William Parker came from England in the autumn of 1633 in the ship "James." He was an original proprietor of Hartford, Connecticut, 1636. About 1649 he removed to Saybrook, Connecticut, where he was a large land owner, also holding a large tract in Hebron. He probably served in the Pequot war. He filled several town offices, served on numerous committees, and was deputy to the general court at the special session of 1652; also served 1678-79-80. About 1636 he married (first) Margery ————, who died December 6, 1680. He married (second) Elizabeth Pratt, widow of Lieutenant William Pratt. He died at Saybrook, December 28, 1686. He had ten children, of whom Joseph (1), Jonathan and Deborah died early. They were Sarah, Joseph (1), John, Ruth, William, Joseph (2), Margaret, Nathan, David, Deborah. Sarah, Ruth and Margaret married.
(II) John, son of William and Margery Parker, was born at Hartford, Connecticut, February 1, 1641-42, died at Saybrook, same state, 1706. He was regarded as a proprietor of Saybrook and given one hundred pounds accommodation. He was active and influential in town affairs. He was deputy to the general court, 1686-88-99-1700. He was a large land owner at Saybrook and Hebron. He was appointed gunner and master of the artillery at Fort Saybrook, November 30, 1683, and was in charge of the fort under Governor Andros with rank of lieutenant. He married, December 24, 1666, Mary, daughter of Thomas Buckingham, a settler of Milford, Connecticut, and sister of Rev. Thomas S. Buckingham, pastor of the Saybrook church in 1670. Children: John, Deborah, Ebenezer, Samuel.
(III) John (2), son of Lieutenant John (1) and Mary (Buckingham) Parker, was born October 6, 1667, died at Norwich, Connecticut, December 24, 1709. He served as constable 1694, and was one of the first to act as attorney-at-law under the act of 1708. He married, December 11, 1690, Mary, daughter of Lieutenant Samuel and Mary (Bushnell) Jones. They had seven children.
(IV) John (3), son of John (2) and Mary (Jones) Parker, was born March 11, 1696. He was prominent in the Ecclesiastical Society; sergeant of the "train band" 1731; ensign in the Cape Breton expedition, and died at Louisburg, May 15, 1746. He married (first) May 8, 1723, Mary Chapman; married (second) Elizabeth Dunk; seven children.
(V) The earliest settler in Northern New York of this branch of the New England family of Parker was Nathaniel, son of John (3) and Mary (Chapman) Parker, who settled in Middle Granville, Washington county, about 1778. He came from Connecticut, where he was born January 6, 1738. Eliphalet and Michael Parker settled on farms adjoining his on the Poultney road just north of the middle village. He was in the British army, and with Wolfe at Quebec. He served in the revolutionary army, and was with Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga. "New York Men in the Revolution" gives the enlistment of five men by name Nathaniel Parker. The exact date of his settlement in Washington county cannot be given, but it was prior to 1782, as in that year he is recorded as assisting in raising a company of troops from his town to serve in defense of the northern frontier. He married and had children:
- Cynthia, unmarried;
- Susan, married Levi Miller;
- Nathaniel, settled in Granville;
- Asa, see forward;
- Tamson, married Luke Hitchcock;
- Eliud, settled in Granville;
- Matthias, settled in Granville;
- Emily, unmarried.
(VI) Asa, son of Nathaniel Parker, the pioneer, was born on the homestead farm in Middle Granville, Washington county, New York, in 1790, died in 1880. He grew up on the farm and spent his life as a farmer. He was a young man when the second war with England broke out, and enlisted in the American army and was in active service. He married Laura Whitney, who bore him nine children:
- Nathaniel, born 1825, died 1900; married, March 13, 1856, Cynthia, daughter of Joseph and Lydia (Carpenter) Rogers.
- Sidney.
- Julia, married Mordecai Bull.
- Esther, married David Woodward.
- Emmeline, married William Sweet.
- Delia, married Stephen Rogers.
- George, married Mary Norton.
- Frank, married Alma Norton.
- Eliud, see forward.
(VII) Eliud, son of Asa and Laura (Whitney) Parker, was born in South Granville, Washington county, New York, December 8, 1838, died September 28, 1896. He was educated in the town schools, and reared a farmer, an occupation he followed all his life. He was a man of energy and character, gaining and holding the esteem of his fellowmen. He married Sarah, daughter of George, and granddaughter of Burdick Woodell, of Rhode Island. Children:
- Clarence, see forward.
- Nathaniel W., born March 25, 1874; married Bertha Crosby.
- Herbert F., December 10, 1877; married Mary Ackley and has a daughter Emily.
(VIII) Clarence E., eldest son of Eliud and Sarah (Woodell) Parker, was born on the farm in South Granville, Washington county, New York, October 16, 1872. He was educated in the local schools, prepared for and entered Williams College, where he was graduated, class of 1896. In 1898 he was admitted to the New York bar and at once began practice in Granville, where he is now (1910) located. He is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Granville Lodge, No. 55, Free and Accepted Masons, Saratoga Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Washington Commandery, Knights Templar. In politics he is a Republican.
(The Woodell Line)
Sarah (Woodell) Parker is a descendant of William Wodell, of Boston, Massachusetts, and Portsmouth, Rhode Island, who died in 1693. He was of Boston, 1637, and evidently embraced the religious views of Rev. Wheelwright and Ann Hutchinson, for on November 20, 1637, he was ordered with others to give up all guns, pistols, swords, powder, shot, etc., because "the opinions and revelations of William Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson have seduced and led into dangerous errors many of the people here in New England." January 12, 1643, he and ten others bought of Miantonomi for "144 fathoms of Wampum" a tract of land called by the Indians Shawomet (Warwick). Here began his trouble with Massachusetts Bay Colony, who claimed jurisdiction and title to Rhode Island. September 12, 1643, he with others of Warwick was notified to appear at general court at Boston to hear complaint of two Indian sachems, Pomham and Soconocco, as to "some unjust and injurious dealings toward them by yourselves." The Warwick men declined to obey the summons, declaring they were legal subjects of the King of England, and beyond the limits of Massachusetts territory, to whom they would acknowledge no subjection. Soldiers were sent, who besieged the settlers in a fortified house. In a parley it was said "they held blasphemous errors" which they must repent of "or go to Boston for trial." November 3, 1643, having been brought with others before the court at Boston charged with heresy and sedition, they were sentenced to be confined during "the pleasure of the court," and should they break jail or preach their heresies or speak against the church or state, on conviction their sentence would be death. Extreme as such measures now seem, they are matched by the undaunted courage of the men who in the face of such danger held to their religious convictions and defied their enemies. William Wodell was sent to Watertown, but not to prison, and remained at large until the following March and was then banished from both Massachusetts and Warwick. He thereupon returned to Portsmouth. Most of his companions in the trial suffered close imprisonment for several months. In 1655 he was made a freeman; 1656-63 was commissioner; 1664-1686 was sixteen times elected deputy to the Rhode Island general court. April 4, 1676, it was voted "that in these troublous times and straits in this Colony, this Assembly desiring to have the advice and concurrence of the most judicious inhabitants of it may be had for the good of the whole, desire at their next meeting the company and counsel of Mr. Benedict Arnold," and fifteen others among whom was William Wodell. May 5, 1680, he was appointed as a committee to "put the laws and acts of the colony into such a method that they may be put in print." In 1684 he was elected assistant (to the governor), but positively refused to serve. His will was proved May 2, 1693. An extract throws some light upon the charges made by the sachems for which he was first "haled to Boston," "And whereas it hath been said by several persons that I with some others did go about to wrong the town of Portsmouth in purchasing Hog Island of an Indian sachem called Mossosup, I am so far from doing any wrong therein that I do give unto the free inhabitants of the said town of Portsmouth * * * Hog Island and other land." He makes the same statement in regard to some land bought on Rhode Island.
He married Mary ————, and had a son Gershom, born July 14, 1642, who married Mary Tripp and had sons. William Wodell also had daughters Mary, Sarah, Alice and Frances, who married and had large families.