Peter Parker

Born:  circa 1762 [age 56 in 1818].

Died:  1 Sep 1840 at Queensbury, Warren Co., NY [or at an advanced age at Hampton, Washington Co., NY].

Buried:  Ira, Rutland Co., VT.

Parents:  Unknown.

Brother:  David Parker, Rev War soldier, see David Parker, Rev War Parker #26.

Possible Kinship:  Charles Parker, Rev War soldier, see Charles Parker, Rev War Parker #48.

Married(1):  Unknown.

Married(2):  1804 at Ira, VT, widow Mary (WHEELER) MURRAY, b circa 1768, living 1860 (age 92) at Warrensburgh, Warren Co., NY. She m(1) William Murray.

Rev War:  Served as a soldier in Capt. Tews' company, RI Line.

Resided:  Of Ira, VT, 1790-1830; Hampton, NY, after 1830; and of Queensbury, NY. Widow Mary (Wheeler) (Murray) Parker of Warren Co., NY; and of Washington Co., NY.

It is probable that Peter Parker m at least twice. In an earlier m he had at least one child:
1. --?-- Parker, a son, m and had two chn b circa 1817 and 1820. The son "absconded" and left his wife and two chn with his parents, Peter & Mary Parker.

Children (perhaps others) of Peter & Mary (Wheeler) Parker:
2. Peter Parker, Jr., b circa 1806; m Jemima [?Griffin], b circa 1802 in NY; a farmer; res in 1850 at Queensbury, NY; res 1860 at Warrensburgh, Warren Co., NY. Jemima was enumerated with a Lois Griffin [her mother?] (age 71, b MA) in the 1850 census. Chn of Peter & Jemima Parker:
    1. Mary Delilah Parker, b circa 1826 [age 24 in 1850] in VT; m William WHEELER, b circa 1822 [age 28 in 1850] in VT; res 1850 at Queensbury, NY; chn:
        1. Lydia Wheeler, age 6 in 1850, b NY.
        2. Elijah Wheeler, age 4 in 1850, b NY.
        3. William W. Wheeler, age 1 in 1850, b NY.
    2. Darwin Parker, b circa 1829 [age 31 in 1860] in VT; m Sophronia LANPHEAR, b circa 1835 [age 25 in 1860] in NY, d/o Leander & Abigail (Parker) Lanphear; res in 1860 at Indian Lake, Hamilton Co., NY, where he was a farm laborer; chn, b in NY:
        1. Alvin Parker, age 9 in 1860.
        2. Mary J. Parker, age 7 in 1860.
        3. Julia Parker, age 4 in 1860.
    3. Lois A. Parker, b circa 1838 [age 12 in 1850], b in NY.

Two of the early settlers of Ira, VT, were colorful characters and brothers, David and Peter Parker, who came soon after 1800, both of them noted as rhymsters and story-tellers. Peter evidently was a stout fellow who loved the world, the flesh and the devil, as well as his glass of hard cider, if the account of him in Miss Hemenway's Gazetteer is correct. The following sentence taken from that periodical is somewhat strange in construction but the meaning is clear enough: "He would sometimes tell fortunes for cider of which he was a great lover as also of the feminine gender." Peter was a large man, courageous, proud of his physical strength and rather boastful. Once some young men of Ira, wishing to get the best of the dauntless Peter, took a suit of old clothes, stuffed it with straw and hung it from a tree on a lonely road Parker had to pass one night. Hidden, the boys watched "Fighting Peter" approach. Doubling up his fists Peter walked up to the ghost-like apparition and roared "What are you, God, man or the devil?" Receiving no answer he smote the straw man mightily and knocked him from the tree, with some satisfaction emptied out the straw and took possession of the suit of clothes which, tradition has it, was better than his own.

Sources:
Child, 1881, Gazetteer and Business Directory of Rutland Co., VT, page 147.
Fish, 1948, The Fish Family in England and America, pages 147-148.
Fisher, 1992, Soldiers of the Rev War - VT, page 392.
White, 1992, Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files, page 2594.

Revised: August 11, 2004 .

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