Needing Ancestor Information

Joined
Jun 15, 2021
Hello everybody,

I’m new here and figured someone on here could help me. Out of the 50 or so Confederate ancestors I have, I can’t find the one I want to find.
James Love Parker, born in 1845-ish. I don’t know if he served or not. I would love to know if he did. He was born in Upstate South Carolina. I’m unsure of who is father was. Fold3 has a ton of “James Parkers” that served in South Carolina but I can’t find out if he’s one of them. If anyone can find out anything about him I’d really appreciate it. His son was Robert Parker born in 1865, and his son was Elzie Van Parker, his son was Jack Parker, then my dad and me. Please help!
 
There are many James PARKERs, as you say, but there was a Pvt. James L. Parker in Co. D, 2nd SC Cavalry. He enlisted 7 Feb 1862 and served until at least Nov/Dec 1864. His service record doesn't have a muster in or out card so we don't his age or any other demographic info about him.

He applied for a pension from SC on 18 Sep 1919 and it gives his birth as 28 May 1844 in Eutawville, Orangeburg Co., SC.
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If I did this right - and like @Bob Velke says, there are a LOT of James Parkers in SC - I can't say for sure about James Parker, but I think this man was his father (he had way more children than are listed on Find a Grave and the James I'm looking at falls into the line up between Mary and Meek), and his FATHER, Elijah Eleazar Parker, WAS both a soldier and a Prisoner of War, but I'd need to go digging to find out his regiment and what prison he was held in.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33173966/elijah-eleazer-parker
 
First off, let me tell you that you have my deepest sympathy. In my personal experience South Carolina is one of the hardest states to do genealogy research in. They just didn't seem to collect many records before the Civil War and it's really hard to get basic facts on people.

Because Parker is such a common name I decided to build a tree for James, hoping that clues there might help us narrow down which man online (if any) was your ancestor. Using the date you gave for Robert's birth I started with him. The death certificate for Robert filed in 1943 states "no record" under his father's name. His mother is listed as Mary Hackett. I looked at the family trees on Ancestry - no guarantee they are correct but they make a good starting point. Several list a Jacob Parker as Robert's father, but with no proof. One gives James Love Parker as you have, but again with no proof. The other trees leave the father's name blank. Do you have a family Bible or other source that links you to James Love Parker?

If the records for Robert are correct, his father died before the 1880 Census - or abandoned the family, which could explain the lack of a known name on the death record. If he did serve and did die before 1880, I would expect to find a widow's pension for Mary, his wife. This may be all wrong - if you have any info to share please do. The more facts we have the easier it will be to find the records.
 
If I did this right - and like @Bob Velke says, there are a LOT of James Parkers in SC - I can't say for sure about James Parker, but I think this man was his father (he had way more children than are listed on Find a Grave and the James I'm looking at falls into the line up between Mary and Meek), and his FATHER, Elijah Eleazar Parker, WAS both a soldier and a Prisoner of War, but I'd need to go digging to find out his regiment and what prison he was held in.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33173966/elijah-eleazer-parker
I actually added some of the pictures on his find a grave page. That’s who my father and I think was our james daddy. Considering Elijah is buried just a hand full of miles from our house. The james listed with Elijah is the correct age and in the correct area(my home town). But we can’t say for sure that Elijah is our ancestor. But the dots do connect. We are so sick of not knowing, you know?
 
First off, let me tell you that you have my deepest sympathy. In my personal experience South Carolina is one of the hardest states to do genealogy research in. They just didn't seem to collect many records before the Civil War and it's really hard to get basic facts on people.

Because Parker is such a common name I decided to build a tree for James, hoping that clues there might help us narrow down which man online (if any) was your ancestor. Using the date you gave for Robert's birth I started with him. The death certificate for Robert filed in 1943 states "no record" under his father's name. His mother is listed as Mary Hackett. I looked at the family trees on Ancestry - no guarantee they are correct but they make a good starting point. Several list a Jacob Parker as Robert's father, but with no proof. One gives James Love Parker as you have, but again with no proof. The other trees leave the father's name blank. Do you have a family Bible or other source that links you to James Love Parker?

If the records for Robert are correct, his father died before the 1880 Census - or abandoned the family, which could explain the lack of a known name on the death record. If he did serve and did die before 1880, I would expect to find a widow's pension for Mary, his wife. This may be all wrong - if you have any info to share please do. The more facts we have the easier it will be to find the records.
I appreciate what you’ve done so far. My Parker heritage is a pain in the neck. If I find anything else out from my dad I’ll let you know. I’m 99% sure he proved James Love Parker was Robert’s Father. Unfortunately, the parkers never passed down any family history. My dad and are trying to remedy 100s of years of this “not passing down history”.
 
For what it's worth, my first thought was "The name Elzie probably comes from Eleazar," which was Elijah's middle name.

I used Family Search to look for them, largely because it's a free site. Two hundred years removed from Scotland, but the gene for "thrift" still runs strong in our veins! Whoever posted the family tree there has James Love down as Robert's father, but there were two Elzie V. Parkers (one was born in 1912), so things got a bit muddled. It showed Robert's parents as James Parker and Mary Parker, so @lupaglupa may be barking up the right tree with Mary Hackett. I started with Elzie Van because it was not a common first name.
 
We are so sick of not knowing, you know?
Do I ever know. My gr-gr-grandfather born in South Carolina has a ?? for parents. He moved to Mississippi as a young man and none of the records we have for him have a mother or father listed. We have some good guesses but no proof at all. It's very frustrating.
 
Do I ever know. My gr-gr-grandfather born in South Carolina has a ?? for parents. He moved to Mississippi as a young man and none of the records we have for him have a mother or father listed. We have some good guesses but no proof at all. It's very frustrating.
A paternal ancestor of my mother's, a Swann Thompson, born in if I'm not mistaken, 96th district SC, received a land grant in Pike Co MS for service in the Revolution. My mother's family are still in that area, and his progeny served in the CS army. Her mother's side of the family arrived in MS in much the same way, from SC, they were Balls, I believe rice growers in SC.
 
There are whole communities of people in Mississippi that came from South Carolina. My family lived for a time in Chesterville, named for Chester District SC. Pretty much every family had moved west from there.
 
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