Willis S. Parker (1819 - 1905)

Born 12 Apr 1819 in Jonathan Creek, Haywood, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Died 18 Mar 1905 at age 85 in Marble, Cherokee, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

Captain Willis Parker served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: Jul 20, 1862
Mustered out: Dec 26, 1863
Side: CSA
Regiment(s): North Carolina Company I, Infantry Regiment, Thomas' Legion

Willis Parker (April 12, 1819-March 18, 1905), son of Jonathan Parker and Omy Omie Blythe, was a lifelong resident of western North Carolina. During the Trail of Tears in 1838, a wealthy gentleman paid the 19 year old Willis Parker a commutation fee* to be his "proxy soldier" during the Cherokees forced removal. (See also The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy.) Now Private Willis Parker, serving in Company L with Captain Isaac Truitt, reluctantly participated, not to force the Cherokee removal but rather to be a traveling companion to his Cherokee friends and neighbors. Willis and family had enjoyed a very harmonious relationship with the neighboring Cherokees and they had even intermarried.

He passed away in 1905.

• Willis Parker, Capt. Enlisted July 20, 1862, Valley Town, N.C., by Col. W[illiam].H[olland]. Thomas.  

Listed as present

• Captain Willis Parker resignation on December 26, 1863 by reason of age and ill-health, and mustered - out at Bull's Gap, Tennessee General Samuel Cooper recorded Parker's (A&IGO) on January 7, 1864 (Confederate War Record, National Archives). On January 7, 1864 Captain Joseph Anderson Kinsey assumed command of Company I, Thomas Legion organization

• Willis Parker (April 12, 1819-March 18, 1905), son of Jonathan Parker, was a lifelong resident of western North Carolina. During the Trail of Tears in 1838, a wealthy gentleman paid the 19 year old Willis Parker a commutation fee* to be his "proxy soldier" during the Cherokees forced removal. (See also The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy.) Now Private Willis Parker, serving in Company L with Captain Isaac Truitt, reluctantly participated, not to force the Cherokee removal but rather to be a traveling companion to his Cherokee friends and neighbors. Willis and family had enjoyed a very harmonious relationship with the neighboring Cherokees and they had even intermarried.

• According to Willis Parker's great-grandson, Mr. William M. Palmer of Andrews, NC, a wealthy man had paid Willis to be his substitute for the 1838 Indian Removal.

Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders

Willis Parker served as Captain of Company I, Thomas' Legion from July 24, 1862 to January 7, 1864. According to John H. Stewart's account of Company I, Thomas' Legion of Cherokee Indians and Mountaineers, "Col. Thomas sent Captains Commissions to J. W. Cooper of Cheoah and Willis Parker of Valley River late in 1861 or early in 1862 and asked each of them to get up a Company to join his Regiment. They each made up a Company, Cooper's Company camped at what is now Robbinsville. Parker's Company camped at what is now Marble and called it Camp Valley Town. I joined Parker's Company. Both Companies drilled at their camps for a short time and then were ordered to Chilhowie [Chilhowee: as the crow flies, it is about 20 miles from Andrews, NC], Tennessee and there drilled until further orders. From that time until near Christmas 1864, the two Companies were together in the 69th Regiment part of Thomas' Legion. They were together every day, in camp, on the march and in battles."

Although Parker was enlisted by Colonel William Holland Thomas on July 20, 1862, at Valleytown, Cherokee County, North Carolina, he was elected as captain of his company on July 24, 1862. Company I, however, initially mustered as Company D, Walker's Battalion, at Valleytown. On September 27, 1862, when the Thomas Legion officially mustered at Knoxville, it became Company I, Infantry Regiment, Thomas' Legion. After the Battle of Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864, Companies C and I were temporarily consolidated under the command of Captain Nathaniel Green Philips. Company I was also involved in the Skirmish at Hanging Dog. (See also Captain Willis Parker: Compiled Military Service Record.)

Father, Family, and a Farm

During the American Civil War, anarchy ruled in the Tar Heel State's poorest region termed Western North Carolina. President Jeff Davis, Governor Zebulon Baird Vance, and numerous Confederate corps and division commanding generals heard incessant cries and pleas from the local mountain populace for protection against outliers, deserters and bushwhackers. The Shelton Laurel Massacre in Madison County, North Carolina, epitomized the region's lawlessness and anarchy. However, neighboring Cherokee County was also one of the bushwhackers' preferred areas to plunder and pillage. During a series of raids, when the bushwhackers roamed Cherokee County with impunity (O.R., 53, 313-314**), they were overjoyed while anticipating the loot from a particular farm.

As they approached the farm, one Unionist proclaimed "that we are going to make a big mistake here, because this farm belongs to Captain Willis Parker; and he, his brothers, and family will track us to the end of the earth." Parker was 6’2” and was a mounted infantry captain in Thomas’ Legion of Cherokees and Highlanders. Convinced that Captain Parker will exact complete retribution for any harm bestowed upon his family--and that there were less hazardous targets of opportunity--Captain Goldman Bryson's Company detoured and sacked the county seat, Murphy, in October 1863.

Consequently, Goldman's Robbers received their fate at the hands of the Thomas Legion's Cherokee scouts. Although Parker had avoided, by some fate, the destruction of his farm, the toll of the Civil War was not so generous. In the cold winter of 1863, Willis's son, Rufus, had contracted Typhoid while serving in the Confederate army in Virginia. Willis resigned his captain commission and, as a loving father, retrieved his dying son Rufus from Virginia. Rufus only had one prayer, "let me die at home." They made the very hazardous journey towards Cherokee County and evaded bushwhackers and outlaws, and even foraged off the land. Although Willis safely arrived home in December 1863, in just a few days Rufus succumbed to the disease and was laid to rest in the family cemetery. His home had not been burned to the ground and his prayer was answered. See also hellish conditions in Western North Carolina: O.R., Series IV, pt. 2, pp. 732-734, O.R., Series 1, Volume 53, pp. 324-336, and O.R., Series 1, Vol. 32, pt. II, pp. 610-611.

• • Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.

Civil War Records (Compiled Military Service Record)

Below is a transcription of Willis Parker's resignation letter. It was addressed to General Samuel Cooper. Cooper, who served as both Adjutant General and Inspector General of the Confederate Army, was one of only eight Confederate officers that obtained the rank of full-general. Robert E. Lee is another example.

Camp Thomas Legion December 26th[,] 1863

Gen[.] S[amuel]. Cooper[,]

Sir[,] I respectfully tender to you my resignation as Captain of Co. [Company] I[,] Regiment of Thomas Legion[,] North Carolina Troops, believing as I do that the interests of the country can be best subserved by having in the place I now occupy a younger man. I being over the conscript age and not by any means in good health. Very Respectfully, Your Obdt [Obedient] Servt [Servant], Willis Parker[,] Capt. Co. I . Regt[,] Thomas Legion Captain Parker tendered his resignation on December 26, 1863, by reason of age and ill-health. General Samuel Cooper recorded Parker's resignation for the Adjutant and Inspector General's Office (A&IGO), January 7, 1864. (Confederate War Record, National Archives). On January 7, 1864, Captain Joseph Anderson Kimsey assumed command of Company I, Thomas' Legion. (See Joseph A. Kimsey.) Thomas' Legion Muster Records: Company I – Cherokee County – Willis Parker, Captain, and Jos. A. Kimsey [Joseph Anderson Kimsey], Captain; Sol. E. Egan, First Lieutenant, all of Cherokee County; N. G. Philips [Nathaniel Green Philips], First and Second Lieutenant, and P. B. Gailer, Second Lieutenant, both of Graham county. Number of officers and men, 109.

Willis is mentioned in Walter Clark's Regiments: An Extended Index to the Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-1865, by Charles C. Davis, page 345: Parker, Willis, (Capt, Co I, 69th NCST, Thomas' Legion), volume III, p. 731. He is discussed more in detail in Vernon H. Crow's, Storm in the Mountains: Thomas' Confederate Legion of Cherokee Indians and Mountaineers.

Willis S. Parker, William Benson Parker, and William Asbury Parker Source: Company Muster and Descriptive Roll. (Military Record). All three served in Company I of Thomas' Legion and are recorded on Official Civil War Muster Records. Thomas' Legion is also referred to as Thomas' North Carolina Legion, 69th North Carolina Regiment, and Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders. (See A Guide to Military Organizations and Installations of North Carolina 1861-1865)

William Benson Parker, William Asbury Parker, and Willis Parker

William Asbury served in Thomas' Legion with his brother, Captain Willis Parker, and his nephew, Corporal William Benson (Willis's son). All three are listed on Thomas Legion's muster roll: THOMAS LEGION, COMPANY I OF THE FIRST REGIMENT MUSTER ROLL. Willis's brother, John A. Parker, served as a captain in the Fifty-second Georgia Infantry Regiment, which also fought Sherman during his March to the Sea.

THOMAS LEGION, COMPANY I OF THE FIRST REGIMENT MUSTER ROLL

31 August, 1863, through 31 October, 1863

1. Willis Parker, Capt. Enlisted July 20, 1862, Valley Town, N.C., by Col. W[illiam].H[olland]. Thomas. Listed as present.

65. Parker, William, private. Enlisted July 24, 1862, S[trawberry]. Plains, TN, by Capt. [William] Stringfield. Present. Made mark for pay.

Parker History, Heritage and Genealogy

Excerpt from OUR HERITAGE by Margaret Walker Freel, the Miller Printing Company, Asheville, NC, 1956, p. 325 and 326:

Willis Parker, the oldest son of Jonathan Parker, belonged to the State Militia, and assisted in the removal in 1838. He always said the Indians should have been allowed to remain in their mountain homes. He and the Indians were always friends.

The Indians who remained here often came to his home to talk with him and to ask his advice. Willis and John A. were Captains of Volunteer Companies of the Confederate Army in the War Between the States. Willis Parker's company in Cherokee Co., and John A. Parker's company in Ga. [John A. is Willis's brother]

Willis Parker married Adaline Vannoy, daughter of Joel Vannoy, who moved his family in wagons from Wilkes Co. to Cherokee Co. in 1839. He came to mine for gold, but not finding much gold, returned to Wilkesboro. Willis Parker bought the farm owned by Vannoy. He and his wife lived there the rest of their lives and reared ten children.

The fifth generation is living on the farm. During the war the home was ransacked by a posse posing as Federal soldiers, thinking there was gold on the place, and threatened to burn the home when they failed to find it. Capt. Parker mined for gold at his home and at Dahlonega, Ga., in the gold strike there.

Military: Willis Parker was a Captain in Co. I, NC Infantry, Thomas' Legion, North Carolina Troops. Volunteers enlisted in Cherokee County into Colonel W. H. Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders, North Carolina Volunteers. He was listed as being 6' 2" and having a dark complexion, black eyes, and black hair; farmer; resigned January 7, 1864, at Bulls Gap, Tennessee. (His reason was that he was over 45 years of age and in ill-health.)

Genealogy

Parker, Willis S. Birth: 12 APR 1819 Haywood Co., N.C. Death: 18 MAR 1905 Cherokee Co, N.C. Burial: Willis Parker/Johnson Greybeard Cemetery, Cherokee Co., N.C. Inscription: WILLIS PARKER N.C. MTD. INF. CHEROKEE WAR APR. 12, 1819 MAR. 18, 1905 CAPTAIN IN CONFEDERATE ARMY. Gender: Male Parents:

Father: Parker, Jonathan Mother: Blythe, Leoma

Family:

Spouse:

Vannoy, Adeline Amelia Birth: 18 MAR 1827 Death: 20 AUG 1897 Cherokee Co., N.C. Burial: Willis Parker/Johnson Greybeard Cemetery, Cherokee Co., N.C. Gender: Female Parents:

Father: Vannoy, Joel Mother: St.Clair, Elizabeth

Children: Parker, John Rufus Birth: 12 NOV 1843 Cherokee Co., N.C. Death: December 1863, Cherokee Co., N.C. (While visiting the Willis Parker/Johnson Greybeard Cemetery in September 2006, Mr. William M. Palmer--the great grandson of Captain Willis Parker--stated the following history: "While serving in the Confederate Army in Virginia, Rufus contracted Typhoid. Willis escorted his son Rufus to Cherokee Co., where Rufus succumbed to the disease. John Rufus is believed to have served in Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders." Burial: Willis Parker/Johnson Greybeard Family Cemetery. Inscription: RUFUS PARKER 1843--1863 CONFEDERATE ARMY DIED IN SERVICE) Gender: Male Parker, William Benson "Bud" (Thomas' Legion, buried Willis Parker/Johnson Greybeard Cemetery. See also William Benson Parker) Parker, Louisa Maria Parker, Eugenia Vannoy Parker, Sophia Parker, Joseph Vannoy Parker, Edwin A. Birth: 1 FEB 1859 Cherokee Co., N.C. Death: 1919 Oklahoma Gender: Male Parker, Mary Parker, Jonathan Carl

Sources

• Military Information:

http://thomaslegion.net/captain_willis_parker_compiled_military_service_record_of_a_confederate_soldier.html http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kyborn/confed50.htm

This is family Information added by Donnie Alan Blackstone Contact 108dab888@gmail.com , Descendent of The Parker family of Andrews, N.C

• http://thomaslegion.net/willisparker.html

• www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KL6P-TWV

• Find a Grave, database and images, memorial page for Willis S. Parker (12 Apr 1819–18 Mar 1905), Find A Grave: Memorial #68604669, citing Willis Parker Family Cemetery, Cherokee County, North Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Liz Olmstead (contributor 46772820) .