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DO NOT MERGE THIS PROFILE WITH OTHER RICHARD PARKER'S
Note: There are multiple Richard Parker's in Virginia around the same time and care should be taken not to confuse the records. This Richard did not immigrate, he was born in Virginia. This Richard was not from Nansemond and was not the son of a Doctor. (The son of the doctor became a lawyer and this Richard was not a lawyer, he was a farmer.)
Richard Parker was born about 1670, assuming he was 21 when he married about 1691.
In about1691, he married Elizabeth Ballard. They had the following children:
About 1721, Richard married Michall Harris as his second wife. They had no children.
Richard's will was dated 17 Feb 1726 so he would have died after this date. While his transcribed will appears below, a source for this full version is lacking. Part of this will is recorded in Ronnie Adkins book, "The Adkins Family of Wayne County, West Virginia, Also Cabell, Lincoln and Boone" [5]
The Last Will and Testament of Richard Parker In the name of God, Amen, I Richard Parker of ye County of Henrico, being sick of body, but of sound and perfect memory I do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following, Viz: I give my Soul to Almighty God he gave it to me and my body to the earth to be decently buried according to the discretion of my executors and as to my worldly goods and properties, I give and dispose of as followeth: Viz:
Item: I give and bequeath to my wife Micha Parker three cows, calves, four sowes, fifteen shoats, the bed and furniture I had with her, five pewter dishes, six plates, one iron pot, one frying pan, one riding beast and ye saddle she is now possessed with to her my said wife and her heirs forever.
Item: I give to my daughter Ann, now wife of James Daniel, one shilling sterling to her and her heirs forever.
Item: I give to my daughter Elizabeth, now wife of William Atkinson, one shilling sterling to her and her heirs forever.
Item: I give to my daughter Mary, now ye wife of Lewis Jenkins, one shilling sterling to her and her heirs, forever.
Item: I give to my son, Richard Parker and moreover devise all the rest of my estate both real and personal, moveable, and immoveable to him and his heirs forever. Thereby constituting and appointing him, my said son, executor to this my last will and testament as witnesseth by my hand and seal this 27th day of Feb 1726. Witness Thomas Owen
Signed Richard Parker, Robert Woodson, Jr.
There appears to be significant disagreement regarding the identity of Elizabeth Parker’s (1695-1754) mother. This is in large part due to the multitude of Richard Parkers contemporaneously flitting about Virginia in the late 1600s and in almost-as-large part due to confusion over the name(s) of his wife. Researcher Waunita Powell has, after ten years of scouring primary sources, sorted out the Virginia Richards enough to identify my ancestor with near certainty. The three contenders are as follows:
(1) Richard Parker (1650) from Virginia who married “Miss Pender,” (2) Richard Parker who married Judith Huntt in Virginia, and (3) Richard Parker (1650) from Virginia, married to “Mitha.”
From Powell’s cross-referencing land deeds, court records, etc., it seems Richard Parker number three is our man. But there are still complications. First, primary sources list two names for Richard’s wife: (1) Elizabeth, and (2) Mitha, Mirha, or a handful of permutations therein. Some suggest these two names refer to the same person (i.e., that Elizabeth may have also been called Mitha). Others suggest Mitha is a second wife.
Elizabeth is listed as Richard’s wife in the indentured servant contract from February 1696—one year after Elizabeth Parker (1695-1754) was born. So if Mitha is indeed a second wife, then she is genealogically insignificant to the birth of Elizabeth Parker.
If Elizabeth and Mitha are the same people, it seems unusual for her to go on the record as “Elizabeth Parker” her whole life and then suddenly—in a legal will, no less—be mentioned as “Mitha.” Of course, it’s possible but unlikely.
It seems much more likely that Richard was first married to an Elizabeth who died between 1695 and 1726, when “Mitha” is mentioned in his will. Powell notes that Richard is listed as the sole executor of a John Ballard’s estate, and concludes that Elizabeth is probably John Ballard’s daughter… “She must have been an only child, which would account for Richard receiving all the Estate and being the Executor.) (Richard and Elizabeth were then married before Feb. 1691/2).”
See Also:
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Categories: Estimated Birth and Marriage Date
Have not figured out the connection to this Richard but could be a descendant? At any rate, the naming of that Richard is not a source for this one to have a middle name.