This Samuel Parks (01AP1), an extremely common given name in many of our related Park/e/s lines, is a bit of a mystery man, like many other Park/e/s ancestors in our larger genetic group. We have very little in the way of documentary evidence to tell us much about him. In many ways, DNA testing has revealed more about Samuel to us than any other source of information to date.

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Census and other information points to North Carolina as the previous location of this East Tennessee line, and DNA evidence suggests Orange County as a likely point of origin. Samuel (01AP1) may be a grandson of the older Samuel Parks who left a will in Orange County in 1788. If Samuel (01AP1) is not a direct descendant of the older Samuel, he is certainly closely related. There is a William Parks in Orange County, North Carolina who could also be a possible direct ancestor of Samuel (01AP1). Research is ongoing to establish a clear link to earlier generations. 

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WHAT WE KNOW

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In our research of this lineage, which began about 1998, we noted one Samuel Parks found in the 1830 U.S. census in Roane County, Tennessee. His age category was that of 50-59 years of age, making his date of birth between 1771-80. There is also a John Parks 30-39 born 1791-1800 on the same page who may be a son of Samuel.

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​​​​​This early research was several years before the appearance of Y-DNA testing, and revealed little about Samuel in traditional record sources. Though Samuel does not appear in the early road orders that have survived from Roane County (likely due to his advanced age), John Parks is mentioned several times, along with several other Parks men who are part of an unrelated Parks line in the area. 

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Here’s a brief explanation of how we suspect these individuals are related.

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John Parks is listed in the 1830 Roane County census on the same page as Samuel Parks, and cannot be linked to the other unrelated Parks family in Roane County at the time. That’s about all we know of him at present.

 

Jacob Parks is also in the 1830 Roane census, and had married shortly before the census was taken. The bondsman on Jacob’s 1830 marriage bond was Samuel Parks, thus establishing a family connection, though it doesn’t prove father/son, even though given their ages that is the most logical relationship.

 

Four years later, in 1834, Jacob Parks was the bondsman on the marriage bond for Narcissus Parks and James W. Bell, again, establishing a relationship between Jacob and Narcissus. And again, not proof they were siblings, but given their ages the most likely possibility.

 

So with Samuel and Jacob linked this way, and Jacob and Narcissus linked the same way, we can safely assume that Samuel and Narcissus are related, and again, given their ages, father/daughter is the most likely explanation.

 

Henry is linked, through Y-DNA results, to Jacob Parks, Thomas Benton Parks, and to John Jacob Parks. Not only do they match the larger genetic Group 008 Parks males, but they all share a unique marker mutation that all known or suspected male descendants of Samuel Parks (01AP1) possess, as well as numerous cousin matches utilizing autosomal DNA on such sites as Ancestry and FTDNA.

 

Sabra Parks, who married a Reuben Thomas, does not appear to have had children, so a DNA connection will never be possible. Again, she is not claimed by any of the other Parks families in that area, so our family seems a logical option. In addition, there are other links between the Parks and Thomas families. Henry Parks married Elizabeth Thomas, though we don’t know how Elizabeth and Reuben are related. In a similar fashion, after Henry Parks died about 1838, Elizabeth (Thomas) Parks married Thomas J. Bell. How Thomas J. Bell and James W. Bell (husband of Narcissus Parks) are related is still unclear, but it’s quite possible they could be brothers or cousins.

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John Jacob Parks enlisted in the Union army during the Civil War in Jackson County, Tennessee and stated on his enlistment papers he was born in Roane County, Tennessee. Both before and after the war we find him in censuses living in Jackson and Putnam Counties in Tennessee, and after the war he and other Parks siblings moved to Butler County, Kentucky.

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From various censuses in Jackson, Putnam, and White Counties and later in Butler County, Kentucky we discover three other Parks siblings of John Jacob: sisters, Nancy Parks and Eliza Jane Parks (Casteel) and brother James. Of this group, Eliza Jane Parks (Casteel) lived until 1911 and on her death certificate her parents are listed as Samuel Parks and Cerissa/Clarissa (handwriting unclear) Martin. This document not only connected to Samuel Parks, but gave us the name of her mother. John Jacob Parks named a daughter Cerisa/Clarisa, confirming that information but because of both spellings in different censuses, doesn't help resolve the uncertainty of the given name. ​

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Interestingly, on the death certificate of Sarah F. Bell (Dake), daughter of Narcissus Parks (Bell), her mother's name is given as Narcissus Martin. The informant was her son, William S. Dake, and he likely confused his mother's maiden name with that of Narcissus's mother. Because of this slight error, it actually adds a bit of confirmation to Martin being the maiden name of Samuel's 2nd wife, even though I tend to believe, at this point, that Cerissa/Clarissa Martin was likely the step mother of Narcissus.

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Utilizing all this evidence, direct and indirect, we add the DNA evidence to support the realtionships proposed here. We have Y-DNA representation by male descendants of Henry, Thomas Benton, and John Jacob and all carry a mutation found to date only among known or suspected descendants of Samuel (01AP1). Added to that are numerous autosomal matches by various descendants at Ancestry and FTDNA.

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We have attempted to create a family group of Samuel, his wife (or wives) and his children. The individuals listed below are our best educated guess, and an explanation for including them as children of Samuel Parks (01AP1) is briefly stated here and on the individual pages for each child. ​​​​

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Even though almost all dates of birth are estimates from census information, using them as a guide suggests the possibility that Samuel (01AP1) was married twice. We will use this tentative grouping below until more evidence is discovered.

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Children of unknown 1st wife of Samuel Parks, likely married in North Carolina.