Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Abraham PARKER
Parkersville, or what was once called Taylors' Cross-roads--previous to 1770--was in Kennett township. During that year Pennsbury was formed from the eastern part of Kennett. The earliest settlers in the vicinity of Parkersville, after the formation of the new township, were Robert Fisher, who owned what was since the Jacob Baily property; Benj. Taylor, father of Col. Isaac Taylor, who lived where afterwards lived Jane Webb, Phebe Parker, and latterly, James Webb, Wm. Temple, Thos. Hope, and David Reynolds. About the year 1752 Abraham Parker, who had the two years previous, owned and kept the Anvil Tavern, moved to the farm of 120 acres, which he had bought of _____Evans, now owned by W. W. Parker. Soon after his removal he died, willing his estate to be sold for the benefit of his widow Eleanor and his five children. His executors, Samuel Gilpin and John Chads, sold the same to his widow, 3/25/1755, for L240. His four daughters, at this time living, were Mary, Elizabeth, Lydia, and Keziah, and son John (all being under age). In February of the same year, she rents the farm to John Taylor, for 12 pounds, as the following quaint record shows:
"2/3/1755 memarandon beetweene John Taylor, (father of Reuben), and Ellinor Parker, of an agreement made beetweene each:
He is to pay Me twelve pound a year and one cow and one Hors Creater. He is to pester at his at his one cost and ey am to pey him for the pestring of two colts, at 15 shillings for each, and ey have resurved the Dwelling Hous, which ey now lives in, and firewood, also a pees of ground for the Garding, and heis to have ten ecors for to Plant in Corn, in the field, where He is to Soe with wheat in the fall and He is to have three ecors of New ground to Soe with ry. I also resarve to myself the same parsel of the ground that the Hous stands on."
Eleanor, on these few acres that she reserved, and in the old log cabin or house of the period, brought up her orphan children. The oldest daughter, (Mary Parker), married David Reynolds 4/17/1756. Soon after, they emigrated, and settled near Centre Meeting, Guilford County, N.C. 6/7/1756. The difficulties encountered by the early settlers are graphically set forth by them, in a letter, to their Uncle and Aunt John and Eliz. Chads, written after their arrival in N.C. viz:
To John and Eliz. Chads, Concord Township, Chester County, Pa.
Dear and Loving Uncle and Aunt: These few lines come with our kind love to you, to let you know that we are in good health, at present--thanks be to Almighty God, for this mercy in preserving us through our long passage,--and we are not arrived at our desired port. We hope these few lines may find you and family in ye same. We sailed from Phila. ye first day after you left us and got to Lewistown on 3rd day, and we sailed for Carolinah and meeting with contrary winds, were obliged to turn back, again, to Lewistown, and got back on 7th day. On 2nd day, we sailed again, and on 4th day, we, by contrary winds, were oblied to turn back again to Lewistown, and on 6th day, we sailed again, and yt night put into Inigetege, and lay til First day. On 1st day morning, we sailed again up ye bay, but having head winds, for ye most part, we did not get to Edinton, N.C. till the next 1st Day. During the contrary winds, we had some bad storms, but we suffered not much, during all those contrary winds. Molly (Mary, his wife) was very little sea-sick all ye voyage. We were very kindly treated by our Captain and crew and our provision held out well, and we are safe at Edinton and have suffered no loss in anything. Ye Captain charged us no freight for our goods, only our passages, so not having much more to write at present for we can tell little about our getting Home yet. So we conclude with our kind love to you and family. We remain your Loving and Respectful cousins
David Reynolds
Mary Reynolds
Edington ye 6/7/1756
They sailed from Phila. 5/5/1756
Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, married Jesse Davis, a farmer who settled near Marlborough Meeting House, Randolph County, N.C. whose last surviving child (David Davis) born 5/31/1798 now lives at New Market, Randolph Co, N.C. with his children all settled near him, on good farms, and in a way, that is satisfactory to him, in his declining years. The other daughter of David and Mary Parker Reynolds, (Lydia), married Benj. Benbow, or near Hopewell Meeting, Guilford Co., N.C. David and Mary Parker Reynold's descendants were numerous and representatives of the family have settled in most every Western state in the Union, they having gone out from their parent home in N.C. to seek homes and fortunes in the West. The second daughter of Abraham and Eleanor (Elizabeth) married 7/9/1761 Wm. Reynolds (a brother of Davids'). They also moved to N.C. where she soon after died, leaving no issue. Keziah Parker, 8th child of Abraham and Eleanor, born 8/5/1750 married 5/19/1773 Peter Wickersham and settled near Unionville. The mother, Eleanor, married Wm. Wickersham, a widower and father of Peter, 10/4/1761. John Parker was the only son of Abraham and Eleanor, born in Wilmington 8/22/1748, where his father kept a public house, "The Indian Queen", and upon the site, where now, the Clayton House stands. In 1750 Abraham removed to Anvil Tavern, Kennett, and remained there a short time, until he purchased the Parkersville farm, before mentioned. He was succeeded at the Anvil Tavern by James House (his brother in law). John Parker married 5/22/1774, at Kennett Meeting, Hannah Millhouse. He first settled, after marriage, on or near the farm, late of Ellis H. Parker in East Marlboro, and was living there at the time of the battle of Brandwine. The British army passing by, took him a prisoner. Previous to marriage he was a saddler in New Garden, and shortly before that event (4/5/1774) purchased a small house and tract of land of one and a half acres of Enoch Wickersham (a joiner) of East Marlboro. He subsequently purchased 4/14/1794 235 acres of Jonathan Jackson, for 265 pounds, 15 shillings, specie. He rented it to Thos. German, and moved to the Homestead Farm, at Parkersville, and died there 7/12/1829. About 1804, his son Benj. being then married, took the farm in East Marlboro. The Post Office was established at Parkersville 7/7/1828 and John Parker Jr. appointed postmaster. The Village, thereafter, took the name of Parkersville. Previous to this it was generally known as Taylor's Crossroads. Col. Isaac Taylor owned the home and land adjoining, and lived in the plastered house, since owned by John Parker and occupied by his mother in law, Jane Webb, and recently, by his window, Phebe Parker, until her removal to West Chester, where she now lives, at this good old age of 88 years. Col. Isaac Taylor was the grandfather of Isaac, Joseph, Thomas, and Samuel, (sons of Isaac and Elizabeth Taylor), Sam'l is now residing on a part of the tract, near by. Isaac lives in W. Chester. In the West end of Parkersville, stood the old log house, known as the Fisher Mansion. About the year 1800, Jacob Baily purchased this estate, and after his marriage to Elizabeth Parker (a daughter of John, a minister among Friends, and Hannah) he lived in the house and nine of his children were born there. About the year 1817 or 1818 he erected a stone house a few hundred yards west of the log cabin and move thereto, and lived in it until his death, which occurred 4/26/1854, after which, it fell to his son Abraham, who built an addition to it, and lived there a number of years until his death in 1873. Afterwards it came into possession of his brother, John P. Baily, late Judge Baily, who held many positions of honor and trust, and had lived in W. Chester previous to his taking possession of the homestead. At his death, in 1874, he bequeathed it to his niece, Hannah Webb, a daughter of his deceased brother Ephraim. It is now occupied by Isaac Webb (husband of Hannah aforesaid). The Parker homestead was, perhaps, the next oldest house in the village and was built of logs, about the middle of last century. It was owned previous to 1752 by one Evans, from whom Abraham Parker purchased it and removed, as aforesaid, from the Anvil Tavern to it, and died there in 1753. At the death of Abraham, his executors, Saml. Gilpin, and John Chads, his brothers in law (Saml. Gilpin having married Jane Parker, his sister; John Chads having married Elizabeth Richardson, a sister to Eleanor, his wife), sold it to Eleanor, as aforementioned. She remained a widow until 1761, when she married Wm. Wickersham. About the year 1800 his son removed from his Marlboro farm, and his son John, being a stone mason, about the year 1820, replaced the East end of the old log house by a stone strucutre. He died there in 1829 and in 1830 his son, Wistar Parker, came into possession of the property by the will of his father, and built an additional stone end to the West. In this year he married Abigail Newlin Jackson of Reading, Pa. and settled there. After the death of Wistar in 1847, the homestead was rented to Saml. Taylor, Ellis Parker, and Jos. Seeds, and in 1851 it was sold to John Parker (a brother) who, at his death, left it to his son, Wm. W. Parker, who now resides thereon. It will thus be seen that the property has been in the Parker name since 1752.
Ephraim Baily built the stone house, now occupied by Bernard Hawley, about 1826, and in 1827 married Sibilla Way and moved into it. He had learned the blacksmith trade with Wm. Seal, a blacksmith of the village, (a son of Nancy Seal, who was a daughter of Col. Isaac Taylor). After his death his widow resided with her sister, Mary Taylor, in the old White House or Taylor Mansion. Ephraim soon after established himself in the stove business in connection with his trade. Having the castings made at Joanna, Warwick, and other furnaces, he put them together and sold them, in great numbers, over the country. The old stove shop was torn down in 1852 and removed to the widow's small farm in Pocopson, and used in the erection of a stable there, which property was soon afterwards sold to Henry Johnson. During the prevalence of the silkworm fever, Sibilla, the widow, was quite successful in silk culture. The old Octagon school house built about 1820 to fill an increasing want of the families in the vicinity, it being very inconvenient for parents to send their children to Kennett Meeting house, Cottage Hill, or Locust Grove schools. Jacob Baily, Wm. House, Reuben Taylor, and a number of other Friends raised by subscription, funds, and erected this school house. For a time after the separation of Friends in 1827, it was used as a meeting house for worship by the Orthodox branch, until the erection of the present stone meeting house, near by. The teachers first employed were: Bernard Way, Ellis Webb, Mary Baily, Thos. Wickersham, James Howard and others. Bernard Way lived at the John Parker homestead and kept boarders, who attended the school. It was a pay school until the public school law was passed in 1837, when by agreement it was used by the school directors of Pennsbury, conditionally, that the teacher should be a member of the Society of Friends. We remember some of our teachers under this regime as Mary B. Jefferis, Alban Pierce, Benj. Hoopes, Elizabeth Walter, Sarah Walter, and others. After the erection of the new public school house, the old octagon was sold to John Parker. It is now owned by his son Wm. and is used as a blacksmith shop by Lewis Kipe. About the year 1835, Joseph Baily who had learned the hatter trade, with his Uncle Francis Carpenter, converted one end of the old log house or homestead (Fisher Mansion) of the family into a dye house, and erected a frame structure on the Street Road immediately in front, and used it as a store room and finishing shop for his hats. From this industry a large trade grew up for the manufacture and sale of hats all over the country, principally furnished to the different stores. He continued therein for a number of years, until improvements in hat-making came in vogue. Those have, at this day, left the primitive mode of manufacture of hats, one of the lost arts. Joseph, becoming a politician, relinquished the trade, was elected to the Legislature in 1842, and to the Senate in 1843. After he left, the hat store was used as a school room for a time. Phebe Temple, teacher. "As Westward the Star of Empire takes its way" so friend Baily left us, for greater fields of promotion and usefulness, and purchased a furnace and several thousand acres of wild lands in Perry County, Pa. near Newport, upon which he successfully carried on, for a number of years, the iron business. Soon after, the Penna. Railroad located their road, through his premises, which greatly added to the value of his purchase. He has since held high positions of honor and trust, being elected as a member of Congress for the counties of York, Cumberland and Perry, two terms, and State Treasurer etc. Although elected to Congress as a Democrat he was an ardent Unionist, a firm friend of Abraham Lincoln, and Secretary Stanton, always voting to sustain the Union. He was denominated by many of his fellow members as the "Fighting Quaker." In every position he has held, he has reflected honor on the country of his birth.
Among the notable personages, who may remembered as living around Parkersville, were Dabo and Murah Ganges (two Guinea slaves). The ship Ganges loaded with Negroes from Africa, was captured by one of the U.S. cruisers, and brought to Phila. The slaves were liberated and distributed among the farmers who applied for farm hands. These captured Africans were all surnamed for the vessel Ganges. One, Murah Ganges was taken by Jos. Way, another --- Ganges, by John Parker (the minister) and died young, of consumption. He was unable to stand the climate. A third, Dabo Ganges, was taken by Joseph Taylor (father of the present Jos. of W. Chester) who lived then, where Stephen Darlington now lives. He remained a savage and worked for Thos. Jenkinson (now living in West Chester at an advanced age) and around, from family to family, for a long time, until he was taken to the poor house and died there. The old log house, which stood at the forks of the road, on the east side of the village, was built by Billy Stevens (the shoemaker) out of logs he procured from Isaac Taylor (now of W. Chester) out of an old barn, about 1820. He had the use of the house and lot, rent free, for several years, for building it. He was one of the old stock of shoemakers who "whipped the cat", as it was called around the neighborhood, making the farmers' shoes in their own houses. The first storekeepers at Parkersville were John and Richard Webster of Downingtown. Wm. Blair, "Billy Blair" as he was called, succeeded them, and I think Carpenter Webb next and remained in the old stone store house for a number of years, until he erected the brick store house at the cross roads in 1870. He sold it to Jas. G. Parker (a son of Thos. W. of the same family, who first settled there in 1752) who now keeps it and is postmaster there. Glasco Mercer and Rachel, his wife, were long faithful workers in the vicinity, living in a small log tenement on the Parker homestead which John Parker (the saddler) used for his shop in the last century. Glasco drove a team during the Revolutionary War, to North Carolina, with supplies for Genl. Greene's army.
Joseph Baily informs me that his father’s stone house was built the summer of 1817, and he moved his family into it early in 1818, from the old "log cabin or Fisher Mansion". "From a circumstance ever to be remembered" he says, "I know that we were living in it on the 18th of March, of that year, by an incident that occurred on the morning, which is indelibly fixed on my memory. Father, mother, Uncle John Parker, myself, and some of the other children were sitting in the house. It was a beautiful clear morning, when all at once a horrible crash came, as though the house was falling to pieces. It seemed to sway and vibrate from side to side like a rocking chair. The noise was deafening and terrible. Father rushed to the door and in a moment another dreadful explosion took place, as though the foundations of the earth had been torn from under it. Many people thought the Last Day had come, and general terror seized them. A large black cloud of smoke arose, up toward Wilmington, and it was then generally conceded to be DuPonts powder works. The day before was St. Patrick's day, and the workmen (being Catholic) had a general spree, and it was supposed that someone had gone in the mill, on the morning of the explosion, with a lighted pipe, by which the power was ignited." In 1847 another dreadful explosion occurred in the early morning which the writer distinctly remembers. It occurred about sunrise, and shook his father’s house near Parkersville with great violence. There were some 18 persons killed, one of the proprietors (Alexis DuPont), losing his life in trying to save one of the magazines. The old school house called the Union School House was on the Isaac Bennett farm, on the side of the hill, below the meeting house, only a few yards south of the present public school building. It was converted into a tenant house, and was such, for a number of years. It is now no more (a slight indentation on the spot marks the site).
Previous to 1840, East Marlboro, Pennsbury, Kennett (until 1838) and Newlin voted at New Red Lion, on Street Road, afterwards they voted at separate places. Pennsbury at Jos. Lancaster's Tavern until the voting place was changed to one of the public school houses of the township. Upon one occasion, the license being taken away (at Lancaster's tavern) I remember the proprietor refused to allow the election officers to open the polls on the premises, whereupon they held it, in a dearborn, in the road (fronting the tavern). Pocopson at this time voted there also. It was not until 1849 it was formed into a separate township. The former industries of the village have been supplanted by modern improvements in the trades, much of its fame and greatness has departed.
West Goshen 12/18/1883 John J. Parker
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