| John Riley Parker | |
|---|---|
This statue known as The Lexington Minuteman was originally meant to represent the common Minuteman, but has now become accepted as Captain John Parker. It is by Henry Hudson Kitson and it stands at the town green of Lexington, Massachusetts. It is not actually based on Parker's appearance, as no known likenesses of him survive today. |
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| Born | July 13, 1729 |
| Died | September 17, 1775 (aged 46) Lexington |
| Allegiance | Massachusetts |
| Service/branch | Militia |
| Years of service | 1775 |
| Rank | Captain (military) |
| Battles/wars | French and Indian War *Siege of Louisbourg (1758) *Battle of the Plains of Abraham American Revolutionary War *Battles of Lexington and Concord |
| Other work | Farmer, Mechanic |
John Parker (July 13, 1729 – September 17, 1775) was an American farmer, mechanic and soldier who commanded the Lexington militia at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. Parker was born in Lexington to Josiah Parker and Anne Stone. His experience as a soldier in the French and Indian War (Seven Years War) at the Siege of Louisbourg and the conquest of Quebec most likely led to his election as militia captain by the men of the town.
He was in poor health from consumption (tuberculosis) on the morning of April 19. Tradition reports his order at Lexington Green to have been, "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." He witnessed his cousin Jonas Parker killed by a British bayonet. Later that day he rallied his men to attack the regulars returning to Boston in an ambush known as "Parker's Revenge".
This was his only military action in the American Revolutionary War. He was unable to serve in the Battle of Bunker Hill in June, and died of tuberculosis in September. Parker's grandson donated his musket to the state of Massachusetts. It hangs today in the Senate Chamber of the Massachusetts State House.
The Parker Homestead formerly stood on Spring Street in Lexington. A tablet marks the spot as Theodore Parker's birthplace; Theodore, a relative (grandson) of Captain John, was a transcendentalist and minister who was good friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. A copy of one of Rev. Theodore Parker's sermons, given to Abraham Lincoln by Lincoln's law partner, is the source of the "of the people, by the people, for the people" phrasing Lincoln used in his Gettysburg Address (the phrase comes originally from the writings of the 14th-century English scholar and religious reformer John Wycliffe)
John Parker had seven children.