Parker, William Hall (1765-1838)

Born in Onslow, North Carolina, and served in the state militia of North Carolina during the Revolutionary War. He migrated to South Caro­lina after the war. His first wife was the daughter of Little­berry Walker of Colleton County, South Carolina. Their one child was John Parker, who married Rhoda Strickland, and their daughter, Nancy, married Arthur T. Albritton of Tattnall County, Georgia. He had two children by his second marriage, and they were Richard Hall Parker, who married Hannah Flowers, and Littleberry Parker, who married Mary Ann Wilson.

His third wife was Anna S. Hiers of Colleton County, South Carolina, and their children were Solomon Parker, who married (1) Harriet Baxter (see Baxter Families in the appendix), and (2) Jane Baxter; William Hall Parker Jr., who married Jane Carter; George Washington Parker, who married Sena Baxter (see Baxter Families in the ap­pendix); Anna Susannah Parker, who married Hendley Fox­worth Horne (see Henley Foxworth Horne in the appendix); Thomas Parker, who died a child; Catherine Parker, who married William Brewer; Jacob Parker who died a child, and Hampton Cling Parker, who married Catherine Baggs (see Archibald Baggs in the appendix).

William Hall Parker Sr. and his family migrated from South Carolina to Liberty County in 1811, and in 1817 he was granted 500 acres of land near Jones Creek Baptist Church (see Appendix Number 31). He was buried on his plantation, later owned by his grandson, Joseph H. Parker, and his wife was buried beside him when she died in 1857. William Hall Parker Jr. had 11 children and survived all but two of them. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1844, and resided on a plantation in Liberty County. He was the first station agent at the Savan­nah, Albany & Gulf Railroad depot when it was established in 1857 at Johnstons Station (Ludowici).

When federal troops invaded Liberty County in December 1864, he was beaten by the troops on the front porch of his home for refusing to divulge information they sought. He was one of the organizers in 1866 of the New Sunbury Association, and a member of Altamaha Lodge No. 227, Free and Accepted Masons.

From “Sweet Land of Liberty, A History of Liberty County, Georgia” by Robert Long Groover; Appendix Number 39, Page(s) 228-229; Used by the permission of the Liberty County Commissioners Office