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ILLINOIS > INDIANA > OHIO > MISSOURI > WEST) VIRGINIA
David Absalom PARKER
Latest update: Tuesday, 29 July, 2014
Learn more about our PARKERs in the Family Tree Database .
PARKER Pioneers in ILLINOIS
Greene County
Hancock County
PARKER Pioneers in INDIANA
White County / Tippecanoe County
PARKER Pioneers in Fayette County, OHIO
PARKER Pioneers in MISSOURI
PARKER Pioneers in Hampshire County, (WEST) VIRGINIA
David Absalom PARKER and Nannie Rachel ATKINSON PARKER
"A native of Ohio [ s/b ILLINOIS], David Absalom Parker [b. 1849] came to Coleman County
in 1876 with his wife, [Nancy] Nannie Rachel (Atkinson). Soon after, they constructed this
two-story stone residence. Parker became a prominent area cattleman and helped establish
the town of Novice when rail lines were built to the area in 1910. The owner of a general store
and cotton gin, he was instrumental in the formation of school, church, and post office.”
Parker House: Texas State Historical Marker (See Places of Our Parkers.)
[editorial comment]
"Settlement of this area began in the 1850s with the establishment of Camp Colorado, a United
States cavalry outpost. At the outbreak of the Civil War the camp was occupied by Texas State Troops and Texas Ranger
units. The existence of the camp spurred permanent settlement in the area, and many families moved here from the southern
United States after the Civil War. The settlers established farms and ranches, and the Atoka community included a general
store operated by D.A. Parker and S.N. Edenborough, a combination church/school building, and a cotton gin built by D.A.
Parker. This cemetery was established in 1880 on land deeded by C.E. Bush. Among the early pioneers buried here are the
Rev. Hugh Martin Childress, Sr., a former Texas Ranger and Republic of Texas soldier; his son, Elisha Childress, who served
as the first Coleman County sheriff; veterans of the Civil War; and several workers killed in an explosion that occurred during
the construction of a Santa Fe Railroad bridge across Jim Ned Creek in 1910. The cemetery, which is maintained by an
association of descendants of those buried here, is one of the few physical reminders of the Atoka community and its pioneer
settlers. (1996)" Atoka Cemetery: Texas State Historical Marker (See Places of Our Parkers.)