Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/207

 PARKE

PARKER

Antietam, and in the pursuit of the enemy to Warrenton, Va., September- November, 1863. When Burnside assumed command of the Army of the Potomac, Nov. 10, 1862, lie became his chief-of-staflf, and in the Rappahannock cam- paign engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862. He was promoted captain of the corps of engineers, U.S.A., March 3, 1863. When Burnside took command of the Department of the Ohio in 1863, General Parke was transferred with the 9th army corps to Kentucky in March, 1863, and to Grant's army before Vicksburg, June 14- 17, 1863. He commanded the corps during the siege, and at the surrender of that city, July 4, 1863, was brevetted colonel, U.S.A., July 12, 1863, for "gallant and meritorious services" in the capture of Jackson, Miss., and commanded the left wing of General Sherman's army in the re- occupation of that city, July 16, 1863. He com- manded the corps in the Department of the Ohio during the East Tennessee campaign, being en- gaged in the action of Blue Spring, Oct. 10, 1863 ; the defence of Knoxville, Nov. 17-Dec. 4, 1863 ; and in the operations against General Longstreet, January-February, 1864. When General Burn- side resumed command of the 9th corps he ac- companied him in the march to Virginia, March 17-May 3, 1864, and acted as chief-of-staff to General Burnside in the Wilderness and Spott- sylvania campaigns. On May 24, 1864, the corps was regularly, assigned to the Army of the Potomac. He was promoted major in the corps of engineers, June 17, 1864, was on sick leave July- August, 1864, and commanded the 9th army corps, Arm}' of the Potomac, during the Rich- mond campaign, Aug. 13, 1864- April 2, 1865 ; was engaged in the siege of Petersburg, the combat at Peeble's Farm, Sept. 3 ; at Hatcher's Run, Oct. 27, 1864 ; the assault on Fort Stedman, March 25,

1865, and the final surrender of Lee at Appomat- tox. He was brevetted brigadier-general, U.S.A., March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious serv- ices in the defence of Knoxville and major-gen- eral, U.S.A., for the repulse of Fort Stedman, Va. He commanded the district of Alexandria, May-July, 1865, and the southern district of New York, 1865-66. He was mustered out of the vol- unteer service Jan. 15, 1866, and resumed charge of the northwestern boundary survey, Sept. 28,

1866. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel in the corps of engineers, March 4, 1879 ; colonel, March 17, 1884 : was superintendent of the U.S. Military academy, 1887-89, and was retired at his own re- quest, after forty years' service, July 2, 1889. He was married to Ellen, daughter of George Blight of Pliiladelphia. He compiled Laics of the Uni- ted States Relating to Public Works for the Im- provement of Rivers and Harbors (1877, new ed. 1887); Laivs Relating to the Construction of

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Bridges Over Navigable Waters (1882, new ed. 1887): Opinions of Attorneys-Oeneral Relative to Acquisition of Lands, Bridges, Contracts, etc. (1882), and is the author of various reports in Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad Route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. He died in Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 1900.

PARKER, Abraham X., representative, was born in Granville, Vt., Nov. 14, 1831 ; son of Isaac and Amanda (Patrick) Parker ; grandson of Abraham (1763-1829) and Sarah (Whitney) Parker ; great-grandson of Joseph (4th) Parker, a minute man and soldier at Bunker Hill, and a descendant of Joseph Parker, who came from Newbury, England, to Newbury, Mass., in 1638, at the age of twenty-four, removing later with his brother Nathan to Andover, Mass., where his descendant, Joseph (4th) was born, 1735. Abra- ham Parker's maternal grandfather was Joseph Patrick, of Scotch-Irish extraction, who was town clerk of Granville, Vt., for more than forty years. Isaac Parker served in the Vermont leg- islature, moved to Potsdam, N.Y., in 1840, and there became a farmer, town sviperintendent of schools and supervisor. Abraham X. Parker at- tended St. Lawrence academy, Potsdam, and the Albany Law school, and was admitted to the bar in Albany, 1854, returning to Potsdam to practice. He was married in 1857, to Mary J., daughter of Alpheus Wright, of Potsdam. He was a member of the assembly, 1863-64, lefusing re-nomination in 1865. He was elector-at-large on the Republican presidential ticket in 1876, and a representative from the nineteenth and twenty- second districts in the 47th, 48th, 49th and 50th congresses, 1881-89. He served on the judiciary and other important committees, and in the 50th congress was a member of the special committee appointed to investigate the coal and railroad employee strikes and other labor difficulties affecting the commerce of four states which were visited and inspected by the committee. After this public service he returned to Potsdam and resumed his law practice until his appointment by President Harrison as assistant U.S. attorney- general. Sept. 8, 1890. With the change of ad- ministration, March 4, 1893, he resigned, but was retained in office upon the request of Attorney- General Olney, to complete important work, un- til the adjournment of the supreme court in May. He took active interest in the educational institu- tions of Potsdam, and became president of the Thomas S. Clarkson Memorial School of Tech- nology.

PARKER, Alton Brooks, jurist, was born in Cortland, N.Y., May 14, 1852 ; son of John Brooks and Han-iet F. (Straton) Parker ; grandson of John and Elizabeth (Brooks) Parker, and great- grandson of John and Olive (Temple) Parker, of