Viana Bell Parker

Family/Spouse: McClellan Wilson, M.D.. McClellan (son of Philip Wilson and Nancy Parker) was born on 26 Jun 1864 in Booneville, Owsley, Kentucky; died on 15 Oct 1941 in McAlester, Pittsburg, Oklahoma. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Born on 8 Apr 1824 in Claiborne County, Tennessee, Henderson came with his family to Whitley County, Kentucky, as a boy. On 3 Oct 1844, when he was 20, Henderson first married Sarah S. Patrick, daughter of Bryant Patrick & Nancy Davis, in Whitley County, Kentucky. Sally was born 13 Jan 1831 in North Carolina. Henderson was disabled in the course of his Army service during the Civil War, and never really recovered. About two months before his discharge from the Army, their oldest daughter died in childbirth. Sally's health was so impaired during the Civil War that she finally died in Whitley County on 2 Mar 1867, at the age of 36, when her youngest children (twins) were only 4 years old. He then married Nancy White [...] After 1880, Henderson, Nancy, and their unmarried children moved from Whitley County, Kentucky, to Piney in Franklin County, Arkansas. Henderson, Nancy, and some of their children later moved to Wister, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, where Henderson died on 11 Mar 1898; he was 73. He is buried in City Cemetery, Wister, Oklahoma. [Parker's Genealogy & History Establishment]

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He was an identical twin to his sister Neworlena Jane Parker (1824-1901).

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Compiled Civil War Service Record of William Henderson Parker

At age 39, William Henderson Parker was drafted as a private for a period of one year into a detachment of substitutes for the Union Army. He was then mustered into Company F of the 18th Kentucky Infantry in London, Kentucky on 20 Sep 1864. He served for at least 10 months. He was discharged early on 23 Jun 1865 near Louisville, Kentucky, essentially because the War had ended with the surrender of General Lee's forces in April of 1865.

He received a pension for his Civil War service. He he applied for it on 2 Jan 1884. After his death, it went to his widow, Nancy White Parker.

Notes from his Compiled Service Record:

Muster and Descriptive Roll of a Detachment of Substitutes forwarded for the 18 Reg't Kentucky Inf.
Roll dated: Dft Board Louisville, Ky., Nov 22, 1864.
Age: 39 y'rs
Occupation: Farmer
Where born: Claiborne, Tenn.
Enlistment (drafted): 1 years.
Eyes Hazel; hair Black. Complexion Dark; height 5 ft. 7 in.
When mustered in: Sept 20, 1864.
Where mustered: London (KY)
Where credited: 8 Dist Ky.
Remarks: Drafted.
Company Muster Roll for Mar and April, 1865. "Present" (3)
Company Muster Roll for May and June, 1865. Remarks: Discharged June 23, 65 by reason of Telegram order dated War Dep. May 18, 65. (4)
Company Muster-out Roll dated: Near Louisville, Ky, Jul 18, 1865. Remarks: Discharged June 23, 65 by reason of Telegram order dated War Dep. May 18, 65 (5)
Detachment Muster-out Roll, Dated; Near Loiusville, Ky, June 23 1865. Remarks: P.O. Ad W.c.H.
Reported absent without leave. Restored to duty without forfeiture of time or pay. Mustered out in obediance to Telegram Order War Dept (6) May 18, 65, ordering the Muster out of all troops whose terms of service expire prior to Oct. 1, 65. (7)
N.B. This information is available at footnote.com.

Content Source: The National Archives
Publication Number: M397
Publication Title: Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Kentucky.
Content Source: NARA
National Archives Catalog ID: 300398
National Archives Catalog Title: Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, compiled 1890-1912, documenting the period 1861-1866.
Record Group: 94
State: Kentucky
Short Description: NARA M397. Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Kentucky.
Military Unit: Eighteenth Infantry, Mi-Pl
Surname Starts With: P
Given name: William H
Surname: Parker
Age: 39 Year: 1864

Note: According to worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=tvdavis&id=I18008, "William Henderson was a severe asthmatic and had to sleep sitting up at night because he could not lie down, which made his breathing difficult. A part, if not all, of his treatment was smoking some kind of pipe with a medication in it."

A Pension Office document dated 14 Jan 1886, a photocopy of which is held by P & T Nielsen Hayden, states that he was disabled by "paralysis caused by wading in water waist deep."

More detail about the dates of his Civil War service can be found here.

William married Nancy White on 3 Sep 1867 in Whitley County, Kentucky. Nancy (daughter of Dempsey White and Nancy Perkins) was born on 22 Nov 1838 in Whitley County, Kentucky; died on 1 Apr 1928 in McAlester, Pittsburg, Oklahoma; was buried in Oak Hill Memorial Park, McAlester, Pittsburg, Oklahoma. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 20 Nov 1838, Claiborne County, Tennessee
• Alternate birth: 22 Nov 1838, Claiborne County, Tennessee

Notes:

The second wife of Patrick's GX3-grandfather William Henderson Parker, she was, through the great Perkins-White Genealogical Vortex, a distant cousin of both Patrick and Teresa. A a granddaughter of Patrick's 4XG-grandparents John White (1750-1829) and Mary Shelton (1760-1824), she was a first cousin four times removed to Patrick. And as 4XG-granddaughter of 17th-century Connecticut immigrants Richard Sperry (1606-1698) and his wife Dennes (1631-1707), she was a fifth cousin five times removed to Teresa. A fuller explanation of the Perkins-White Vortex can be found in the last four paragraphs here.

(Nancy White is also a half-6th cousin 3 times removed and a full 6th cousin 4 times removed to DDB; a full 5th cousin 5 times removed to LD; and a 6th cousin 4 times removed to AW; all through shared ancestry that can be worked out by the attentive student. )

Sampson married Sarah "Sally" Elizabeth Davis before 1824 in Whitley County, Kentucky. Sarah (daughter of William "Billie" Davis and Sarah Rapier) was born on 8 Sep 1801; died on 2 Jun 1868 in Whitley County, Kentucky; was buried in John Parker Cemetery, Williamsburg, Whitley, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 8 Sep 1802, North Carolina
• Alternate death: 9 Jun 1868, Whitley County, Kentucky

Notes:

Often spelled "Dempsy"; sometimes "Demcey" or "Demcy".

Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives for Whitley County, in 1833, 1835, 1838, and 1839. [Collins's History of Kentucky, volume II, page 758]

Moved to Hardin County, Tennessee in 1843.

"Probably the very wealthy Demcy found in the Whitley tax lists from 1819 through 1840." [Steven C. Perkins]

Dempsey married Nancy Perkins on 28 Jan 1819 in Whitley County, Kentucky. Nancy (daughter of Jabez Perkins and [Unknown first wife of Jabez Perkins]) was born in 1803 in Grayson County, Virginia; died after 1860 in Hardin County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1860, Wayne County, Tennessee

Notes:

"According to the memoir of his grandson Chrisman Harrison Parker, John fought in the War of 1812, and was at the Battle of New Orleans when the British General Packenham was killed." [Parker's Genealogy & History Establishment]

From the memoir of Chrisman Harrison Parker:

"I have heard my grandfather tell how the Torys came and robed his mother while that war was going on; - They come one day; and robed the house; - taking the bedding; emtying the feather-beds or ticks over the ground. The feathers come of them rising above the tops of the trees. They then went into the feild and striped the harness off the horse granfather was plowing, and led Him away. - By this time they had gathered the sheep and cattle; - and horses and drove them away. Lleving my great grandmother and her children destitute - undaunted she geathered leaves to sleep on; living as best she could. Clothed her children and cotten and Flaxe, garments of her own make; - The next morning after the robery; she geathered her children and all the hoes and went into the feild. Those who had hoes howed those who had none pulled weeds and grass: - at last the war ceased, and great grandfather come home, and settled down to honest toil. Where he lived and died.

"My granfather grew up in in North Carolina, and maired there, and when my father was three years olde mooved to Tennsee: where he raised his family. In the War of 1812. Granfather Parker, entered the servis of his country and was at Battle of New Orleans when Pakenham was killed.

"My mother, - Celety - Harrison, Parker lost two brothers in the War of 1812. I have heard my mother say grandmother Harrison kept the clothing of her two lost sons as long as she lived; and once a year would look them over; and weep as she folded them up and laid them carfully away."

John married Elizabeth Carrel on 9 Jan 1793 in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Elizabeth (daughter of James Carrel) was born in 1775 in North Carolina; died on 3 Dec 1859 in Whitley County, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[The paragraph below is from http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kmparker, evidently from info provided by Patrick's late aunt Nancy Jonckheere.]

"Born in 1776 in North Carolina, Billie Davis was famous as a trapper, guide and explorer. He had a disagreement with a bear and lost his arm as a result, but it was the bear who lost the fight. Later, one-armed Billie became sheriff of Whitley County, an office he held for many years. He had considerable presence and could handle just about any problem with words alone. Nancy Jonckheere once found online a copy of an old North Carolina election handout from about 1850, which said was that the candidate was endorsed by 'Billie Davis, the famous one-armed sheriff of Whitley County, Kentucky.' By 1795, when Billie was 19, he was already married to Sarah Rapier, who was born about 1779 in North Carolina. Her brother Jesse moved to Whitley County, Kentucky, as well. Billie and Sarah both lived to a ripe old age and died in Whitley County: Sarah between 1860 and 1870, when she was at least 81 years old; and Billie in 1864 at the age of 88."

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We wonder if he wasn't born significantly later than the late 1770s. According to the records of the Kentucky Assembly, William Davis was sheriff of Whitley County in 1848 and 1849, at which time he would have been 72 and 73 years old if he was in fact born in 1776. Memory and oral traditions often exaggerate the age-at-death of particularly colorful individuals.

More absurdly, multiple ancestry.com trees claim that this William Davis is the Union soldier who died on 6 October 1864 and is buried at Cave Hill National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. We have no idea how they imagine that an 82-year-old man was serving as a Union private.

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Michele Brooks reproduces a bill of sale for his estate, executed by his son Melton Lewis Davis, which may provide some clues to his ancestry:

Sale Bill Dated 3 December 1864
Son - M.L. Davis 1 pistol $5.50
Son - William R. Davis 3 books 1.60
William Patrick 4 books .50
William Patrick 5 books .60
Dau - Matilda 1 book 1.90
son-in-law Sampson Parker 2 razors 1.40
Son - M. L. Davis 1/2 bushel ?
Seth Freeman
Cousin - James E. White 1 board 1.00
Cousin-in-law - Melton E. White 2 boxes 4.00
Son - M. L. Davis Furniture 55.00
M. L. Davis 1 saddle 1.00
M. L. Davis 1 satchel 3.00
Dau - Matilda Cattle .50

William married Sarah Rapier between 1795 and 1800 in North Carolina. Sarah was born in 1777; died before 1870 in Whitley County, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1778, North Carolina
• Alternate birth: Abt 1779, North Carolina

Notes:

Appears in some online trees as Roper, Rapour, etc. Frequently given as a daughter of William J. Rapier and Elizabeth Thompson; there is absolutely no evidence for this.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 2 May 1753, Granville County, North Carolina

Notes:

Called "John Calvin White" in some sources.

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According to "familywest" on ancestry.com, his first marriage to Mary Hendrick is recorded in the Hendrick family Bible.

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From Ancestry of Elizabeth Louise White by Steven C. Perkins:

He was probably born 1750-55, as Nancy Jonckheere states that in 1777 he sold land inherited from his father, Richard. Was this the 330 acres in Bute County that he was devised? At that time he was stated to be a planter from Craven County. CHECK

He was probably born in Warren County, N.C., and about 1798 he came to the portion of Knox that is now Whitley County. He died between June and October 1829, based upon his appearance in Whitley County Court as a Commissioner in June and an Order in October that his son, Dempsey, return court records. CHECK whitley order book 1 for his signature. He is probably in an unmarked grave at Redbird; there is a marker for a John White, but the date of death appears to be 1896.

A John White was a taxpayer in Warren County, North Carolina in 1784. North Carolina Taxpayers, supra, v.2, p.217. A John White was a purchaser at an estate sale in Franklin County, N.C., confirmed in June of 1796, Bradley, Will Book B of Franklin County, North Carolina 1784-1804, 929.375654 qB811b 1988, p.16 and at a sale on 10 January 1799, p.38.

A John White is on the Knox tax rolls for 1804, with 300 acres of 2d class land on the Cumberland, 2 horses and 6 slaves. A John White appears in the 1810 and 1820 Knox County censuses, and in Lincoln County before that; a John White is on an 8/3/1790 Lincoln tax list. John White and John White, Sr. appear on an 1816 Knox County tax list. A John White appears on a 1788 Fayette County tax list, as do two Williams and a James. Some Pre-1800 Kentucky Tax Lists, supra, p.11. CHECK

On 28 September 1826 he granted Demcey (sic) White (a Whitley County resident) a Power of Attorney to deal with legacies he might be entitled to from the estates of his father, Richard White, or his mother, Elizabeth, in Franklin County, North Carolina. Whitley County Deed Book 1, p.145-6. Mark White was stated to be the Executor of Richard and Sherrod Celly/Kinney the administrator of Elizabeth. Decker (p. 305) says that Knox County Revolutionary War Veterans included John White of Virginia, and says that he is thought to have settled in Knox in about 1804; if so, that would not [may not] be our John.

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The "Demcey" White mentioned above is almost certainly the Dempsey White who is recorded in Collins's History of Kentucky as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives for Whitley County in 1833, 1835, 1838, and 1839; he was a son of this John White, and his daughter Nancy White (1838-1928) was the second wife of Patrick's greatX3-grandfather William Henderson Parker (1824-1898).

John married Mary Shelton. Mary was born about 1760 in Virginia; died about 1824. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 13 Feb 1836, Jellico Creek, Whitley, Kentucky

Notes:

The ultimate genealogical curiosity connecting Teresa's and Patrick's known ancestry isn't a common ancestor, but a common relative. Jabez Perkins was born in 1766 in New Haven, Connecticut and died in 1835 in Whitley County, Kentucky. His parents, Timothy Perkins (1736-1782) and Miriam Sperry (1743-~1783), had moved from Connecticut to North Carolina, probably between 1771 and 1773, as part of a general emigration of Tory sympathizers from Connecticut as the colony's politics came more and more under the control of supporters of separation from Great Britain. Through his mother, Jabez Perkins was a descendant of six of Teresa's direct ancestors, and fully three of his offspring married the children of direct ancestors of Patrick. Adding a genealogical cherry on top, one of his grandchildren was the second wife of one of Patrick's GX3 grandfathers.

To go into more detail, Jabez Perkins was a great-great grandson of Teresa's ancestors Richard Sperry (1606-1648) and his wife Dennes (1631-1707); a GX3-grandson of Teresa's ancestors Samuel Hotchkiss (1623-1663) and his wife Elizabeth Cleverly (d. 1681); and a GX3-grandson of Teresa's ancestors James Clark (d. 1689) and his wife Sarah (d. 1661). Jabez Perkins's son Solomon Perkins (1786-1824) married Nancy Freeman (1798-1870), daughter of Patrick's 4XG-grandparents James Brigham Freeman (d. 1830) and Mary Polly Moore (d. 1835). His daughter Amy Perkins (1798-1862) married Harrison White (1788-1853), son of Patrick's 4XG-grandparents John White (1750-1829) and Mary Shelton (1760-1824). His daughter Nancy Perkins (1803-1860) married Dempsey White (1798-1860), Kentucky state legislator, also a son of the aforementioned 4XG-grandparents of Patrick John White and Mary Shelton. And, improbably, Nancy and Dempsey's daughter Nancy White (1838-1928) was the second wife of Patrick's GX3-grandfather William Henderson Parker (1824-1898). To put it another way, the second wife of Patrick's GX3 grandfather--his mother's father's father's mother's father--was Teresa's fifth cousin five times removed. We strongly suspect time travelers were involved.

In the archives of pre-Internet research by PNH's mother Jeannette White are two indentically-sized slips of paper. One reads, in part, "1776. Born Conn. Died -- Ky. Perkins." The other reads, in part, "Connecticut. Sons of John White. Jo Walter, conference call." As seen above, Jabez Perkins was born in Connecticut in 1766 (not 1776), and two of his daughters married sons of John White. It would appear that Jeannette was onto at least some of these details.

From Steven C. Perkins:

Born in New Haven, CT, before the American Revolution, he was raised in a Loyalist household in the North Carolina back country. As a child he saw his father, Timothy, and paternal uncle, Joseph, join the Loyalist forces against the Americans. According to contemporary accounts, his father and uncle were "notorious Tories" who one time captured Col. Cleveland, an American commander and virtual warlord in the New River settlements. While being held for trial by the Loyalists, Cleveland was able to escape, supposedly with the help of one of the women of the household. The family were early Methodists.

By 1784 a guardian was appointed for Jabez in Wilkes Co., NC. Normally, one would assume this to mean that his father was dead. However, there is some evidence that Timothy Perkins was alive and living in Grayson Co., VA. [See our entry for Jabez's father Timothy for David R. Evans's argument to the contrary. —PNH] Shortly after the guardian was appointed, Jabez appears to have married and moved to Grayson Co., VA, where several of his children were born. In 1789, he was appointed administrator to the estate of his maternal Uncle, William Sperry, in Wilkes Co., NC. It is not yet known if William Sperry was a Loyalist or if he supported the Americans in the Revolution.

By 1813 he was in the Knox/Whitley Co. KY, area. Sometime after 1830, already 65 years old, he moved his family to the Bureau/Putnam Co. Illinois area. He and his sons purchased land in 1835 and 1836. By December of 1835 he had returned to Whitley Co., KY, where he made his will and died before February 13, 1836. Jabez's son William returned to Whitley Co. and remained there the rest of his life. The rest of Jabez's children remained in Illinois or moved further West.

Some researchers have identified Jabez's wife as Nancy Ann Creekmore. I am not convinced that this is correct. I am also not convinced that his wife at the time he made his will is the mother of his children. [...] There is the possibility that there were two wives named Nancy. There is a renunciation of the will dated in Feb 1836 from Nancy Perkins in Whitley Co., KY, Will Book 1. There is a report of a marriage license for Jabez Perkins and Nancy White dated the same day the will was made. It is supposed to be in the KY Archives. This compiler has not seen it.

Jabez married [Unknown first wife of Jabez Perkins]. [Unknown died about 1830; was buried in Jellico Creek Cemetery, Jellico Creek, Whitley, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]