Tag Archives: Parkhurst

Robert Samuel Parkhurst

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Robert Samuel Parkhurst
b. 2 February 1823, Henry County, Kentucky, to John and Abigail (Sellers) Parkhurst
d. 27 June 1911, Independence, Montgomery County, Kansas

m. 18 May 1842, Nineveh Township, Johnson County, Indiana
Lucretia Henry
b. 1822-23, Nineveh Township, Johnson County, Indiana, to John and Elizabeth (Musselman) Henry
d. after 1896, Independence, Montgomery County, Kansas

Children with Lucretia Henry:
• Abigail (b. 1843) married Lewis W. Hudiburg/Heidiburg
• Mary Elizabeth (b. 1844) married Iverson Ellis Utterback
• Matilda (b. 1849) married Richard Harvey DeMott
• Sarah (b. 1849)
• Lucinda Caroline (b. 1854) married William Edward Smith

John and his family moved to Johnson County, Indiana in 1826. As a youth, Robert received little education and except for three years he worked mostly as a farmer. In the fall of 1869, the family moved to Montgomery County, Kansas, where both Robert and Lucretia spent the rest of their lives.

Submitted by:
Jocelyn J. Wickens
Powells Point NC

Lucretia Henry

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Lucretia Henry
b. 1822/23, Nineveh Township, Johnson County, Indiana, to John and Elizabeth (Musselman) Henry
d. after 1896, Independence, Montgomery County, Kansas

m. 18 May 1842, Nineveh Township, Johnson County, Indiana
Robert Samuel Parkhurst
b. 2 February 1823, Henry County, Kentucky
d. 27 June 1911, Independence, Montgomery County, Kansas

Children with Robert Samuel Parkhurst:
• Abigail (b. 1843) married Lewis W. Hudiburg/ Heidiburg
• Mary Elizabeth (b. 1844) married Iverson Ellis Utterback
• Matilda (b. 1849) married Richard Harvey DeMott
• Sarah (b. 1849)
• Lucinda Caroline (b. 1854) married William Edward Smith

Lucretia and Robert’s five girls were all born in Johnson County, Indiana. Robert was a farmer and one of the proprietors of the New York Store in Franklin, the county seat.

In the fall of 1869, Robert, Lucretia, and a colony of 17 families, including all of their daughters and their families, departed Johnson County, Indiana, and drove their teams overland, taking about five weeks to reach Independence, Montgomery County, Kansas, about October 1869. It was still primitive and chaotic, with Indians still in the area and the first winter Robert housed his family in a hay house in which his horses were also sheltered. In the spring he started building a home and other buildings needed for farming. Being one of the pioneers of Independence, much of the land on which the city is built was once owned by him. He accumulated several hundred acres of land in his lifetime and was a stockholder in the First National Bank.

Submitted by:
Jocelyn J. Wickens
Powells Point NC

Harvey Uriah Wilkins

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Harvey Uriah Wilkins
b. 28 April 1822, Barre, Washington County, Vermont, to Uriah and Lucy (Wilkins) Wilkins
d. 14 June 1902, Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana

m/1. 5 February 1843, Franklin, Johnson County, Indiana
Elizabeth Parkhurst
b. 1826, Smith County, Tennessee

m/2.
Elizabeth Stepleton

Children with Elizabeth Parkhurst:

  • Charles Ezekiel
  • Thomas Hiram
  • Hester Ann
  • Wilson Uriah
  • David Josiah
  • Mary Lucy (1853-1853)

After the death of his first wife in 1853, when baby Mary Lucy was born and died, Harvey returned to Indiana with his two older sons, leaving the three younger children with their Parkhurst grandparents from 1853 through 1861, when the grandmother died.

Because of diseased eyes and ulcerated varicose veins, Harvey had great difficult providing for his family. His two older sons helped with their support. Charles Ezekiel “Zeke” Wilkins, who enlisted in the Union Army on 27 August 1861 and served in Company A, 9th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, sent a portion of his military pay home to his father. After Zeke was killed in the Battle of Chickamauga, Harvey applied to the government for a dependent father’s pension. In spite of numerous affidavits testifying to his need, the pension was denied because the military had recorded Charles Ezekiel’s middle initial incorrectly.

Submitted by:
Beverly Wilkins Craig
Columbus IN

David Parkhurst

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David Parkhurst
b. 15 November 1783, Morris County, New Jersey, to Ezekiel and Abiel (Hathaway) Parkhurst
d. 6 September 1858, Effingham County, Illinois

m. about 1800, Kentucky or Tennessee
Jane Jenkins
b. about 1784, North Carolina, to Roderick and Nancy (Pack) Jenkins
d. 8 September 1858, Effingham County, Illinois

Children with Jane Jenkins:

  • William (b. bet. 1801/1804-bet. 1870/1880) married (1) Rebecca Russell, (2) Martha Jane Taylor
  • Ezekiel (1808-aft. 1879) married (1) Mary Dias/Dies, (2) Aletha McClanahan
  • Abigail (b. bet. 1804/1810) married (1) Asa Russell, (2) Micajah Kittell/Kitchell
  • [–?–] (b. bet. 1804/1810-bet. 1820/1830)
  • Cynthia (1809-1891) married Mark Mitchell
  • Mahala Jane (1811-1874) married David S. Mitchell
  • Roderick (1814-1863) married Charlotte Knight
  • Tryphenia (1816-bet. 1865/1868) married Major Mitchell
  • Mary (1820-bet. 1870/1875) married (1) Jacob Legan, (2) Andrew J. Davis
  • John W. (1823-1862) married (1) Mary Ann Nay, (2) Nancy [–?–]

David and Jane Parkhurst immigrated to Indiana in 1836 from Smith County, Tennessee. They resided at Nineveh, Johnson County, Indiana, and then moved in 1851 to Effingham County, Illinois.

Jane’s mother was either full-blooded or onehalf Cherokee Indian and was said to have had a very bad temper.

The family of Ezekiel Parkhurst, David’s son, had a rather turbulent life. Cousins in Tennessee maintain that Ezekiel’s second wife murdered him after 1870 in Smith County, Tennessee, by putting poison in his coffee. She left quickly for Chicago after his death and was never charged with the crime. Later, one of Ezekiel’s sons, John C. Parkhurst, married Martha Younger, purported to be a sister of the Younger brothers who rode with the Jesse James gang. Another of Ezekiel’s sons, Robert S. Parkhurst, moved to Missouri, where his second wife, it is said, stabbed him to death, took his money, and escaped to Texas. Apparently Ezekiel’s family had a streak of bad luck, especially with second wives.

Submitted by:
Yvonne Parkhurst
Tacoma WA