Biography - Lemuel Parker
LEMUEL PARKER. Among the farmers of Shelby County who have materially
added to its prosperity by developing its rich agricultural resources, and
at the same time have accumulated a handsome private property. Mr. Lemuel
Parker is well worthy of mention in this volume. For many years he has
carried on farming in Moweaqua Township, and as the result of his persistent
and well-directed labors has a farm that is equal in improvements and
cultivation to the best in its vicinity.
September 6, 1827, is the date of the birth of our subject in Cayuga County,
N. Y. Mathias Parker was the name of his father, and he was a native of
Canada. He in turn was a son of one Lemuel Parker, who was a pioneer of the
town of Niles, and was thereafter engaged at his occupation as a farmer in
Cayuga County until death closed his mortal career. The maiden name of his
wife was Tacy Niles, and she too died on the farm in Niles Township. His
son, Mathias, though born in Canada was reared on the family homestead, and
he followed farming in New York State until his demise in 1830, while yet in
life's prime. His widow, whose maiden name was Susanna Armstrong, is still
living, making her home with her son, our subject, and retains to a
remarkable degree her mind and memory and physical faculties, although she
has reached the ninety-first milestone that marks a long life, having been
born April 28, 1800, in Genoa, Cayuga County, N. Y. She was married a second
time in 1833 to Owen Dewitt, who came to Illinois with his family in 1853.
He lived in Pike County for a time, and then came to this county to spend
his remaining days, dying here in 1866.
His maternal grandfather of our subject, Andrew Armstrong, was one of the
first settlers of Cayuga County, N. Y. He bought a tract of timber land in
the township of Genoa, and established a home in the primeval forest,
building a log cabin for shelter. Much of the great Empire State was then in
a wild, sparsely settled condition, and there were no railways or canals for
years to facilitate communication with the outside world. There were no
mills near where Mr. Armstrong settled, and he and his fellow-pioneers had
to reduce their grain in iron mortars. They lived off the products of their
land and from wild game, which was abundant. The grandfather of our subject
cleared a farm, and dwelt thereon until death deprived him of the
companionship of his wife in 1818. He then sold his place, and the few years
that remained to him boarded until he was called to his long home in 1822.
His wife bore the maiden name of Polly Bowker. She was born on the banks of
the Susquehanna River, and was a daughter of Silas and Esther (Hobbs)
Bowker. Her father and three of her brothers served in the Revolution. She
was carefully trained in all that went to make a good housewife in the olden
days, and was an adept in carding, spinning and weaving. She imparted those
arts to her daughter, the mother of our subject, who for many years after
her marriage made all the cloth in use in her family, coloring that which
she made into garments with the simple vegetable dyes formerly used, and she
spun her own thread.
After his father's death, the subject of this biographical notice went to
live with his grandparents, but they died when he was in his eighth year,
and from that time his home was with strangers until he established one of
his own, and he had to earn his living, getting his board and clothes in
re-payment for his work as a chore-boy and farm hand for a farmer, with whom
he lived for several years. When he was seventeen years old he began to
receive wages, earning the sum of $7 a month. He continued to work out by
the month in his native State until 1849. In that year he took an important
step in life whereby his worldly prospects were much advanced, as he then
came to Illinois to try farming on the fertile soil of the Prairie State,
and in due time became an independent farmer. In coming hither he journeyed
by Erie Canal to Buffalo, from there by the lakes to Chicago, and then on
the canal and Illinois River to Pike County, where he tarried a few years,
finding employment as a farm laborer. In 1856 he came to Shelby County, and
invested his hard-earned money in one hundred and twenty acres of prairie
land, a mile and a half from the village of Moweaqua. He has since bought
other land, and at one time had three hundred and forty acres, of which he
still retains two hundred and sixty acres, all of it being finely improved.
A measure of Mr. Parker's good fortune is attributable to the devoted
assistance of his good wife, who has ever been to him a cheerful helper, has
given him wise counsel when needed, and has contributed to his comfort and
well-being, as well as to his financial prosperity by her careful guidance
of household matters. Her maiden name was Cena A. Parker, she was a native
of the same county as her husband, and they were wedded in 1855. They have
three children — Willis E., Charles M. and Lydia A. Mrs. Parker is a
consistent Christian and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Parker is a sensible man, with sound views on all subjects in which he
is interested, especially in regard to politics, and we find him to be a
steadfast Republican. As a farmer he stands high in the community, and he
bears an unsullied reputation as a man and a citizen.
Extracted 17 Jun 2019 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 635-636.
