When I started genealogy, I always considered stories from older generations of their ancestors to be gold. After all, the elders were much closer in time to the events they described than we are. But I learned over the years that they often made the same mistakes we make now, garbling stories and assigning them to the wrong line, finding similar names in another family and blending it with our own, filling in the gaps with guesswork, which is then picked up as fact by others, etc. I believe such a process led to the formation of William Alexander Parker who, it seems to me, was “created” from spare parts.
The story goes as follows:
WILLIAM ALEXANDER PARKER
William Alexander Parker married to Henrietta came from Fauquier County VA to Pittsylvania County in 1768 to grow tobacco and escape the Indians. Benjamin and David Parker (immigrants to the west) were his sons along with George Parker (who stayed in Pittsylvania). William Alexander Parker was the son of William Henry Parker who was the son of George Parker who was son of William Parker II who was son of William Parker of London who bought the Cliffs in Ann Arundel County, Maryland. More recently, on the internet, Henrietta Parker, wife of William Alexander Parker, has been given the maiden name identity of Henrietta Hyde Donnell.
The problems of the above are numerous. There is no William Alexander Parker with that middle name in any Pittsylvania County record. I can’t find him in Fauquier County, Virginia or in Maryland records either (places his family was said to have originated from). His supposed father was William Henry Parker. Such a person existed (he lived in Calvert County, MD 1698-1715, son of William and Mary Parker) but his dates don’t fit and there is no record of him having any children. Further back, William Alexander Parker is supposed to be the descendant of William Parker of the Cliffs, Anne Arundel County, MD. That William Parker did have one son, William but he died young without issue. Henrietta Hyde Donnell existed but she was from a much later generation: She lived 1827-1897 and was married to William Parker 1814-1896 of Port Deposit, Maryland. There are numerous versions of this William Alexander Parker’s ancestry online at various websites but none quote sources that can be verified.
I think the origins of all this scurrilous information was the desire to trace the lineage of George Parker of Pittsylvania whose descendants were fairly prominent. And since, as eldest son, George apparently inherited a large plantation on the Staunton River in Pittsylvania, it was assumed (correctly) that George’s father was a large landowner. Looking at county land records, I believe that early researchers focused on William Parker, who with his wife Henrietta, originally moved from Bedford county to Pittsylvania County and had fairly large land ownership on the Pigg River area including Cherrystone, Harpen and Potter’s Creek. He is my ancestor through his son Elijah and his grandson, Richard Parker. This William Parker’s ancestry is not proven for certain although I lean toward him being a son of Thomas Parker of Essex County, VA. But I am sure he is not really the William Alexander Parker described above. The middle name of Alexander does relate to George Parker because he (George) had a son whose first name was Alexander (named after his grandfather on his mother’s side).
JOHN PARKER
George Parker’s lands were near the small town of Brights on the Staunton River and it is evident George’s father (and the father of David and Benjamin) was Not a William Alexander Parker but John Parker who was the first to own lands there. This area is pinpointed on google map with two locations noted near Reservoir View Ln, Pittsville, VA 24139. One is “Parker Plantation Ruins” and the other is “Old Parker Cemetery.” The plantation is 2.5 miles NW of Brights, 4 miles north of Pittsville and 5 miles north of Toshes. By the way, the cemetery has several fieldstone grave markers that were designated illegible by earlier researchers but the Find a Grave internet site miraculously lists all the markers with detailed information including William Alexander Parker and Henrietta Hyde Donnell Parker’s names and dates. But no such inscriptions exist.
The earliest record I could find for a Parker in Pittsylvania County is the August 1781 levy on inhabitants to furnish clothes and beef for the use of the Continental Army. The only Parker on the list was John Parker. He was on the 1782 Pittsylvania Tax list and his first land record in Pittsylvania was a 1783 land grant.
Per the Shelton Journal, a John Parker d. 23 March 1811 – the tax list information supports the fact that he died in 1811 since there are no tax records for him after that. The 1791 tax list notes David Parker as the son of John. The Rainey genealogy collection in Oklahoma has John Parker as the father of Mary, Benjamin, George, David, Sarah and Elizabeth and I think this is correct.
WILLIAM PARKER
The real William Parker (and wife Henrietta) can be traced as follows:
William Parker was born in an unknown location approx. 1754. An early record of him is with wife Henrietta in Bedford County, VA in 1786 when they purchased 200 acres on Hall’s Mill Creek (Bedford Co. Deed Bk 7, p. 661). On October 22, 1797, William and Henrietta Parker of the county of Pittsylvania sold the above tract to Wright Bond. On 4/1/1792 Wm. Parker purchased 1,000 acres from Jeremiah Ward at South side Pigg River to Cherrystone Creek.
William and Henrietta Parker had children John, Nancy, Mildred, James, Sally and Elijah, all born 1777 to 1792. AS proof of William Parker being married to Henrietta, there is an entry in the Craft Family Bible, submitted to DAR by Camelia Brooks Pugh: “Sept. 4, 1785: Mildred “Milly” Parker was born, daughter of William & Henrietta Parker”. Another proof: “April 16, 1810: Will Parker & Henrietta his wife sign a deed to George Craft (son-in-law) for three hundred acres on Cherrystone Creek.”
William died Dec. 21, 1838, leaving a will with his children named.
The location of his home and land (inherited by son Elijah) is listed in a WPA of Virginia Historical Inventory by author Hattie S. Meadows, Chatham Oct 27, 1937. Photos were included.
“Elijah Parker’s Home. go 4 miles west from Chatham Virginia on route #57. Thence 4.1 miles north (right) on route #799. Thence .5 miles right on private road leading to home. Owners: William Parker prior to 1832 (exact date unknown). Elijah Parker 1832 Deed Book 34 Page 320. 770 acres. Other subsequent owners are named down to Jennie Shepherd Jones in 1925.“
The home is southeast of the Pigg River and west of Cherrystone, Harpen and Potter’s Creeks, south of Toshes, between Climax and Redeye. Trying to follow the directions on a google map it looks like it is probably slightly north of the Climax Elementary school and Fire Department. I was there about 20 years ago and the house was in poor condition but had renters. It looked much like the photos from 1925.
In summation, all indicators are that William Alexander Parker was pieced together from two real Parkers of that era in Pittsylvania County, John Parker of the Staunton River, and William Parker (married to Henrietta) of the Pigg River who had distinct histories and lived in different areas. These two real Parkers, John and William may have been related or not. But the fictitious William Alexander Parker only muddies this research. And the unfortunate trend of the internet to repeat and amplify bogus information only makes it worse.
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