking for a new home during the birth of Caleb I’m not sure. However when Caleb was only ten months old Joshua bought a 50-acre piece of property in Howell Twp. in Monmouth County, NJ on October 1, 1812 from a John Bennet. The deed, (below), didn’t say where this Joshua Parker was from. But he was further identified as “Joshua Parker cordwinder” (shoemaker). This is apparently our Joshua #2 Parker. Caleb was 10 months old and very possibly Sarah was pregnant again with Benjamin (we only know Benjamin was born sometime in 1813). The other five children were between 3 and 10 years old. The price paid for the 50 acres was 80pounds. There are some inconstancies in the wording on the deed and trying to locate its location today has been difficult. Monmouth County originally contained three townships. Shrewsbury was the largest and Howell was taken from Shrewsbury Township in 1801. The below deed also mentions “Forge Pond” There is a Forge Pond today but it is in Ocean County which is just south of Monmouth County. The problem is the deed also mentions the “Sarah Greens Run” and the “Shark River” not the Metedecunk River, which borders Forge Pond?. So far I can’t find anything about Sarah Greens Run but the Shark River isn’t in Howell it is farther north towards Shrewsbury? I’ve decided go there after this holiday season, in early 2005, to try to straighten this out. Part of the problem is the Howell Map has no date on it. I think I got it in the Monmouth County Historical Society in the middle 1990’s 2007 Update:The map of Howell I mentioned in the original Joshua Parker Family Chronology paper has been removed, as was the reference to a “J Parker” on that map. I found out that this was the house of John Parker not a Joshua. Additionally, it turned out to be too far south of the actual property to be correct.

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The 50-acre property was in Howell Twp in the early 1800’s. But by the time the map, that I referred to in the original paper, was made a large part of Howell Twp was already broken away. Wall Twp was formed from that piece taken from Howell and that is how it still is today. In Jan 2006 I actually found the property in Wall Twp, Monmouth, NJ (in the part taken from Howell). I walked along the banks of the Sarah Green’s Run to where it flowed into the Shark River. I then crossed the Sarah Green Run and onto what was Joshua Parkers property in 1812. Below left is the actual plat of the 50 acres in Howell (Wall Twp.) drawn from the metes and bounds in the original deed. I added the heavy black line (with yellow stripe) in the position of the only road in the area (Gully Road) the white rectangle in the road represents my van. I also added the green lines to represent the rivers The heavier line running parallel to the black road is the Shark River (arrows indicate flow) The thinner green line is the Sarah Green’s Run that flows out through a culvert under the road near my car and empties into the Shark River. Refer to this ‘plat’ as you view the other photos.

Above is Sarah Green’s Run close to where it empties into the Shark River. Joshua’s property is on the right side.

Above is the photo taken standing on Gully Road showing my van. Joshua’s property, is shown heavily wooded.

Above is a photo was taken standing in the middle of the property. For the most part it is flat but drops off rather steeply (about 20 feet) at both the Shark River and at the Sarah Green’s Run. There were absolutely no signs that any buildings fences walls or other structures were ever on the property.

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7. Benjamin (the seventh child and the fourth son of Joshua and Sarah) was the final child. He was possibly born in 1813. He was born in 1813. Maybe he was born in (Howell), in Monmouth County, which is central, NJ. This is where Joshua bought some property in 1812.

However I’m not sure that it contained a house or was simply unimproved land. If the latter then maybe Benjamin was also born in the Fort Lee area of New Jersey as was Caleb. More research is needed. No document mentions any place of Benjamin’s birth other than NJ. Benjamin is the only child of Joshua and Sarah not to have a known birth-date? His death certificate gives his age as 81. However, his elaborate Gravestone has his age = 82? Benjamin’s death

certificate (right) in 1895 states he was a resident of NJ for 36 years but he still maintained a residence in NYC well into the 1870’s

He also owned rental property in NYC and Brooklyn as well as two homesteads in Teaneck, NJ.

2007 Update:Last year I finished a CD-book PARKER FAMILY RECORDS. One of the records I marked for inclusion in that book was dated March 1871. It will help to clarify Benjamin’s birthplace and prove that Joshua’s family was in Shrewsbury Township in 1813. It is a bank record filled out by Benjamin Parker, in his own hand with his signature, he stated he was born in Shrewsbury Township and he then named all his living siblings.

(Note: Neither Aaron nor his sisters, Pamela and Margaret, are listed as they were already deceased.)

Freedman’s Bank NYC

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Joshua and Family Return to NYC On the 20th of May 1817 Joshua took a one-year loan of $150.00 from Joseph Lafetra, and gave

a mortgage on the above Howell property in return. The above mortgage is a one-year note; it was due in May of 1818. I don’t know why he mortgaged his property; maybe this money was needed to return to NYC? Joshua and the entire family returned to NYC and were again listed in the 1819/1820 City Directory living on Pearl Street in NYC. However Joshua b.1778 soon died of “Bilious Fever” on 27 Sep 1819 and was buried in the Methodist Cemetery on Greenwich Street, NYC. The exact definition of “Bilious Fever, Demetia” is hard to find. It is described generally as being associated with yellow fever, malaria, typhoid, typhus, liver disorders and generalized fevers. I strongly suspect Yellow Fever as in 1819 there was a yellow fever epidemic in NYC and the dementia, I believe, was referring to the hallucinations that often accompany the final stages of yellow fever. Although Yellow Fever is not always fatal those that do die usually die in less than two weeks from onset. There is an interesting note about the Howell deed. The property was never sold! To the best of my knowledge is it still in the Joshua Parker and his descendents family. I thoroughly looked through the Monmouth County index books, both grantor and grantee. I was unable to find a transfer of this property via a deed sale, foreclosure, or even a sheriff’s sale- nothing. I looked under Sarah (she survived Joshua by ten years)- nothing. I looked under all his children – nothing. When time permits in 2005 I am going to try to physically locate the property to see what is there today. Sarah, now his widow, and her children moved to 29 Charlton Street (near the intersection with Hudson St.) and remained on Charlton St. until her death in 1829. She continued to be listed annually as a “widow of Joshua” in the same city directories. She died of Tuberculoses and was buried in the same cemetery as Joshua. This Methodist cemetery that was in lower Manhattan doesn’t exist today. In the 1851 laws were passed banning burials in Manhattan below 86th street. The land was needed for a growing NYC. The place of the cemetery today it in the heart of NYC’s financial district. 15,000 Methodist graves were removed from Manhattan and relocated to Cypress Hill Cemetery in Brooklyn between 1854-1856. According to the Methodist Historian in 2004 no individual records of the removals were kept. She wasn’t sure of what happened to the grave stones…In total 35,000 graves of all denominations were moved from Manhattan to Cypress Hills after its founding in 1849.

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MONMOUTH COUNTY ANCESTRY? In the beginning of this paper I made mention of an “alternate” theory as to the parentage of Joshua b1778 having come through a Nathaniel Parker that married a Lydia Allen. They were from Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, NJ. Those Parkers did have a son named Joshua, he died in 1800, and it was this Joshua that was reported by some Parker cousins to be the father of our Joshua b.1778. However: Several years ago I was researching a will of Robert Parker, son of Moses, in the surrogate’s office in Freehold, NJ (Monmouth County seat). I serendipitously came across the following information. As I was looking through a large index book for the Letters of Administration for the Robert Parker Estate I came across a Joshua Parker name. This was the same Joshua that died on 20 December 1800. I looked at the actual Letters of Administration of this Joshua Parker I was surprised to see a letter from a William Scott to the surrogate court of Monmouth County, NJ. I copied the letter Dated 18 December 1800 and the accompanying inventory of his estate. The letter (page 2of 5) read exactly as follows (I made no spelling or punctuation corrections):

“Whereas Joshua Parker of Shrewsbury where possessed of Raile and Personal Estate Died without having made any will as we can heare of, neither leaving Widow nor Children, Brother, nor Sister living. We the under subscribers being his brother and sisters Children do give this Instrument of writing from under our hand devising thee to Grant a Letter of Administration to Timothy Corlies to take the said estate in charge”

It was witnessed by nieces and nephews of Joshua as follows: • Nathaniel Parker, son of Joshua’s brother Nathaniel • George Allen, son of Joshua’s sister Lydia that married George Allen • Joseph Parker, son of Joshua’s brother Joseph • Sarah White, daughter of Joshua’s sister Meribah, who married a ‘White’

The Inventory (page 3of 5) was completed on 19 December 1800. Joshua had all of $281.22 and owed $146.92 (page 5of5) As per the above letter, this Joshua didn’t have a widow and all his siblings were deceased. If he had grandchildren they would have written or signed the letter to the surrogate to recommend Timothy Corlies be allowed to administer his estate

There is little doubt that our Parkers were in Monmouth County, NJ. In addition to Joshua buying property in 1812 and Benjamin having been born there in 1813, Moses’ son, Robert and his children, lived and died there. Robert also owned and operated a brickyard in Matawan, NJ. However, the father of our Joshua surely wasn’t the Joshua that died in 1800. There was also a Caleb in Monmouth County but he died in 1886. My gg grandfather Caleb died in 1888 in North Jersey. Although there are many name similarities this Joshua that died in 1800 and his father Nathaniel Parker that married Lydia Allen is obviously a different Parker Family. Note: I did find the information on Robert, son of Moses I was looking for. He died intestate in Manalapan, Monmouth County, NJ.

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DNA Testing

With the recent DNA testing that has been done on some of our Joshua descendents the idea that we are now more likely to be connected to a John Parker of Ireland instead of Parkers of Dutch or English descendents from New England, causes me to rethink some of my old theories. Some connections that I felt didn’t fit earlier now need to be re-looked at. Maybe they will make more sense in light of the new thinking that we might be from Ireland. One of those is the early Methodist Church in NYC. The Methodist Church was started by Philip Embury and his wife, both of who were from Ireland. During the 1750’s a large number of Irish Methodists immigrated to New York City. (Maybe our Parkers were among them?) By 1760 the small congregation outgrew the NYC loft they were in. The current John Street location was bought and several churches were built and rebuilt there. The current building was constructed in 1841 and is still in use today. (see the Methodist Baptisms on page 18). Now, however, with the added knowledge that we are related to Parkers descending from John Parker b1725, in Ireland, that immigrated to, very likely NYC, and then ended up in Virginia. It’s possible that John Parker and the father or grandfather of our Joshua b1788, whoever he is, knew each other. Maybe they were cousins or brothers when they first immigrated to NYC. One then moved to Virginia and another to Cortlandt Manor area, who knows? But, with this new information I have a renewed interest, and so a few weeks ago I wrote to the Pastor of the John Street Church for help on the Methodist cemetery relocation problem. He had no knowledge of it but has referred me to the “Chairperson of the United Methodist Church's New York Conference of Archives and History. He responded and put me in touch with the archivist of the Methodist New York Conference Center. I contacted her a week or so before Christmas and will possibly go to NY to see her within the next few weeks. In the meantime she is checking the Records for the Greenwich St. Church (Bedford St.) as all the Lower Manhattan Methodists and Methodists Episcopal, churches merged into one many years ago. Maybe the church Archives has Parker information. In 1802 Joshua Parker in NYC and Sarah were married in the Dutch Reformed Church but he had his first four children and maybe more baptized in the Methodist Church? Then when they died they were buried in the Methodist Cemetery in NYC. As to why Joshua and Sarah, who were probably Methodists, were married in a Reformed church, the Methodist Archivist stated to me that it would have been difficult if not impossible to marry in the Methodist Church if they weren’t members. The Reformed church was much more liberal and it would have been much easier if “time were of the essence”. I suspect that Sarah was about four months pregnant when they married so possibly they didn’t have time to officially join the Methodist Church If they were Methodists but not members of the NYC Church then they may have recently arrived in NYC from wherever and just didn’t have time to become established in the NYC Methodist Church. I would say being new to NYC and four months pregnant would require a “hurry-up” wedding, as time would have been of the essence!

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Final Observations: In light of the new DNA information that is still, as I’m writing this, developing, I want to add some closing thoughts. We, the Joshua Parker descendents now understand there is definitely a connection to the John Parker of Virginia branch that emigrated from Ireland. I recently contacted a Moses Parker descendent who has agreed through Dr. Gregory Parker’s DNA project to supply a DNA sample. Greg, as all of us are, is anxious to see the results. It would be interesting to have one of those “New England Parkers” also be tested. In time this may also happen and the results may prove to be very interesting. © Robert Carlton Smith December 2004

Additional DNA Results The above “Moses” descendant’s DNA test is complete. He it is a 100% match to Joshua b1809 descendent. (We really didn’t expect it wouldn’t be). The “New England Parkers” descendents were found, and their DNA testing was also completed (See Page 8) in the spring of 2007. It was these DNA results that drove the final ‘nail in the coffin’ on the previously held belief that Joshua Parker that married Sarah Rogers was a descendent of Parkers coming from Massachusetts. I previously proved, with standard paper genealogy that our Joshua wasn’t a descendent of the Joshua b. 31 Dec1764 the son of Joshua b. 1740 in Westford, Massachusetts. However, there was a slight chance in my mind that Joshua might still be from the Massachusetts Parkers howevern just not from the 1764 Joshua. But now DNA testing (two different Massachusetts Parkers descendents) has proven there is NO chance that our Joshua has any connection whatsoever to the Massachusetts Parkers!

For details on these DNA results go to the Y-DNA Parker Project at the website below:

http://web.utk.edu/~corn/parkerdna/At the above website, hosted by the “The University of Tennessee at Knoxville”, click on the “Results” on the right hand side of the home page to view the actual DNA results for all one hundred forty-eight Parkers that fall in nineteen different identifiable Parker groups. Our Parkers (descendents of Joshua b.1778 that married Sarah Rogers) belong to Family Group#2. The Massachusetts Parker Line (descending from Abraham Parker that married Rose Whitlock this includes Joshua Parker b 1764 and Joshua Parker b. 1740 in Westford, MA.) belong to Family Group #10 The Perth Amboy, NJ (also coming from a Massachussets-Elisha Parker that married Elizabeth Hinckley) Parkers belong to Family Group #5

ALSO You can go to the below website hosted by the “University of Oklahoma” and find additional information on the Parker DNA Project that is co-organized by Dr. Gregory A. Parker and Dennis West. (They are also part of Family Group #2)

http://www.parkerdna.org

© Robert Carlton Smith July 2007

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http://web.utk.edu/%7Ecorn/parkerdna/

http://www.parkerdna.org/


Appendix A One Parker Descendant’s Adventure Into Genealogy

I began genealogy on October 11, 1989. That’s the day after my father’s funeral. After his funeral, I had asked my mom questions about dad that I should have asked dad himself! (Dad had a stroke and in less than a week he was gone). Mom told me, “I guess we’ll never know now, your father was the last in his generation.” That answer was unacceptable. Thus began my quest into genealogy. For the next two years I plugged away at it. I learned a lot about genealogy and my family tree was just beginning to grow. (Remember, this was pre- computer era) The idea of an Inter-net wasn’t even a dream yet. Although I had a Radio Shack Color Computer, it was basically a game system. It could do basic computing but there was no operating system. My first real computer was an IBM PC clone. I bought it at a Computer Expo in NYC in 1990. It had an 8088 processor, two floppy drives, no mouse, and a monochrome 12” screen (orange). There were no hard drives yet. Where the price of a genuine IBM-PC was close to $3000, at the Expo I paid a little less than $1000, to this day I’ve never spent that much again for a computer. Soon, I had purchased a ‘big’ (LOL) 20 Megabyte hard-drive, installed it in that computer, and It was running a DOS operating system, I added my first genealogy program, “Brothers Keeper” (a freeware DOS program), it was great. During the next several months I was busy entering family information and all the genealogy data that I had already found. Although, my Smiths were soon at a dead end, stuck in the middle of the 1800s, I wanted to continue genealogy. (Yeah, I was bit by the genealogy bug.) So, I next looked at my paternal grandmother Elizabeth [Parker] Smith. As I searched Elizabeth Parker. Here I was having pretty good success, Elizabeth’s father was a James William Parker. One Saturday afternoon while in the Alexander Library, at Rutgers University, I found James and his wife Virginia’s family in Pequannock, Morris, NJ. They were “Calib’ (sp) Parker and Cornelia Parker”. Wow, now genealogy was becoming an obsession. I was running to the Newark Public Library at lunchtime. Weekends were spent at Alexander Library I took vacation days and went to the NJ State Archives in Trenton, NJ. I found Caleb’s 1888 death certificate. Walla! A Joshua and Sarah Parker were his parents and they lived in NYC. I also found Cornelia Van Tassel’s family. They were from Tarrytown, Westchester County, NY. As I continued researching the Parker name, I felt like I was making good progress. The only problem was there was no one to collaborate with! (The Inter-net was still years away.) Then in 1992, along came Prodigy! Prodigy was a bulletin board service run by IBM that cost $5.00 per month. On Prodigy there was a genealogy bulletin board. I schnorred my first modem, a 300-baud dialup from where I worked. When you dialed in through the modem and logged on, you could read the posted messages from other genealogy nuts like myself, you either answered them or you posted your own and then logged off. Every day after work the first thing I did was see if anyone had answered my posting. Within a month I had made my first contact! A new unknown cousin, like myself, descending from Caleb Parker. His name was Edward Black, he was a retired NY- NJ plumber, living in South Carolina.

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I still have the printouts from my first genealogy computer connection (via Prodigy) over 20 years ago.

.

Above is my very first bulletin board query. When I posted it, I only knew Caleb and Cornelia’s names (my gg-grandparents living in NYC) from 1830 through 1860 when they disappeared. Below is the first Prodigy bulletin board query from a Steve Lucas, (the son in law of cousin Ed Black) who, although he was not involved in genealogy himself, He was posting for his father in law Ed who wasn’t ‘online’ yet. (Steve had not seen my query when posted the below query only six days after mine for Ed Black. It is hard to explain the excitement I felt when I got home from work on March 22, 1992, logged into Prodigy, I remember my pulse quickening, my heart pounding after reading the above posting. As I started to type an answer a terrible thought came to mind. Why hadn’t Steve simply answered MY posting? I started to get real mad! I yelled, (Hey *#&$+) “someone read my posting, turned it around and is re-posting it!!” I thought it was some kind of a joke, and the joke was on me. June said, “Why would anyone want to do that? Answer them and see what happens” After I reread everything again I agreed with her and posted an answer that included my phone number. (I don’t have a copy of that reply). The next day after work I received the answer (at right). Ed Black called me that night. Ed knew about Caleb having been

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born in NJ, but not who his parents were. He sent me a GEDCOM on a floppy disk, my first. From it I found good data on all the children of Caleb. Ed also had lots of Van Tassel ancestry (Cornelia was a Van Tassel) a real boost in my Parker family research. Later in the spring Ed and his wife Johanna made a stop at my house on the way to visit relatives in northern New Jersey where he once lived. That afternoon visit more than doubled my Parker knowledge and as a special bonus he gave me Photographic copies of Caleb and Cornelia’s pictures, the only ones that exist, the same ones that I used for the cover of “Parker Family Records”. Those photos are now everywhere. Caleb was born in NJ and his wife Cornelia was born in Westchester, NY. Now, I was advancing rapidly, With Ed’s help I found all his brothers and sisters of Caleb. One brother, Joshua, had become a Mormon. I was soon going to a local Mormon Church Library, only a few miles from my home, several nights a week. It was there that I found the IGI [International Genealogical Index] and a list of its contributors. Who was Harold Parker? He surely seemed active in genealogy. In addition to IGI files he was also writing queries in the Genealogical Helper Magazine. I wrote Harold a letter, my first postal letter, but many weeks went by but I received no reply. Then I received a letter from a Barbara Sanders in Hurricane, Utah. Harold was her father and she told me that he had died a few years earlier. She sent me more information about Joshua and Drusilla It was this information that gave me my start into branching 'sideways' to cover ALL Joshua Parker descendants, regardless of name. Barbara had her father’s genealogy papers and they showed that ‘her’ Joshua was born 1809; he was the son of a Joshua born in 1764 in Westford, Massachusetts. His parents were a Joshua Parker who was born in 1740 and he had a wife named Mary Boynton. The family went all the way back in Massachusetts to an Abraham Parker b.1618 in England. Abraham was married to a Rose Whitlock in 1644. Although, that IGI file for Joshua Parker was very confusing, it contained names of additional wives. On page 59,436 of the IGI file (Fig 1) I found both of the Joshua Parkers mentioned above.

Fig 1

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The Joshua born 1740 (blue highlight), and his son Joshua who was born 1764 (yellow and orange highlight), were submitted by “Mary M. P. Summerhays”, “Frederick A Parker”, and “Joseph F. Parker” between 16 February 1910 and 12 May 1920. There was however, still much confusion in my mind as to which wife went with which Joshua. I used several colored highlighters in an attempt to straighten it out, but I was only partially successful. It was a confusing mess. A Saturday trip to the New York Public Library, to find additional information to help straighten out these Parkers only made it worse. The genealogy librarian told there was a book, “Parker in America” by Augustus Parker that may help. I filled out a request to have it pulled. While I waited, I went to the ‘microfilm’ area and copied pages of NY City Directories where Parkers were involved. These directories began in the late 1790s. Our Joshua was first found in 1802, the year he married Sarah.

Fig2 IGI

Soon, the genealogy librarian returned and told me the copy of Parker in America was ready. As I sat in the genealogy reading room with the book, I was looking for the Parker Branch from Massachusetts containing a Joshua born 1740 that also had a son Joshua born in Westford in 1764. I found it! I made a copies of the pertinent pages. (Fig 2)

Fig3

That branch of Parkers began on page 8; the section was titled “Abraham Parker, Sec II, Woburn and Chelmsford Mass”. Joshua, born 1740 (yellow highlight), was listed with his seven siblings under the second wife, Dorothy Fletcher and Aaron Parker (pink highlight). When I turned to page 11 (Fig 3) there was Joshua, born 1740. He had two wives and children with each. Joshua b.1740 was referred to as “Cap.” indicating he was part of a military unit. I suspected the Revolutionary War. Then I saw Joshua born 1764. He was listed under the first wife ‘Mary Boynton’. Surely this was the Joshua that was part of my family tree or was it? Look carefully at the line by the asterisk (*) “Joshua Parker b.1764 rem. Cavendish, Vt.”. His father then married (2nd) Hannah Kidder and had six more children, all in Cavendish, VT. Whoa! Cavendish Vermont? If he moved to Vermont how and when did he get to New York City? Augustus Parker the author of Parker in America left me hanging! There was no more

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mention of Joshua born 1764. I knew that my Joshua was in NYC in 1802 as that was where he married a Sarah Rogers. Their first child, Pamela was also born in NYC in 1802. Boy, this didn’t agree with what I had already learned about my Parker ancestors. Joshua was living first in Vermont before coming to NYC? This wasn’t mentioned anywhere else. Maybe the book “Parker in America” was wrong. I had heard that there were errors in his work. It was then that I decided that I needed to do some field research work of my own. I needed to check this for myself! But where should I begin? Westford, Massachusetts was where these two Joshua Parkers began or were born. So that is where I decided to begin my first real field trip. “Boots On The Ground” if you will. June had a friend Priscilla, an old NJ neighbor, who was then living in Littleton, Massachusetts. That wasn’t too far from Westford. So, I scheduled some vacation time and we drove to visit her. During the daytime, while she was at work, June and I traipsed all around the Westford area researching Parker genealogy. We hit the libraries in Westford, Chelmsford, Billerica, and Woburn. Rather than spend time in each library reading the books that I found, I simply made Xerox copies of the pages where Parkers were mentioned. I took these copies home so I could sort it all out at my leisure. We also stopped in the town halls in those same towns looking at Birth, Death, and Marriages records. Here too, I made copies where allowed or took notes where copying was not allowed. Finally we went to many cemeteries in the same area and I used up several rolls of film taking pictures of Parker gravestones, and there were plenty! We stayed with Priscilla for several days. When we finally left for home the pile of paper copies I had made was over an inch and a half thick. Back home in NJ, several weeks later, I was reading the papers and updating my Brothers Keeper Genealogy Tree with the new names I found. In the Westford Town Hall I had also found and copied the actual listing of the births of Westford residents (Fig 4). Joshua born 1740 (Although his name was misspelled “Joshuah”) and his parents were listed “Aaron jr. and Dorrity”(sp). Above the Joshua born 1740 was his son Joshua born 1764, with parents “Joshua and Mary”..

Fig4

Westford Town Hall Births

Fig5

Westford Town Hall Marriages

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Also at Westford I copied the pages of the marriages of all Parkers. Both of Joshua 1740’s marriages (Mary Boynton and Hannah Kidder) were listed (Fig 5) Now, everything seemed to be falling into place. I had proof of birth dates and had straightened out whose wife was whose. But there was still the matter of the move to Vermont that bothered me.


Next, I was looking at a copy of the book, History of Westford by Edwin Hodgman 1883. In it He said that “Joshua b.1764; rem. To Cavendish, VT. He m. Hannah Jackman of Lunenburg”, followed by six children names that they had. (Fig 6)

No dates were given for the marriage or the births of his children. Was this a first marriage? What happened to this wife and children? When did he relocate to NYC?

Fig 6

Westford History by Edwin Hodgeman, 1883

I was still in the process of going over all the papers I had copied on the Massachusetts ‘field trip’ [the actual process took place over several weeks] I finally found the smoking gun! It was

in a book titled the Genes of Abraham by Thomas Lawless. It was a fairly new book written in 1980. As I was reading Page 2 of the Parker Section-III, I saw it! It hit me, like a slap in the face. (Fig 7) “ They are buried in Cavendish”

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What! Who was buried in Cavendish? (At the orange arrow) I reread the paragraph more carefully this time. The paragraph read: “Joshua born December 31, 1764 in Westford. He was a Revolutionary war soldier, serving three months in Rhode Island in 1780 in Capt. John Porter's company, and from July 1 to December 1, 1781, in Capt. Asa Drury’s company. He was a deacon, married in 1790 Hannah Jackman of Lunenburg, daughter of Abner and Elizabeth (Baily) Jackman who was born October 1766 and died July 27, 1842. Deacon Joshua died December 22, 1827. They are buried in Cavendish.”

Their six children then followed: 1. Mary (Polly) born 30 Mar 1791 2. Betsey born 31 Aug 1795 3. Levi born 08 Aug 1798 4. Joshua born 17 Apr 1803 5. Abner J. born 24 Nov 1805 6. John W. born 01 Aug 1809

He said “They”, that must have meant both Joshua and Hannah. As I read on about the children I saw that they had their fourth child in 1803? That was a year after ‘My’ Joshua in New York City married Sarah Rogers. It was then obvious that we, all my cousins up to that day, had the wrong Joshua Parker! If he was wrong, then his father, Joshua Parker born 1740 and all their ancestors was also wrong! I studied this revelation again and again for several days, but finally I knew I was correct. In Brothers Keeper I deleted the birth and death dates and the birthplace for ‘my’ Joshua (that married Sarah Rogers) as they obviously belong to the Joshua above, who was not my Joshua! I next began to ‘un-connect all the ancestors going back into Massachusetts. I didn’t delete them. Instead, I put them into a separate tree, in a different file within Brothers Keeper. There was still a chance that the Massachusetts Parkers were ours, just not through that Joshua born 1764. Later that year I took a day off and went back to the New York Municipal Archives in lower Manhattan. I had been there the year before but at that time I had only found my Grandmother, Elizabeth Parker’s birth certificate as I didn’t know any other names to look up.

Fig 8

Again Success! I found the actual death records for both Joshua Parker and Sarah. They were in Death Register Ledger books kept by the City of New York. Joshua died September 27, 1819.

His age was “41 - -” He was born in Cortlandt Manor, Westchester, NY. Fig 8 is an exact Xerox copy of Joshua’s birth location from his death ledger entry, although Cortlandt was spelled incorrectly. It would also be

safe to assume that the information was supplied by his wife of 17 years Sarah [Rogers] Parker. Subtracting 41 years from 1819 gives 1778 as his approximate birth year. Sarah [Rogers] Parker, his wife, died 10 years later on February 8, 1829. Her age was listed as 44 years making her birth year approximately 1785. It also stated she was born in “Connecticut”. I now had the correct Joshua and Sarah. I had their real birthplaces, their

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approximate birth years, and their exact death dates and place of burial. All this was backed up by actual copies of primary records that I found. I have the actual photo copies of the death ledger books, not transcripts, not hand written notes! In the latter 1990s June and I made another field trip. We went to Cavendish Vermont. The trip was actually made, as a side detour, on one of our many weekend trips to our summerhouse in Vermont, which was only about 50 miles away from Cavendish. I wanted to find, once and for all, the actual grave of that Joshua, born 1764, who died in 1827. I was hoping to photograph his gravestone and find his wife Hannah Jackman next to him! There were two cemeteries in Cavendish. In the first, the ‘Cavendish Village Cemetery’, I was able to locate most of their six children and their families, but not Joshua and Hannah. A resident in a nearby house told us that we were in the ‘newer’ Cavendish cemetery, they directed us to the ‘older’ Cavendish cemetery. It was called ‘Mount Union Cemetery’, and was about a mile away. There we found exactly what I had hoped for; Joshua and Hannah side by side! (See Fig 9).

Fig 9

Mount Union Cemetery, Cavendish, VT Joshua Parker and his wife Hannah [Jackman] Parker

Joshua “died Dec 22, 1827 AE 63 years” Hannah “died July 27, 1842 AE 75 yrs 9 mos.”

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By 1999 the Inter-net had finally arrived. There were several websites that specialized in genealogy. (FamilySearch.org, Genealogy.com, and Ancestry.com) Windows had replaced DOS. My computer system was now running Windows-95 and I had switched from Brothers Keeper (a DOS program) to PAF 4.0. This was also the year I finally retired from a thirty-two year career in the computer field. I had also begun making e-mail contact with other living Parker cousins, mainly descendants of Joshua Parker born 1809. Everyone that I contacted still had the Joshua born 1764 and all the Massachusetts Parkers as their ancestors. Although, I had long ago come to the conclusion that I was climbing the wrong Parker-Tree the task of convincing others was much harder than I thought it would be. I had only supplied a small amount of the evidence to my new cousins back in 2000. Although, I had saved all the documents in a Massachusetts folder, it was filed away in the back of a drawer in vertical filing cabinet in no particular order. Slowly some other cousins became convinced, I think! In early 2002 I began writing a paper about my “Joshua Parker” findings and conclusions, it was about 20 pages long it was titled “JOSHUA Parker A Family Chronology”. In it, I included a photo of the graves of Joshua and Hannah in Vermont, but the photo was small, and not real clear and only the first page really talked about the incorrect Parker’s line that came through Massachusetts. In 2003 I got involved in Parker DNA with Dr. Gregory Parker at the University of Oklahoma. He had linked our Parker line to his Parker line in Virginia using DNA although no traditional paper trail existed. We both agreed that if we could find a living Parker that was a descendant coming from that Massachusetts Parkers that would be the proverbial ‘nail in the coffin’. It took about a year, using my ‘Massachusetts File’, the papers that I had saved, but I was finally able to locate a Parker Descendant living in Delaware that could trace his lineage, with a solid paper trail, to Abraham Parker in Massachusetts. (The Abraham that married Rose Whitlock). I approached him by phone and convinced him to join the DNA project When he agreed I put him in touch with Dr. Gregory Parker. When the results came in, there wasn’t any doubt. He had a TOTALLY different DNA “Y” profile! We are group 2; the he and the Massachusetts were in group 5. I used those results and updated my book and produced a second printing (Version 2). This book is now available in the “Parker Files” folder at the ‘DropBox’ anyone can download it. If you are a Parker descendant and don’t have access to the “DropBox” contact this author, Robert C. Smith for a printed and bound copy. In spite of all this, there are some cousins not fully convinced. DNA, like fingerprints, is unique, but maybe too complex, and probably it isn’t fully understood by everyone in detail. I was recently asked, “Why try to convince others? If they don’t want to abandon the Massachusetts Parker Line it’s no big deal”! But, to me it is important. As the Inter-net continues expanding there is ever more information being posted on multiple websites. There are now more websites and more data appearing daily a than one person can search on their own. The more eyes and more Parker cousins that search for our Parker Ancestors of Joshua and Sarah the better chance we all have of finding them.

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On the other hand, if everyone is satisfied that their Parker tree is complete through the Massachusetts Parker line then no one will be searching, and the chance that the real Parker ancestry will be found is greatly diminished. SO, I’ve made this, another attempt, to layout ALL the evidence that I have. These ten pages with actual document scans and photos is the result. The evidence is compelling! I can’t see how it can be explained any other way. I do understand why my cousins are reluctant to ‘chop-off’ a known, documented Parker ancestral line that they’ve known since they first began genealogy or that their parents handed them and replace it with nothing, but it has to be done!. It is my hope that we will forever abandon the notion that we are descendants from Parkers in Massachusetts and begin climbing the correct Parker Tree. I would also wish that anyone that has uploaded a Parker tree to whatever genealogy site could make the proper corrections and delete those Parkers from Massachusetts once and for all. Robert C. Smith December 3, 2011

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You may use the content found herein only for your personal or professional family history research and only so far as the results are relevant to your family research. The copying or re-publication of this whole work or significant portions or individual chapters of this work is prohibited. Resale of a work or a database which includes a major portion taken from this work is prohibited. Online posting on a website, or other posting, or re-publication of the contents of this work in whole or in part is also prohibited.

LIABILITY DISCLAIMER

The raw sources for the information found in this work are available from public data sources. It is aggregated from public records released by governmental and other agencies or organizations, and available elsewhere, often on the Internet (for example, US Censuses, DMV records, City Directories, Phone Books, Newspaper Obituaries, Old Church Records, etc). This book may include inaccuracies or typographical errors. I provide all content "AS IS", without a warranty of any kind. Although I believe all the information presented here is accurate, I make no guarantee to that end. The genealogy reader or user of this information is always advised to verify and cross check with other sources.

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