Parker Rand (1793 - 1876)

Born 11 Aug 1793 in Wake, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Died 19 Jan 1876 at age 82 in Wake, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

Parker Rand was born 11 August 1793 at the Rand Plantation in Swift Creek, now Garner, Wake County, North Carolina, the 4th of 8 known surviving children (6 boys/2 girls) born to wealthy planter, Walter Rand Sr. and his wife, Mary Parker.

He was the paternal grandson of William Rand, Sr. (born in England) and his wife, Sophia Almand (Almon) of Isle of Wight, VA; and the maternal grandson of Elias Parker & Elizabeth Harrison of Isle of Wight, VA.

Parker was educated and studied law, becoming an attorney, although for his entire lifetime, the bulk of his wealth would come from his land holdings in Wake County and Mississippi, worked by slave labor.

On 28 June 1815, the 21-year old Parker married 19-year old Ann Nancy Fort of Wake County, daughter of William Knight Fort.

The young couple began their married life in Lowndes Co, MS, but by 1860 had returned to North Carolina and were residing in Smithfield in Johnston County where Parker listed his occupation as "Capitalist" with reported wealth of $95,000 -- a veritable fortune in antebellum North Carolina. The Civil War brought destruction and great loss of their financial fortune, and by 1870, the elderly couple had moved back to Wake County and were residing with Parker's younger brother, Nathaniel Greene Rand.

Excerpts from an article in the Raleigh NEWS AND OBSERVER newspaper in 1955, relates an interesting anecdotal story regarding Parker and the Civil War. The paper mistakenly says Parker was son of Nathaniel Greene Rand, but the birth date reported clearly indicates the story related to Parker Rand, son of Walter Rand, Sr:

... "One of them too old to go (into Confederate service during the Civil War) was Parker Rand, son of Nathaniel Greene Rand [should read Walter Rand Sr.], who had been born in 1793, and who was 68 years old when the war began. When it ended and Sherman's troops reached Rand property in 1865, old Parker Rand was living in the original house. The Yankees picked up a rumor that the old man had a large amount of gold buried somewhere near the house. All the ex-slaves had heard the rumor, but none knew where the gold was. The Yankees ordered old Parker Rand out into the yard of his home. Where, they asked sternly, had he hidden his gold. The old man replied just as sternly that he¹d not tell them. ROPE AROUND NECK After seeing that they were getting nowhere with that [lines missing]. . .

"For a couple of minutes, the old man stared at the Yankees and they stared back. He said nothing, and they did nothing. Finally, he broke the silence. Rand family tradition fondly records his speech: "What are you Yankees waiting for? If you are scared that hanging me would be a sin that would send you straight to hell--why, don't stop on that account. Every one of you have committed enough sins south of here to be sent to hell 40 times each. I¹m not going to tell you, so go ahead and hang me." ...

Both Parker and Ann Nancy Rand died during the terrible years of Reconstruction in North Carolina. Parker was widowed in 1873 when his wife of 58 years died at age 77.

He passed just a few years later 19 January 1876 at age 82 in Wake, North Carolina and was buried in the Rand Cemetery in Wake, North Carolina.^[1]

No evidence was ever found that Ann and Parker had children.

Sources

1. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38147747/parker-rand : accessed 28 February 2022), memorial page for Parker Rand (11 Aug 1793–19 Jan 1876), Find A Grave: Memorial #38147747, citing Rand Cemetery, Wake County, North Carolina, USA ; Maintained by pbfries (contributor 46951237).

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWDQ-GW9 : 19 March 2020), Parker Rand in entry for N G Rand, 1870.