Thomas Jefferson Parks (1821 - 1883)

Born 18 Oct 1821 in Cherokee Nation tennessee

Ancestors

Husband of Maria Ann (Thompson) Parks — married 10 Feb 1848 in Beattie's Prarie, Delaware District, Indian Territory

Descendants

Died 6 May 1883 at age 61 in Delaware District, Indian Territory

Problems/Questions Profile managers: James Dignan [send private message] and Stephen Hampton [send private message]

Biography

Jeff was Cherokee.

Capt. Jeff Parks served in the United States Civil War.
Side: CSA
Regiment(s): Company M, 1st Regiment, Cherokee Mounted Rifles

Thomas Jefferson (Jeff) Parks was one of twelve children of Samuel and Susan Taylor Parks, born in the Cherokee Nation (now Bradley County) in Tennessee on Oct. 18, 1821. His father was white and his mother Cherokee, the great-granddaughter of Nancy Ward. ^[1] The family was in the freight business, transporting goods from Baltimore to Tennessee, ^[2]and in 1838, at the age of sixteen, Jeff drove a wagon over the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory in the detachment of his uncle, Richard Taylor. The Journal of the Reverend Daniel Butrick details the trip.^[3] Jeff returned to Tennessee, and then emigrated to Indian Territory after the death of his father in 1841. All but one of his brothers and sisters eventually emigrated to Indian Territory. ^[4] Jeff began farming on Beattie's Prairie and in 1848 he married Maria Ann Thompson, also Cherokee. Jeff and Ann were the parents of 11 children: Susan, Johnson, John Ross (died in infancy), William (died in infancy), Mary Jane, Emma, Anna, Jefferson Thompson, Nancy Almira, James Allen, and Frances. ^[5] Jeff enlisted in his brother Robert's company of the Cherokee Mounted Rifles at the start of the Civil War ^[6] and sent his family to Texas for safety. He was at the Battle of Cabin Creek and used mules and a wagon captured there to bring his family back after the war. ^[7] Although Jeff's health and eyesight were damaged in the war the family returned to the farm and rebuilt. Ann died in 1882 and Jeff in 1883. ^[8] Jeff and Ann are buried in the Thompson-Edmondson Cemetery of Ann's family near Jay, OK. ^[9]

The 1860 U.S. Census, Slave Schedule, lists Jeff as the enslaver of 6 people: ^[10]

Male age 33

Female age 25

Female age 14

Male age 12

Male age 5

Female age 3

Research Notes

The following memory is from the journal of Martha Parks Trout, niece of Jeff Parks:

Uncle Jeff came west to Oklahoma when a young man. I believe he was in the merchandise before the war. He located 8 miles north of South West City, Missouri. He married a good woman, Ann Thompson. They raised a housefull of children, which are scattered over the U. S. doing well. Their daughter Emma eloped. They were keeping her guarded. One day her sister Anna saw two neighbor women coming for a call and begged her mother to let Emma go to the spring with her while they were there. Mama didn’t know the fellow was in the timber by the spring and had hired Anna to get Emma for him, and consented. Bob Samuels and Emma skipped jumping the roads, got married and was prospering until Bob failed to control his temper and shot a man (dead) at Bob’s gate. The man wanted a settlement and Bob didn’t. He skipped to Montana or Utah. She followed and they raised a son, who is in good financial standing here in Oklahoma. Aunt Ann’s war story: “Before the war we fed our cold biscuits to old Brownie, our cow, putting them in the slop. During the war we ate corn bread, even baking sweet cakes out of meal. Uncle Jeff was a humerous fellow. He liked fun. He also would drink good gin but not to an excess. He and wife are buried near Maysville, Arkansas. When I was 7 years old, he sent me a pair of gold earrings. I wore them about 20 years. Uncle owned a large tract of fertile land. Had a good home with flowing pure spring water. His eldest son, Johnson, now owns it and has built a large modern resident there. Uncle Jeff was very fair, blue eyed, and tall and slender. When they first located, they lived in a two story, large log house with a wide uncovered porch in front. One evening just about dusk, Aunt was sitting on the porch singing a lullaby and rocking her babe to sleep. There was a large tree near the porch. She thought she heard a noise in its’ boughs, she walked in the house and a large tiger, lion or animal sprang after her, imbedding its claws in the door casing. She slammed the door, and it fled." ^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ Hampton, David K. Cherokee Mixed Bloods. ARC Press of Cane Hill, Lincoln, , 2005 p. 108
2. ↑ Allen Penelope J., Leaves From the Family Tree, Southern Historical Press, Easly, S.C., 1982 pp 185-187.
3. ↑ Butrick, Daniel S. The Journal of Rev. Daniel S. Butrick]], May 19, 1838 – April 1, 1839. reprint, Trail of Tears Association, Oklahoma Chapter, Park Hill, OK 1998.
4. ↑ Allen Leaves pp. 186-187
5. ↑ NARA M1104. Eastern Cherokee Applications of the U.S. Court of Claims, 1906-1909. Application #2150, Susan M. Carr Images at Eastern app
6. ↑ Confederate Service Records, First Cherokee Mounted Volunteers Image at Internet Archive, CSA
7. ↑ Blackburn, King, and Morton. Cherokee Nation: A History of Survival, Determination, and Identity. Cherokee Nation, 2018. pp 119-120
8. ↑ Ballenger, T.L. The Life and Times of Jefferson Thompson Parks. Chronicles of Oklahoma 30 (1952): 182
9. ↑ Tombstone inscription, see attached image
10. ↑ The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29. Arkansas, Indian Lands, Delaware District, Cherokee Nation, p. 3
11. ↑ Transcript of Martha Trout's journal in family possession

• See also:
• Tyner, James. Those Who Cried. Transcript of 1835 Cherokee census. Chi-ga-u, Inc. Norman, OK. 1974. p. 178
• Indian Territory Censuses, 1867 (Illinois District, p. 232) (Tompkins Roll [Cherokee], 1867. Series 7RA-04. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75. The National Archives at Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas)
• 1880 (Delaware District, p. 297) (Cherokee Census, 1880. Series 7RA-07. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75. The National Archives at Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas.

• PBS "History Detectives, " Cherokee Bible episode [www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigation/cherokee-bible/ PBS]