Thumbnails of the Contents of
The Parke
Society
Newsletter Issue 2003 - Vol. 40 No. 3
|
2004 Convocation Planned for Fort Wayne, IN, Sept. 23-26
The 41st Annual Convocation will be held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, once again.
Please join us! Readers will remember that both the 2001 and 2003 Convocations were
also held at Fort Wayne (Newsletter, 2003 Vol. 40 No. 1, p.3.) The city offers truly
exceptional opportunities for genealogical research, through the Genoogy Department
of the Allen County Public Library. This is one of the leading genealogy libraries in
the country, and not to be missed!
The events will take place Thursday through Sunday, September 23 through 26, 2004,
at the Holiday Inn, 300 East Washington Boulevard, Fort Wayne. A block of rooms has
been reserved there at our special group rate of $69.00 per day single or double.
Please make your reservation early, by calling (260) 422-5511, or contacting the
hotel by FAX at (260) 424-1511.
For the Convocation itself, an informational flyer with reservation request form is
enclosed with the member copies of this issue of the Newsletter. Fees for the
Convocation activities are $80.00 per person, payable prior to August 31, 2004.
Our Vice President and Webmaster, Curtis Parks, has graciously agreed to serve as
coordinator for the function. Thanks, Curtis!
The Convocation also offers a chance for attendees to meet and socialize with other
Park/e/s lineage members, and to do research in your Society's extensive lineage
material in a special Research Room at the Holiday Inn, available Friday through
Sunday. The hotel is conveniently close to the interim location of the Library, 200
East Berry Street, an area locally called Renaissance Square. The Library's permanent
facility continues to undergo expansion and remodeling.
In addition to the Research Room, Convocation activities include a tour of the Allen
County Library's genealogical holdings, a reception Friday evening followed by the
Annual Corporate Meeting, and a Banquet Saturday evening. Directions to the Holiday
Inn are linked to the "Announcements" page of our Parke Society Web site,
www.parke.org. If you lack Internet access and
need a copy of the directions, please so indicate on your reservation request.
(page 33)
Some Reflections on Two Park/Parks Families in Western Virginia and Pennsylvania
By James D. Trabue, J.D. PS#1089
Editor's note: Mr. Trabue has sent his family history material to the Society's
Librarian, Mrs. Jean Churchill, PS#934, and she is henceforward the point of contact
for this lineage. See "New Manuscripts" in her Library article elsewhere in this issue.
PDP
The following is still a work in progress. However, because prior issues of this
newsletter indicate that there are several people working on lines that may be connected,
I am submitting this article now. While I have had a great deal of experience with
research, I have not worked in Pennsylvania and I am not extremely familiar with the
development of its counties prior to 1790.
I have both a Park and a Parks descent. The Park descent is given in "Another John
Park of VA is Identified" by David L. Parke #13, Newsletter 1992 Vol. 29 No. 1, pp 1, 6-9.
That article concerns John Park b. circa 1728, and his alleged brother, Samuel Park,
b. circa 1730, who appeared in Frederick (later Berkeley) Co., Virginia about 1756.
According to the article, they had immigrated circa 1754. The chart on page 7... (page 33)
A Word from Your Editor
...
Members will find two loose inserts in their copies of this issue. The first is "Parke
Society Convocation," our reservation form , which I hope many of you will use. See also
the article about the upcoming Convocation starting on page 33 of this issue.
The second insert is "New Parke Society Editor Sought," setting forth a job description
for the editorial position. No surprise, your present editor is unable to perform his
duties because of the pressure of time from his regular employment. He will continue to
serve as best he can from issue to issue, but he hopes as much as anybody in the Society
that a replacement will come forward soon who can give this important job the attention
it deserves. Note that the terms and conditions described in the flyer are not those
under which the present editor, or any previous editor, has served. This represents a
new approach for the Society, which hopefully will result in more consistent performance.
PDP (page 34)
Query
I am looking for any and all information about the origins, ancestors and collateral
relatives of Samuel Waitstill Parks. He was born on June 7, 1808, in Burke Co.,
NC. On November 16, 1826, probably in Burke Co., NC, Samuel married Mary Jones,
who was born in NC, in 1810. They had a son, James Tolbert, who was born in NC and
then they moved to Missouri, where they had seven more children. Samuel died in
Missouri in 1894. My lineage is: Samuel W.1, James Tolbert Parkes2,
Samuel Waitstill Parkes3, William McKinley Parkes4, and Josie May
Parkes Webb5. I will be gled to share any information I have. Josie M.
Webb PS#477 5104 Shawnee Lane, Ogden, UT 84403. Email
josmwebb@aol.com. (page 34)
DNA Project Admisistrator Wanted
Readers will recall the two-part article by Lee Christensen #957, "Y-Chromosones and
the Lineage of Roger Parke (NJ 1682)," in the Newsletter, 2003 Vol 40 No. 1, p. 1 and
No. 2, p. 17. Lee wanted to confirm that his grandfather John Parke (b. UT, 1854) was
in fact a son of his putative great-grandfather Charles Parke (b. IN 1828), by showing
through DNA evidence that both were descendants of the immigrant Roger Parke(NJ 1682).
Lee recruited volunteers to submit to DNA testing, and ultimately he did prove the
family connection in question.
...
Lee deserves much credit for initiating the project and bringing Park/e/s genealogy
into the 21st century, but he is no longer active. A Park/e/s DNA Project
Administrator is needed to serve as a point of contact to continue the project, locate new
participants, and publish occasional progress reports in the Newsletter. PDP (page 35)
[Note: Subsequent to publishing this Newsletter Mr. Ken Parks, PS#1406 has been
assigned the position of our Society's DNA Project Administrator.]
Some Early Society History: Ruby Anderson PS#1 and Family
Eugene Atwood Anderson, Jr., of North Stonington, RI., called Atwood, died on
February 22, 2004, age 79 years. He was the son of Ruby Parke Anderson PS#1(H),
founder of the Parke Society and compiler of the third published volume of the Parke
Scrapbooks which have been a starting point for much research concerning the lineage of
Robert Parke (MA 1630) and other early Park/e/s. Our thanks to Scott Bill Hirst PS#1280,
of Ashaway, RI for providing a copy of Mr. Anderson's obtuary (published in the Westerly,
RI Sun, Feb. 23, 2004, p. 6.) Most of the information set forth below about Mr.
Anderson has been taken from that source. The information concerning his mother Ruby
Anderson comes primarily from an article, "Ruby Anderson, Society's Founder, dies at 82,"
by David L. Parke PS#13, Newsletter 1979 Vol. 16 No. 2, pp 17, 19 and continuation at
1979 Vol 16, No. 3 p. 34. The Society's Historian, Fr. Michael (Tad) Parks PS#425, has
also contributed helpful information about the early history of the Society.
Ruby Rilla Parke Anderson was descended from Robert Parke1 (MA 1630), but her
paternal line, the source of her birth name, begins with Peter Parke, who settled in
Stonington, CT, and is believed to have come from Scotland in the mid-18th
century. He is sometimes identified as Peter Park (CT 1748). This lineage is ...
(page 35)
Missing Links: King Cyrus Alexander Parks, Sr.
By Jean C. Churchill #934, Librarian
King Cyrus Alexander Parks Sr. (lineage key = YT), the subject of this Missing Links
article, is the ancestor of Janie Roesner PS#1228 and Melinda McGregor PS#1095.
Janie has collected an impressive amount of information on her Parks lineage but has not
been able to locate the earlier ancestry before King Parks Sr., who was born in Tennessee
in 1800. With this unusual name, one would expect him to be more easily recognized in the
records.
King Parks Sr. married Mahala Tumlenson (Tomilinson or Trammel) in Scott County,
Arkansas, in March of 1824. Mahala was born in North Carolina, the daughter of James
Tumlenson and Elizabeth Parks. Whether King was related to his mother-in-law has not been
determined. According to census and tax records, the Parks family lived in Crawford and
Scott Counties, Arkansas, from 1823 through 1840. It is believed that they moved to Texas
about 1841. ... (page 36)
Patriots: Park/e/s Who Served in the Revolution
By Dennis L. Lorensen PS#1185
Editor's note: This is one in a projected series of articles setting forth information
about ancestors of Park/e/s credited with Revolutionary service. Mr. Lorensen's first article
in this series was published in the Newsletter, 2003 Vol. 40 No. 1 page 8. He has also
revived the Ancestral Safari Series of the late William Grant Cook #66
(Newsletter, 2002 Vol. 39 No. 3 pp. 33, 47). The latest of this latter series appears in
the present issue at page 43. PDP
GIDEON PARK (1734-1794)
... (page 37)
Dana Parks Jr. Memorial Circulating Library
Jean Churchill #934, Librarian
...
Booklist. The library booklist has been revised as of April 2004 and is on our Web site.
The price of a paper copy of the booklist has been raised to $8.00 due to increased printing
and mailing costs. Almost all the books (manuscripts) in our library are available for loan
to all active Parke Society members. Many of these books contain information on numerous
surnames and therefore may be helpful to those members who are researching several family
lines. The usual limit is four books for a period of five weeks. Please make your checks
payable to The Parke Society and send them to me at the above address.
Old Newsletters. The Library has a large inventory of extra copies of older issues of
the Society's Newsletter, which are for sale. Check with the Librarian for availability and
cost.
[Updates to three of her Missing Links manuscripts are given. Two new manuscripts are reviewed.]
(pages 39-42)
Ancestral Safari: Henry the Fowler, and the Quatremains of Oxfordshire
By Dennis L. Lorensen #1185
Editor's note: Mr. William Grant cook #66 (1905-1998) published an article about
Henry the Fowler in his long-rnning "Ancestral Safari" series in the Newsletter at 1987
Vol. 24 No. 3, pp 38, 48. Henry obtained his unusual name from the fact that he was hunting
when he received word that his father had died, leaving him the duchy of Saxony. Henry
eventually created a united Germany and became de facto Holy Roman Emperor although never
formally elected or crowned. Mr. Lorensen has revived the Ancestral Safari series
(Newsletter, 2002 Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 33, 47). In the present writing, he brings the Saxon
king's line dowm to Alice (Freeman) Thompson Parke (died 1664/65), second wife of Robert
Park (MA 1630), and Alice's daughter Dorothy. PDP
[The forementioned lineage follows.]
[Additional editors note describes the Quatremains, landowners in England at the time of
King Steven (1135-1154).]
... (page 43)
Computer Talk...BACKING UP and SAVING Your Work
Fr. Michael (Tad) Parks+, PS#425, Historian
For a long time I have been thinking about the whole issue of back-ups. The why, when,
where and how of saving our work, not only to survive times of computer distress, but also
to preserve our research for future use or other genealogists. ... (page 44)
The DNA Laboratory as Court of Last Resort and Corrector of Family History
By now most of us are probably used to news accounts of the use of DNA evidence to clear
or convict people of criminal charges. In some of the most dramatic cases, the beneficiaries
of the new technology have spent years behind bars, sitting on death row or serving long
sentences. It is cause for rejoicing when a person incorrectly convicted of a crime is
thus liberated. But it is also disturbing when we reflect that in most casses these people
were not victims of obvious injustice, having had their day in court, with all the benefits
of counsel, enlightened evidentiary and trial procedure, appeals, new trials, and the like
that are afforded under our legal system. It is positively chilling, too, to consider that
DNA evidence simply is not relevant or available in many cases and so cannot be used to
establish innocence. Of course, there are also cases in which DNA evidence shows that a
defendant did commit a crime.
If DNA technology has the porential to stand our system of criminal justice on its head,
its impact is at least as great on family history.
... (page 48)
Also in this issue
Welcome New Members!
(page 34)
In Memoriam: Samuel Grant Park PS#435
(page 35)
Return to Home Page