Parker Cemetery is a rural cemetery located in Hutton Township, Coles County, about two miles south and three miles west of Westfi eld, IL. David Parker and James David Parker have spent many months cleaning up the site and uncovering important pieces of local history. In this program they will detail the history of the “Prairie Parkers” and their connection to the “Preachin’ Parkers,” who were the family of Quanah and Cynthia Ann. Their presentation also will discuss cemetery cleanup and restoration e fforts, including stone readings and site mapping. One Revolutionary War and at least eight Civil War soldiers have been found to be buried there, and public events have welcomed many Parker descendants to the cemetery.
David and James David Parker’s great-great-great-great-grandfather is James P. Parker (1752-1835), who followed the Bu ffalo Trace across Indiana to Crawford County, IL, in 1817. James and wife Anna (May flower) Doty later joined their sons at the Clark-Coles County line on the north edge of Parker Prairie. James P. Parker is now recognized by the family experts of the Parker DNA Project as the brother of Elder John Parker, grandfather of Cynthia Ann and great-grandfather of Quanah.
James David Parker from Memphis, MO, is retired from the United States Air Force after serving four tours overseas and being stationed in California, Washington, Utah and twice in Wichita Falls, TX (Quanah Parker’s stomping grounds). He has three sons and four grandchildren. Hobbies include hunting, fishing, golf and most recently, genealogy. He is the son of David and Marilyn (Henderson) Parker and the fi rst of his family not born in Westfi eld or Illinois. James David Parker’s y-DNA was the first tested as part of the Parker DNA Project that confi rmed James P. Parker as the brother of Elder John Parker.
David Parker and his wife, Sue, of Pendleton, IN, have been married for 50 years. They have three sons, seven grandchildren and one great-grandson. Parker worked in the automotive industry for 45 years and after two years of retirement, he has worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry. After family, his passion is genealogy.
Two groups of Parkers were among the first settlers of Coles and Clark counties in East Central Illinois. Local historians refer to them as the “Preachin’ Parkers,” with patriarch Elder John Parker, his 13 children and multiple grandchildren, including Cynthia Ann Parker; and the “Prairie Parkers,” headed by James Parker. Early historical writings claimed no blood relationship between these two groups; however, recent DNA testing has proven a familial relationship. In this program, two descendants of the “Prairie Parkers,” James David Parker of Memphis, MO, and David Parker of Pendleton, IN, explore the relationship between the two Parker families and describe recent cleanup efforts of the nearby Parker Cemetery, located in rural Coles County.
