|
James W. Parker (July 4, 1797 - died 1864) was the uncle of Cynthia Ann Parker and the great uncle of Quanah Parker, last chief of the Comanches. A man of English American descent, he was a member of the large Parker frontier family that settled in east Texas in the 1830s. 〔J. A. Exley, ''Frontier Blood: The Saga of the Parker Family'' (College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2001), p. 3〕 Parker was present in 1836 during the raid of Fort Parker by Comanches and allied tribes near present-day Groesbeck, Texas. During that raid, his daughter, Rachel Plummer, his grandson, James Plummer, his niece Cynthia Ann Parker, and his nephew John Richard Parker were kidnapped by a Native American raiding party. Parker made the search for his family a lifetime obsession. For nine years he roamed the Comancheria searching for his lost relatives.〔 Exley, J.A.. “''Frontier Blood: The Saga of the Parker Family''〕 Many historians and Hollywood observers believe that Parker was the inspiration for John Wayne's character Ethan Edwards in the John Ford movie, ''The Searchers''. ==Birth and early years== James W. Parker was born July 4, 1797 in northeast Georgia, probably in Franklin County, Georgia1 or Elbert County, on July 4, 1797, the son of Elder John Parker (1758-1836) and Sally (White) Parker. He had twelve siblings, including younger brothers Silas Mercer Parker, and Benjamin Parker. His older brother Daniel Parker became a famous country preacher. After living his first six years in Georgia, Parker moved with his family to Dickson County, Tennessee in the summer of 1803.〔 Exley, J.A.. “''Frontier Blood: The Saga of the Parker Family''〕 Parker spent most of his youth in Tennessee. At the age of eighteen, Parker moved with his family to the Territory of Illinois in 1815. There, he married Martha (Patsy) Duty on July 14, 1816. From 1816 to 1829, he and his family farmed in Illinois, while considering moving to Texas.〔 Exley, J.A.. “''Frontier Blood: The Saga of the Parker Family''〕 In 1830, he and his family moved to Conway County, Arkansas, which they used as a base while they made several exploratory trips into Texas. In 1832, Parker proposed to Stephen F. Austin that the Parker Family be permitted to settle fifty families north of the Little Brazos River, in what was then considered part of the Comancheria. Austin did not reply to this proposal. Parker claimed to have been one of the men who found Josiah P. Wilbarger in 1833, during one of his early trips to Texas, after Wilbarger had been scalped and left for dead by the Comanches.〔 Exley, J.A.. “''Frontier Blood: The Saga of the Parker Family''〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「James W. Parker」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|