Ephraim H Parker
EPHRAIM H. PARKER, deceased, formerly of Parker City, Pa., was a descendant of one of the oldest and most prominent families of this section of Pennsylvania. He was born March 2, 1838, and was the eldest son of Fullerton and Amelia (Harris) Parker, grandson of Judge John Parker, and great-grandson of Col. William Parker.
Col. William Parker came from Washington county, Pa., in 1798, and settled on Bear creek, near Bear Creek furnace, now in Armstrong county, erecting there the first grist-mill and promoting many of the enterprises which served to open up the country.
John Parker, son of Col. William Parker, and grandfather of the late Ephraim H. Parker, in 1794 surveyed the greater part of the northern section of Armstrong county and the southern part of Butler county. In 1797 he settled in Parker township, Butler county, where he purchased 600 acres of land and in 1815 laid out the village of Lawrenceburg, the same now being included in the Second ward of Parker City. He was an active, energetic and successful business man and was extensively engaged in farming and stock raising. He was one of the first associate judges of Butler county and filled that office for thirty-five years. He married Jane Woods, and they had the following children: James, John, Juliet, William, Fullerton, Washington, George, Thomas and Wilson. Juliet married John Gilchrist. Judge Parker died in 1842, at the age of seventy-six years, and is buried in the Parker cemetery.
Fullerton Parker, son of Judge John Parker, was born in Parker township, Butler Co., Pa., Dec. 15, 1806, and was reared to manhood on the old Parker homestead, obtaining his education in the local schools. In early life he operated a tannery and later was actively engaged in the larger part of the leading enterprises of Parker City. He was one of the projectors and principal stockholders of the Parker & Karns City and the Karns City & Butler railroads, which, built in 1873, were important factors in the development of the Butler oil fields. He was also one of the founders and leading stockholders of the Parker bridge, which was erected in 1872, and through his enterprise was founded, in 1871, the Exchange Bank of Parker City, of which he was president for years. In fact, there were but few enterprises connected with the growth of this section in which his help was not sought and his advice followed.
In 1832 Fullerton Parker was married to Amelia Harris, daughter of Ephraim Harris, of Harrisville, Butler Co., Pa. To them the following children were born: Jame M., who married Andrew J. Haldeman; Julia, who married James M. Agnew; Ephraim H.; Mary A., who married Parker M. Hollister; William J.; Amelia, who married Samuel M. McGough; Lizzie, who married Watson C. Mobley; and Ella P., who married William H. Spain. Mrs. Parker died in 1883, aged seventy-seven years.
Ephraim Harris Parker was reared in Armstrong and Butler counties. During the Civil war he served as a member of the 18th Pa. Vol. Cav., and after three years of service was honorably discharged. His first business association was with his father in the tanning industry at Parker City, and later he became extensively engaged in the oil business as an operator and producer and continued along this line until his death, which occurred April 11, 1870. In politics he was a Republican, but took little part in such matters. For many years he was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
On April 28, 1857, Mr. Parker was married to Margaret Phipps, a daughter of David and Margaret (Stewart) Phipps, of Venango county, Pa., the former of whom was a pioneer in the iron and also the woolen manufacturing industries of that county. His mills were located at what is now known as Kennerdell. He served one term as associate judge of Venango county and died before he had assumed the duties of a second term, to which he had been elected. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Parker, namely: Ada, who was the wife of David Reynolds Kerr (deaceased); Eva, who is the wife of Louis H. Parker; Harry J.; who is an extensive oil operator and producer, residing at Pittsburgh; Jane, deceased, who was the wife of Howard S. Austin; Fullerton, who is an oil producer and operator at Woodsfield, Ohio; and Margaret, who is the wife of Charles H. Adams, of Ben Avon, Pennsylvania.
Fullerton Parker, youngest son of the late Ephraim H. Parker, is a veteran of the Spanish-American war. He enlisted May 9, 1898, becoming a private in Company H, 10th Regiment, and was mustered into the United States service May 11, 1898; was appointed corporal May 9, 1899; and after serving in the Philippine Islands was honorably discharged at San Francisco, Cal., Aug. 1, 1899, by Col. H. B. Freeman, commandant of that post.
Source: Pages 972-973, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed November 1998 by Joyce Sherry for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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