Richard Parker (congressman)

Richard Parker
Born	(1810-12-22)December 22, 1810
Died	November 10, 1893(1893-11-10) (aged 82) Winchester, Virginia
Resting place	Mount Hebron Cemetery, Winchester
Alma mater	University of Virginia
Occupation(s)	Lawyer, judge, politician
Known for	Presiding over John Brown's trial
Spouse	Evalina Tucker Moss
Father	Richard E. Parker

Richard Parker (December 22, 1810 – November 10, 1893) was a nineteenth-century politician, lawyer, and judge from Virginia.

Biography

Born in Richmond, Virginia, son of Judge and Senator Richard E. Parker.^[1] Parker studied law at the University of Virginia, and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in Berryville, Virginia, near Winchester, where he lived.^[2] He was the paymaster at the Harpers Ferry Armory, and was also a slave owner.^[3]: 113

He held several local offices before being elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1848, serving from 1849 to 1851. He was elected judge of the thirteenth judicial circuit of Virginia on January 15, 1851. In this capacity, Parker presided over the trials of John Brown and his associates in 1859, sentencing them to death for their raid on nearby Harpers Ferry.^[2] He published in 1888 his recollections of the trial.^[4][5]

Judge Parker's Winchester mansion

Parker left the court in 1869, when the Union Army occupying Virginia shut courts down, and resumed practicing law in Winchester, Virginia, until his death there on November 10, 1893. He was interred in Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester.^[2]

He married Evalina Tucker Moss, but they had no children.^[1]

Parker's enslaved worker Presley Dunwood, who drove the carriage that took Judge Parker to court during John Brown's trial, published memoirs.^[6]

Publication

• Parker, Richard (1850). Speech of Hon. Richard Parker, of Virginia, on the President's message in relation to California. Delivered in the House of Representatives, Thursday, February 28, 1850. Washington, D.C.

Archival material

• There are 87 items in the John Brown papers at Atlanta University.^[2]
• There are 134 items in the Chicago History Museum Research Center.^[2]
• There are 38 items in the Stoddert Family papers at the University of Maryland Libraries

References

1. "Death of Judge Richard Parker". Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, Virginia). November 11, 1893. p. 2. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
2. "Parker, Richard, 1810–1893". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Washington, D.C. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
3. Meyer, Eugene L. (2018). Five for Freedom. The African American Soldiers in John Brown's Army. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books (Chicago Review Press). ISBN 9781613735725.
4. Parker, Richard (April 8, 1888). "The Trial of John Brown. Its Secret History Revealed for the First Time by the Judge". St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, Missouri). p. 26. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
5. Parker, Richard (April 8, 1888). "The Trial of John Brown. Its Secret History Revealed for the First Time by the Judge (pt. 2)". St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, Missouri). p. 27. Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
6. "Life Struggles of an Ex-Slave. Civil War scenes recalled by Presley Dunwood. At trial of John Brown". Denver Star (Denver, Colorado). August 1, 1914. p. 7. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021 – via newspapers.com.

Further reading

• Ridgeway, Trish (July 31, 2021). "Quest for Richard Parker". John Brown Today. A biographer's blog (Louis DeCaro Jr.). Archived from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.

External links

• Richard Parker at Find a Grave

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Henry Bedinger	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 10th congressional district March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1851	Succeeded by Charles J. Faulkner