James Allen Thompson Parks (1867 - 1945)

Born 20 Mar 1867 in Fort Gibson, Indian Territory

Ancestors

Son of Thomas Jefferson Parks and Maria Ann (Thompson) Parks

Husband of Mary Florence (Youngblood) Parks — married 31 Dec 1914 in Wesson, Copiah, Mississippi, United States

Descendants

Died 2 Jan 1945 at age 77 in Haskell, Oklahoma, United States

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Biography

James was Cherokee.

Dawes Enrollee

Cherokee by Blood

Dawes Card Number 10313

James Allen Thompson Parks was born near Fort Gibson, Indian Territory in 1867, the second youngest of 11 children of Cherokees Jeff and Ann (Thompson) Parks. He was named after his grandfather James Allen Thompson. ^{[1] [2]} His mother and her family emigrated to Indian Territory in 1837. Jeff Parks drove a wagon over the Trail of Tears in his uncle Richard Taylor's detachment from Tennessee and then emigrated permanently after his father's death in 1841. The Parks family had a prosperous farm on Cowskin Prairie near Grove, I.T. until the Civil War when Jeff Parks enlisted in the Cherokee Mounted Rifles and Ann, along with her father, siblings, and their families, went to Texas for safety. ^[3] Their home was destroyed so after the War the family lived near Fort Gibson until they could rebuild. Jim was born while they lived there. He grew up like other country boys, working on the farm, hunting and fishing for food, and attending school, but his life was not easy. Neither of his parents really recovered from the effects of the war and they died a few months apart when he was just 16. ^[4] Jim and his younger sister Fannie went to live (and attend high school) at the Cherokee Orphan Asylum in Saline where their uncle was superintendent. ^[5] Jim went on to earn B.A and M.A. degrees from Central College in Fayetteville, Missouri. He came back to the Cherokee Nation and began teaching at the Orphan Asylum but soon realized that he wanted to spend his life helping other people and decided to become a minister. He enrolled in the Biblical Department at Vanderbilt University where he graduated first in his class and was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1896. ^[6] He returned to Indian Territory to join the Indian Mission Conference of the Methodist Church and served churches all over Indian Territory, Oklahoma Territory, and the state of Oklahoma. ^[7] Jim was fluent in both English and Cherokee and could read and write in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. In at least one community he served he was called on to read the Hebrew prayers at a Jewish funeral.

He met his wife, Florence Youngblood, while serving at the Methodist Church in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. They were married at her parents' home in Wesson, Mississippi in December, 1914 ^[8] and were the parents of two children, Joe B and Mary Allen. For unknown reasons Jim left the ministry soon after Joe was born and started a small dairy farm in Britton. ^[9] He also served as the Superintendent of a nearby Methodist orphanage before returning to the ministry. Over the next ten years he served churches in Atoka, Grove, Coweta, and Welch among others. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Jim was enrolled by the Dawes Commission as a Cherokee by Blood in 1902, Card number 10313 ^[13] and was approved for a share of the Eastern Cherokee (Guion Miller) payment in 1911. ^[14]

His last church assignment was at Haskell, OK. ^[15] He retired from the ministry in 1938 and died in 1945. He is buried at the Haskell Cemetery, Muskogee County, OK. ^[16]

Research Notes

For information on the Cherokee and Chickasaw men who attended Vanderbilt in the 1890's see Vanderbilt exhibition

Sources

1. ↑ National Archives, Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Indian Censuses and Rolls, 1867 Saline District, Members of the Cherokee Tribe, p. 41
2. ↑ The National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Record Group Number: 75; Record Group Title: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793-1999; NARA Series Number: 7RA-07; NARA Series Title: Cherokee Census, 1880. Delaware District, p. 297
3. ↑ Blackburn, King, and Morton. Cherokee Nation: A History of Survival, Determination, and Identity. Cherokee Nation, 2018. pp 119-120
4. ↑ The National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Record Group Number: 75; Record Group Title: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793-1999; NARA Series Number: 7RA-54; NARA Series Title: Cherokee Census, 1893. Tahlequah District, #2025
5. ↑ Orphan Asylum Roll of Honor, Cherokee Advocate, 1886. image attached
6. ↑ 1896 Vanderbilt yearbook
7. ↑ Obituary, Chronicles of Oklahoma, vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 83-84 digitized at Obituary
8. ↑ "Mississippi, County Marriages, 1858-1979", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CCQZ-Y5ZM : Sat Mar 09 09:24:28 UTC 2024), Entry for James A Parks and Florence Youngblood, 31 Dec 1914.
9. ↑ U.S. Federal Census 1920 Census Place: Britton, Oklahoma, Oklahoma; Roll: T625_1473; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 97; Image: 155.
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC7C-R33 : accessed 12 May 2019), James A Parks, Welch, Craig, Oklahoma, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 24, sheet 2A, line 6, family 29, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1899; FHL microfilm 2,341,633.
11. ↑ "Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1936," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2FX-54VK : 17 March 2018), Joseph Parks, 1927; citing School enrollment, Atoka, Atoka, Oklahoma, United States, multiple County Clerk offices, Oklahoma school district offices, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm 2,208,851.
12. ↑ "Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1936," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2FD-WT7C : 17 March 2018), Joseph Parks, 1931-1932; citing School enrollment, Craig, Oklahoma, United States, multiple County Clerk offices, Oklahoma school district offices, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm 1,290,552.
13. ↑ U.S. Native Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, " Dawes Number" 29529 Image at Dawes
14. ↑ NARA M1104. Eastern Cherokee Applications of the U.S. Court of Claims, 1906-1909. Image at: Guion Miller
15. ↑ United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBVY-DFH : 30 May 2020), James A Parks, Haskell, Haskell Town, Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 51-19, sheet 1B, line 70, family 22, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3313.U.S. Federal Census
16. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 13 September 2020), memorial page for Rev James Allen Parks (20 Mar 1867–1945), Find a Grave Memorial no. 101938127, citing Haskell Cemetery, Haskell, Muskogee County, Oklahoma, USA ; Maintained by Angie Hetherington (contributor 47044790) .

• Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Kathie (Parks) Forbes and L.S., her 2nd cousin 1x removed. Their most-recent common ancestors are Thomas Parks and Maria Thompson, the great grandfather of Kathie (Parks) Forbes and great great grandparents of L.S.. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: Second cousin once removed, based on sharing 197 cM across 7 segments.