Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/505

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

903

Regiment \'irginia \'olunteers, attached to the Seventh Army Corps of the United States, and during the course of the war ex- perienced considerable exciting action. Upon the re-estabhshment of peace and the re- turn of the army from the front he was elected to the captaincy of his company, which he led in the disturbances arising from two street car strikes. At the close of the second of these he decided to relinquish his command, and at his own request was placed upon the retired list of officers of the state militia.

Air. Couch, long a member of the Im- proved Order of Red Men, has for several years held the office of great chief of the records of that organization, and since his election to his present office has devoted all of his time to the discharge of its responsi- bilities. He is also a member of Tammany Lodge, No. 5, Free and Accepted Alasons, and the Modern ^\'oodmen of the World. He was on one occasion a candidate for the office of sheriff, but as he only permitted his name to be placed upon the ticket after con- tinued urging by the party leaders and made no effort to secure the election, he was de- feated by a small plurality. He holds mem- bership in the Presbyterian church, and is secretary of the West End Memorial Church, also filling the associate secretary- ship of the Sunday school. Of any project that, if accomplished, would make Hampton a better city in which to live, he is an en- thusiastic supporter, and as secretary and treasurer of the Civic Improvement League, a strong and useful organization, he is close to the heart of the institution whence many such movements spring. He is a citizen of unselfish and practical ideals, a friend of all that is good in the political and social life of Hampton, deservedly popular in all circles because of the recognition of his many superior qualities of manhood.

Mr. Couch married. January 6, 1889, Clara M. Sager, born in 1871, and is the father of: Charles F., born in 1890 : Dorothy E., born in 1892; Ruth, born in 1894; William, born in 1906; John, born in 1909; Margaret, born in 1913. Charles F. Couch, his eldest child, has for the past five years, since finishing his training, been a mould loft expert, one of the most able in his line.

Luther M. Parker. Luther AI. Parker, ad- jutant and inspector of the Soldiers' Home

at Old Point, Virginia, is descended from a Kentucky family, and is a grandson of Joel Parker, who was born August 21, 1818, in W'ayne county. Kentucky. Joel Parker re- ceived but a limited education in the coun- try schools of his native county, and was one of the pioneers in that part of Scott county, Tennessee, known as Horseshoe Bend. From a wild and unbroken wilder- ness he lived to see this section cleared and developed into the finest farming territory in the county. He was an ideal citizen, modest and unassuming, yet firm and ag- gressive in support of his convictions. In spite of criticism or opposition he followed his convictions, and taught what seemed to him right. He was a devout believer, and was many years a member of the Black Creek Baptist Church. He died near Rugby, Tennessee, June 26, 1900. He married Maria Hurtt, and they were the parents of five sons and five daughters.

The eldest of these. Judge James Craw- ford Parker, was born March 22, 1841, in Wayne county, Kentucky, and was a young man when he accompanied his parents to Scott county, Tennessee. There he was sent to school, and made the best possible use of his opportunities. After some years in the common schools he became a stiident at a high school in Morgan county. Tennes- see, and was soon fitted for teaching. Dur- ing his early manhood he engaged in this occupation with eminent success, and many of the leading citizens of to-day were reared under his instruction. During the war be- tween the states he enlisted in the Federal army as a private of Company I, Thirtieth Kentucky Alounted Infantry^ and served throughout the war. Soon a'fter his enlist- ment he was made orderly sergeant of the company, and throughout his term per- formed every duty, as became a brave sol- dier and painstaking officer. In 1870 he was a member of the constitutional convention of Tennessee, and his course in that body was that of a broad-minded statesman. He was an intense lover of justice, and every vote cast by him in the convention was on the side of right and human equality. In the thirty-seventh general assemlaly of Ten- nessee, he served as representative of the counties of Scott, Morgan and Fentress, and in the election received every vote in Scott county except one. The records of that most important body of legislators indicate