(Ensign) Nathaniel PARKER b. 16 May 1651 Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts d. 7 Dec 1737 Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts: Our Family History

Carney & Wehofer Family
Genealogy Pages

1651 - 1737 (86 years)

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Name	Nathaniel PARKER
Prefix	(Ensign)
Born	16 May 1651	Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts
Gender	Male
FamilySearch ID	KNSJ-TZ5
_UID	73BCC625AAD14E20A5A83ED5C1B05AA6D4D3
Died	7 Dec 1737	Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts
Buried	Laurel Hill Cem, Middlesex, Massachusetts
Person ID	I3096	Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
Last Modified	30 Nov 2022

Father	(Deacon) Thomas PARKER, b. 31 Mar 1609, Little Norton, Derbyshire, England , d. 12 Aug 1683, Wakefield, Reading, Massachusetts (Age 74 years)
Mother	Amy AYLESWORTH, b. Abt 1614, England , d. 15 Jan 1690, , Reading, Massachusetts (Age ~ 76 years)
Married	Dec 1635	Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts
Alt. Marriage	25 Dec 1635	Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America [1]
Family ID	F1474	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Bethiah POLLEY, b. 12 Feb 1658, Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts , d. 23 Aug 1748, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts (Age 90 years)

Married 24 Sep 1677 Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Children

	1. Bethiah PARKER, b. 23 Jul 1678, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. 1 Oct 1678 (Age 0 years)
	2. Nathaniel PARKER, b. 4 Dec 1679, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. 20 Aug 1761 (Age 81 years)
	3. Bethiah PARKER, b. 6 Sep 1681, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown
	4. Stephen PARKER, b. 14 Jun 1684, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. 6 Nov 1684 (Age 0 years)
	5. Ebenezer PARKER, b. 28 Dec 1689, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown
	6. Susannah PARKER, b. 29 Dec 1689, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. 18 Feb 1769 (Age 79 years)
	7. Stephen PARKER, b. 21 Apr 1692, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown
	8. Caleb PARKER, b. 22 Feb 1694, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown
	9. Timothy PARKER, b. 24 Feb 1696, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown
	10. Obediah PARKER, b. 13 Jan 1697, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown
	11. Abigail PARKER, b. 25 Sep 1699, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown
	12. John PARKER, b. 1700, Massachusetts , d. Abt Oct 1760, Hampshire County, Virginia (Age 60 years)
	13. Amy PARKER, b. 1 Jun 1701, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. 1701
	14. Amy PARKER, b. 8 Nov 1702, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown
	15. Phineas PARKER, b. 27 Sep 1704, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown

Last Modified 29 Aug 2016

Family ID F1475 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Notes

BUILT THE FIRST HOUSE IN READING, MA
SELECTMAN, 1718, 1724, 1725, 1732
"Nathaniel Parker settled in the West parish of Lynn, Ma, now the center of the town of Reading, MA and built the first house in Reading. He was admitted Freeman in 1691, served as ensign and was a Selectman in 1718, 1724, 1725 and 1732. He donated land for the burial ground and was the first person buried in the graveyard at West Parish, now Reading." --William Richard Cutter.
Vice President Dick Cheney is a descendant.

Birth: May 16, 1651
Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA

Death: Dec. 7, 1737
Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA

Family links:
Parents:
Thomas Parker (1609 - 1683)
Amy Aylesworth Parker (1615 - 1690)

Spouse:
Bethiah Polley Parker (1659 - 1748)

Children:
Nathaniel Parker (1679 - 1761)*
Bethia Parker Emerson (1685 - 1715)*
Susannah Parker Underwood (1687 - 1769)*
Timothy Parker (1696 - 1737)*
Obadiah Parker (1697 - 1758)*

Siblings:
Hananiah Parker (1638 - 1724)*
John Parker (1640 - 1699)*
Joseph Parker (1642 - 1644)*
Mary Parker Dodge (1644 - 1717)*
Joseph Parker (1645 - 1646)*
Nathaniel Parker (1651 - 1737)
Sarah Parker (1653 - 1656)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Reading
Middlesex County
Massachusetts, USA

Created by: Sue Allen
Record added: Mar 09, 2007
Find A Grave Memorial# 18313501

_____________________________________
Additional information, written by a different person than the above:

I have written extensive notes for Nathaniel Parker (1651-1737) and his 15 children, at
https://gw.geneanet.org/larryparker_w?lang=en&p=nathaniel&n=parker&oc=0&type=tree
Once there, click on "View note" on the right edge.
Larry Parker
Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Nathaniel
[email protected]
____________________________________________________

Notes for Nathaniel Parker, sometimes known as Ensign Nathaniel Parker:

Nathaniel and his wife Bethiah Polley Parker had at least 15 children, all born in Reading (pronounced RED-ing). Except where specified, every birth, marriage and death mentioned on this page happened in Reading:

1) Bethia/Bethiah Parker, born July 23, 1678. She died October first.

2) Nathaniel Parker, born December 4, 1679. He married Elizabeth Wright on October 6, 1702, in Andover, Massachusetts. The couple had at least nine children. Elizabeth Parker died October 22, 1754. "Lieutenant" Nathaniel Parker died August 20, 1761, in Reading. His FindAGrave memorial includes photos of his grave marker:
Memorial

3) Jonathan Parker, but apparently not the Jonathan Parker born July 18, 1681, who was the son of Ensign Nathaniel Parker's brother John. Unless, after John died when his son Jonathan was 16 or 17, possibly Ensign Nathaniel decided to adopt his teenaged nephew Jonathan. Jonathan Parker died after the date of Nathaniel's last will, which was March 19, 1728. As of this writing, Jonathan is not among other people's online listings of Nathaniel's children. But "my Son Jonathan Parker" written in Nathaniel's will (photo below) proves that Jonathan existed, whether he was a biological or adopted son.

4) Stephen Parker, born June 14, 1684. He died November 6th of that year.

5) Bethia/Bethiah Parker, born September 6, 1685. She married Ebenezer Emerson on May 27, 1707. The couple had two children; Bethia/Bethiah Emerson, born July 27, 1709, who died August 12, 1757; and Susannah Emerson, born March 8, 1713, who died November 28, 1792. Mrs. Bethia/Bethiah Emerson died June 30, 1715, at the age of 29. Ebenezer died in October of 1751.

6) Susannah Parker (apparently also known as Sarah) born December 6 or 29, 1687. She married Joseph Underwood on May 27, 1707. The couple had at least 13 children, born in Chelmsford and Westford, Massachusetts. Joseph died January 29, 1761, in Westford. Susannah Underwood died February 18, 1769, in Groton, Massachusetts.

7) Ebenezer Parker, born December 28, 1689. He married Mercy Damon on April 6, 1714. They had four children. Mercy Parker died December 4, 1725, at the age of 30. Ebenezer married Ruth Swan on April 6, 1726. Ebenezer married Anna Davies on October 25, 1749. Ebenezer Parker died about 1779, in Putney, Vermont.

8) Stephen Parker, born April 21, 1692. He married Elizabeth Batchelder on April 29, 1713. They had at least eight children. Stephen Parker died in 1749, in Leominster, Massachusetts.

9) Caleb Parker, born February 22, 1693/94. He died after the date of his father's last will, which was March 19, 1728.

10) Timothy Parker, born February 24, 1695/96. He married Mary Scarborough on September 8, 1818, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, which is now a part of Boston. The couple had at least nine children. Timothy Parker died after July of 1735, and before June 20, 1737, in Roxbury. Mary died in May of 1778, in Roxbury.

11) Obadiah Parker, born January 13, 1697. He married Hannah Stevens on December 26, 1724, in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. They had at least
12 children. "Ensign" Obadiah Parker died September 29, 1758, in Groton. Hannah Parker married "Captain" Ephraim Sawtell on September 30, 1762, in Groton. Hannah Sawtell died October 7, 1775, in Mason, New Hampshire. "Ensign" Obadiah Parker's FindAGrave memorial includes a photo of his grave marker:
Memorial

12) Abigail Parker, born September 25, 1699. She died after the date of her father's last will, which was March 19, 1728.

13) Amy Parker, born June 1, 1701. She died before November 8, 1702.

14) Amy Parker, born November 8, 1702. She married Stephen Richardson in 1728, at an unknown place. They had at least 10 children, all born in Billerica, Massachusetts. The couple's dates and places of death are unknown.

15) Phineas Parker, born September 27, 1704. More about him is in this chart.
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Nathaniel Parker was, for a time, an officer in the Reading Infantry Company. Even after his service ended, he was commonly referred to as Ensign Nathaniel Parker. The main purpose of having fighting men form the Reading Infantry Company was to protect the white people from the Indians.

In modern times, an ensign is the junior commissioned officer rank in the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. But before 1800, there were officer ranks such as ensign in infantry companies, militias, and the U.S. Army.

State and local militia rules varied at the time Nathaniel Parker was an ensign. But typically, an ensign would be the lowest rank of commissioned officer, below lieutenant and above the non-commissioned rank of sergeant. So an ensign back then would be comparable to a 2nd lieutenant in today's army.

Nathaniel was a selectman of Reading, during five years.

Nathaniel's last will, dated March 19, 1728 or 1729:

Nathaniel's FindAGrave memorial includes photos of his grave marker:
Memorial

Sources

[S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 30 Nov 2022), entry for Thomas PARKER, person ID MV3Q-MQ3. (Reliability: 3).