When John Parker died in 1761. He owned land on the Toisnot Swamp, then in Edgecombe Co NC, but now thought to be in present-day Wilson Co NC. He willed this land to his son Gabriel. John did not move from Nansemond Co VA to NC until 1750. This John Parker also had a son named Aaron, who was the youngest son. John Parker of Edgecombe Co has only a few facts to help identify him. An estimate of his age is difficult. He would more than likely been born in Virginia and all evidence points to that. The will of John Parker in 1761 was witnessed by John Dew and Mary Dew. In Nansemond County, VA, ‘Jerico,’ the home of Col. Thomas Dew joined the land in a grant to Francis Parker, son of Richard Parker. John Parker’s son, Gabriel Parker, lived near the Dew family in Edgecombe and he sold a tract of land to John Dew. At the death of John Parker in 1761 he had three sons and three daughters. He did not name any of his sons as executor of his will. The first deed that can be identified as belonging to him was a purchase of a tract of land from Gabriel Parker. The relationship between John and Gabriel Parker is not stated. There are a number of very early deeds in North Carolina made by Gabriel Parker. His identity has not been established. John Parker’s 1761 will is as follows: “In the Name of God amen the leventh day of may in the year of our Lord 1761 I John Parker of Edgecombe County am Sick and weak in Body But of perfect mind and memory Thanks be given unto god for the Same and calling to mine the mortality of my Body and ___? knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die do make and ordain this my Last will and Testament that is to say principally and first of all I Give and Recommend my Soul unto the Hands of God that gave it and for my Body I Recommend it to the Earth to be Buried in a Christian Like and decent manner at the discretion of my Executors nothing doubting but at the General Resurrection I Shall Receive the same gain by the mighty power of God and as touching such worldly Estate wherewith it Hath pleased god to Bless me in this Life I give devise and Dispose of the Same in manner and form following that is to Say in the first place. “Item I give to my son Gabrial Parker one young Horse and one Cow and two Sows I also give to my son Gabrial my land and plantation after His mothers Deceas. “Item I give and bequeath to my Son John Parker one Cow and one young Sow. “Item I Give and bequeath to my Son Aron Parker one Bed and furniture and one young Hefer and one Sow. “Item I Give and bequeath to William Ammons one your Hefor. “Item I Give and bequeath unto my Daughter Sarah Parker two Hefers and one Sow. “Item I Give and bequeath unto my Daughter Margit Parker one Cow and one Sow. “Item I Give and bequeath unto my Daughter Elizabeth Parker one Cow and the Hogs that yous to be callled Hers. I Lend my well beloved wife my land and plantation Her Life time and all the rest I Give and bequeath unto Mary my well Beloved wife all the rest of my Estate Goods and Chattels of what so ever kind I Like ___ Constitute make and ordain Thomas Horn Sener and Thomas Hart and Mary my well beloved wife Executors of this my last will and Testament and I do hereby utterly Disallow Revoke and Disannull all and every other former Testaments wills and legacies Requests and Executors by me in any way before this time named will and bequeathed Ratifying and Confirming this and no other to be my Last Will and Testament in witness whereof I have Hereunto Sett my Hand and Seal the Day and year above written.his Signed Sealed and DeliveredJohn H Parker In the presents of us John Dew,mark Mary dew, Cornelius Jordan “Edgecombe CountySystem. Inferior Court 1761 “The Within Last Will & Testament of John Parker Decd was Exhibited and proved by the Oaths of John Dew & Mary Dew two of the Subscribing Witnesses And the Extor has Qualifyed According to Law Ordered that the same be Certifyed and that the within Will be Recorded. The children of John Parker and his wife Mary were- A. Gabriel Parker, born about 1741, married Fanny _____ about 1866 and died 14 May 1834 in GA. B. John Parker, born around 1745 and grew up probably in Halifax Co VA, married Patience Humphrey (daughter of Robert Humphrey of Edgecombe Co) by the 1760s. He moved to Edgecombe Co NC after 1773, and remained there until they sold the remainder of their land between 1784 and 1790. Then they moved to Hancock Co GA. There were several men by the name of John Parker in early Hancock County, Georgia records who made many deeds but most of the deeds had little to identify the John Parker involved. John Parker of Toisnot Swamp in Edgecombe Co NC, moved into Hancock Co GA, and bought many acres. On 3 December 1796 John Parker of Hancock Co GA sold Demcey Griffin of Hancock Co GA ’69 acres of land on Folsom’s Creek joining Aaron Parker for $500.00.’ Then on 21 June 1799 John Parker of Hancock Co sold to ‘Isom Humphrey 160 acres on Ogeechee River at the mouth of Folsom’s Creek and Dimsey Griffis Corner, by Joseph Howell Sr., … for $600.00 … ‘part of a tract granted to John Kelley in 1785.’ Witnesses were George Norsworthy and Dimsey Griffis. John Parker still had enough land left to will his son, John Parker, 250 acres of land in Hancock Co. and leave his wife, Patience Parker, a plantation, though he did not give the acreage of that plantation. In a few of the 1799 to 1801 land sales, John Parker is called John Parker Senr. This John Parker left his will soon afterwards and in it he named his wife Patience and named others; and from court proceedings following soon after the death of John Parker (Sr), other children can be identified- 1. “Daughter Elizabeth” received a Negro woman named Dolls 2. “Daughter Mary,” also called Polly, received a Negro girl named Mary 3. “Daughter Charlotte” received a horse named Pecolia 4. “Son John” received 250 acres along Dry Creek; this John Parker (Jr) was born about 1789 and settled in Hancock Co GA. He married Milly East, daughter of Joseph East and Milly _____, on 18 January 1814 in Clarke Co. She had been a member of the Mars Hill Baptist Church since In April 1812, but was removed from membership soon after she married John Parker and lived with him in Hancock Co. John Parker (Jr) died in Hancock Co in early 1835 and his estate took about three years to settle. He, by this time, is called Senr (his father had died about 35 years prior). 5. “Son-in-law Hezekiah Howel” received Negro girl named Nann; Hezekiah was also named to be an executor of the will, along with son John and wife Patience. 6. “Henry Bankston” received a “negro girl named Charity.” There are records of a Henry Harrison Bankston, born about 1783 in GA, who married a Sarah Parker. Did John and Patience also have a daughter named Sarah? 7. daughter Rachel Parker, born 1787 at New Kent Co VA, married Hezekiah Howell in Clarke Co GA on 24 November 1808. She died in 1869 at Rock Cut, GA. C. Margit Parker, b abt 1740s D. Elizabeth Parker, b abt 1740s E. Sarah Parker, b abt 1752 F. Aaron Parker, born about 1755, was the youngest son. He married Charity Sheffield and lived in Edgecombe Co NC at Toisnot Swamp. Aaron Parker and his siblings were also – for a time at least – in Nash Co NC. (Nash Co was created in 1777 entirely from Edgecombe Co and Wilson County, where Toisnot Swamp is now located. Aaron and Gabriel Parker lived close to each other and close to Elizabeth Parker in Nash Co in the late 1770s. By 1783 Aaron and wife Charity were in Halifax Co NC, and remained there until about 1791 when Aaron and Carity moved to northeast GA. They joined the Powelton Church in Georgia, transferring from Fishing Creek Baptist Church (Fishing Creek forms the boundary between Halifax and Edgecombe counties) in NC. Other Parker families had already joined this church in the 1780s; one was another Aaron Parker who was married to Sarah _____. Aaron and Charity were removed from this church in 1801 when they joined Mars Hill Church in newly created Clarke Co and lived along Barber’s Creek. Then in the early 1820s moved to Henry Co GA, and died there about 1829. His son Aaron Parker Jr was the administrator of Aaron Parker Sr’s estate. They had children- 1. West Parker, born 1871-1874, was on a 1795 tax poll in Hancock Co, so was born by 1774. He was granted 63 acres in Clarke Co in each year 1802 thru 1805, in the area where his father Aaron Parker own much more land. West died before 10 November 1855 in Marion Co GA. West married Susannah _____ and they had at least five children- A. James Parker, born 1803, married Catherine Bradberry, daughter of Sarah East and Lewis Bradbury. Sarah was a sister of Joseph East who was the father of Martin B East, Frances East, and Milly East who married Parker people. B. Sarah Parker, born 1805, married Martin B East, son of Joseph East and Milly _____. C. boy Parker, born 1811-1815 D. girl Parker, born 1816-1820 E. girl Parker, born 1821-1825 F. girl Parker, born 1826-1830. 2. Annie Elizabeth Parker, born 15 January 1780, married Abner Crow on 20 February 1793 and died in 1835 in DeKalb Co GA. 3. John Parker, born 1785 in Halifax Co NC, married Frances East, daughter of Joseph East and Milly _____, on 23 November 1808 in Clarke Co. She was a sister of Milly East who married first cousin John Parker. To keep these two John Parker men identified, the John who married Milly will be called John Parker (Jr). John Parker and wife Frances had eight children. He died on 15 October 1860 in Chambers Co AL. His widow Fanny was age 83, living in Tallapoosa Co in 1870. Note that in these same counties of eastern AL lived other East families who descend from Stephen East (born 1780 in VA). John Parker and Frances had eight children- A. Bryant Parker, b 1810 B.. Elizabeth Parker, b 18 Jan 1813 C. John N Parker; b 7 Mar 1816 D. Littleberry Parker, b 8 Sep 1816 E. Ephraim Parker, b 1819 F. Louisa Parker, b 1820, married Appling Bibb Stroud [E14a8a]. G. Elias Sidney Castleberry Parker, b 20 Jul 1823 H. Mary Ann Parker, b 1832 4. Allen Parker, born about 1785, married Nancy _____. 5. Rachel Parker, born late 1780s and married Martin Crow on 24 November 1808 in Clarke Co. 6. Aaron Parker Jr, born about 1789, died in 1881 in Henry Co GA. It was in 1819 that he started acquiring land in Clarke Co. He married Margaret Browning in Clarke Co on 26 June 1806. The 1820 census of Clarke Co shows his birth year as being 1776 to 1794. His wife was born 1776 to 1794 also. They had 3 or 4 children then. The 1830 census shows that he was born in the 1780s, as was his wife, and they had four boys and five girls. Aaron Jr’s widowed mother was living with them in 1830, but she moved back to Clarke Co in 1832, and probably died in Carke Co soon after. 7. Nancy Parker, born 1791, married Travis Francis Straughn in Clarke Co on 23 December 1813. 8. William B Parker, born about 1796, and married Elizabeth Hopkins on 22 July 1817. 9. Elizabeth Sheffield Parker, born 16 March 1801 in Clarke Co, died 1 August 1881 at Colquit, Miller Co GA. She married Samuel Hopkins in Clarke Co on 2 January 1817. Her descendants moved to TX. |