Greetings Cousins!

The last few days have been rather exciting in their potential for new breakthroughs in our research, and though this line of inquiry is only just beginning, I wanted to share some of it with you to give you an idea of how we go about trying to learn more about our various Park/e/s lineages.

The Background

In my last post, I referenced a recent discovery of documents that may link Samuel Parks (d. 1788 Orange Co., North Carolina) to a lineage known to the Parke Society as Lineage Key (LK=OR). The earliest known ancestor in LK=OR is Joseph Parks Sr., designated as 01OR1 using the Parke Society’s system of identification. Briefly, the 01 means Joseph Sr. is the first/earliest generation identified, and the 1 after the OR identifies his spot on a Family Group Sheet (FGS).

We know our Group 008 is genetically related to Samuel of Orange County, North Carolina, so finding a male descendant of Joseph (01OR1) to test using a Y-DNA test, which tracks the direct male line, would tell us if our Parks lines are, in fact, related through a common male Parks at some point in the past. From the inferences we draw from the documentary evidence, the most likely relationship (if the lines prove to be genetically related) would be that Samuel is a son of Joseph Sr. I am in contact with two descendants of Joseph Sr. (01OR1) and hope to persuade one of them to test soon.

Joseph Sr. (01OR1) bought property in Isle of Wight County, Virginia in 1719 while listed as living in James City County, Virginia at the time. This property would later be part of Brunswick County, Virginia due to boundary changes, and Joseph Sr. died in Brunswick County in 1749. The early date of 1719 suggests that Joseph Sr. could well be the immigrant ancestor (or one of them) from County Armagh, Ireland, as this date is at the beginning timeframe of emigration from Ulster Province to America.

Before Joseph Sr. died, he purchased another parcel of land in 1747 in Brunswick County, and that same parcel of land was later sold in 1760 by Samuel Parks of Orange County, North Carolina. Though Samuel is not mentioned in Joseph Sr.’s will (only his wife, Judith, son Joseph Jr., and a grandson, John Lucas, are mentioned) it seems unlikely that Samuel would somehow come into possession of that parcel if he were not a son of Joseph Sr. To date, we have found no record of that land transfer prior to Joseph Sr.’s death, but the search is ongoing. We do find records of a court case between Samuel and Joseph Jr. after Joseph Sr.’s death, and though the details of the suit are not known, the case was settled shortly before the 1760 land sale by Samuel, suggesting the lawsuit may have been connected with that piece of property.

Branching Out

I have been researching the LK=OR lines of descent, attempting to learn more about the earliest generations and that research is ongoing. In the process, it appears branches of the family were later found in both Warren and Halifax Counties, North Carolina just across the border from Brunswick and Greensville Counties, Virginia (Greensville was formed out of Brunswick).

Now we begin to go down a rabbit hole, and I hope I don’t lose you!

We have a cousin who descends from Hugh Parks Sr. (01IP1). Hugh Sr. enlisted in the army during the Revolutionary War in Orange County, North Carolina. Y-DNA from descendants of Hugh Sr. prove he is genetically related to Samuel, and is most likely an older or oldest son of Samuel. He is not mentioned in Samuel’s 1788 will, most likely because by that time he had moved from the area, married, and had land in South Carolina just across the southern border of North Carolina, so was already established and away from Orange County. Hugh Sr. and his family later moved to Kentucky, finally arriving in Scott County, Indiana where he died in 1838.

This cousin who is descended from Hugh Sr. has kindly given me access to search her matches in her Ancestry DNA account, and I was searching for matches with Parks in their trees and came upon a match with a young lady who bears the Parks surname. Looking at her online tree at Ancestry, I recognized her Parks line as LK=EU, which descends from a Peter Parks who also served in the Revolution in North Carolina. His RW pension abstract (available to members on the Parke Society website) states that he enlisted in Northampton County, North Carolina. Now, a word of caution, this Parks cousin and her match may be related to each other through another common ancestral line, so this match in and of itself does not prove the Parks lines are related. For that, we need Y-DNA.

Northampton County, North Carolina is the next county east of Halifax County and lies directly below both Brunswick and Greensville Counties, Virginia. Though we have learned repeatedly through our research over the years that proximity does not prove relatedness, it does suggest that possibility, so off I went to learn more about Peter Parks (01EU1).

Though Peter Parks appears to have moved to Kentucky sometime around 1800, a search for his name in Northampton County, North Carolina on FamilySearch.org using their Full Text Search turns up a will dated 1788 of James Parks, who lists Peter as a son, along with other sons and daughters mentioned. I haven’t had time to search for a record of Peter selling the property left to him by his father, but this is clearly the same Peter Parks.

Now, going back to the Parke Society’s Given Name Index (GNI) I found a very thin entry for this James Parks, father of Peter. His lineage is designated as LK=FF with only one direct line to an early member who passed away several years ago. Obviously, these two lineage keys need to be merged, and once we have more information on both of them, that will likely occur.

I have managed to find at least two male descendants of Peter Parks (01EU1) who would be eligible Y-DNA test candidates, and the deceased member of James (01FF1) has three sons listed in his obituary, so I’ll be tracking them all down in the next few days in an attempt to contact them about testing. Wish me luck!

So, at this point I think it is highly likely that Joseph Parks Sr. (01OR1) is likely related to our Group 008, but until the Y-DNA confirms it, it would take more documentary evidence to prove it satisfactorily. Whether James Parks (01FF1) and Peter Parks (01EU1) match our group is less certain, but again, Y-DNA will give us a clear yes or no if we can find test candidates. Even if they don’t match our Group 008, we will have learned more about some Parks families in that area of the country, and more knowledge is always a good thing.

As you can see, this is just the beginning of a line of research, but I wanted to share the news and also give you an idea of how we work through these puzzles to find answers. Using documentary evidence and confirming it with DNA when possible enables us to make the strides we have in the last few years. The adventure continues!