John Parker (pioneer)

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For other persons named John Parker, see John Parker (disambiguation).

John Parker (1758 - 1836)

Elder John Parker was an American settler and Predestinarian Baptist minister who immigrated to Texas before the Texas Revolution, and was killed during the Fort Parker massacre in 1836, along with several members of his family, and others of the "Parker clan".

John Parker was born on September 6, 1758 in Baltimore County, Maryland. His family moved to Virginia while John was young, and in 1777, at age nineteen, he left home to fight in the American Revolution. Two years later, in November, 1779, he married Sarah (Sallie) White before returning to war. After returning home in Virginia, the Parkers' first child, Daniel, was born, on April 6, 1781. Other children soon followed.

About 1785, John moved his family to Georgia in search of opportunities for a better life. In 1803, he once again moved the family, including Sallie, eight children, Daniel's wife, Martha (Patsey) Dickerson, and their daughter. They settled near Nashboro (present Nashville), Tennessee. By 1817, John and Sallie's family had grown to eleven children, many of whom had married and had children of their own. The family then moved to Illinois.

In 1824, Sallie died, and in 1825, John married the widow Sarah (Sallie) Duty, who had several daughters that had married into the Parker clan. At age seventy-five, John and most of his family moved to Texas in 1833.

During 1835, some of Elder John's sons built a fort on the head-waters of the Navasota River, near present Groesbeck in Limestone County, Texas. Parker's Fort¹ was built as protection for the families who all had land grants located on the frontier of what was then called the Comancheria.

On May 19, 1836, Elder John and other members of the Parker clan were killed at the Fort Parker massacre. His second wife, "Granny" Parker, was seriously wounded, but eventually recovered.

Elder John Parker, the Patriarch of the Parker clan, raised and influenced his family to continually seek the freedom and opportunities that would allow them to follow their beliefs as Predestinarian Baptists.

¹ The name Parker's Fort is often used to distinguish it from a military fort.