George Josiah Parker, one of the well known residents of Morris county, who for many years has been an officer of Ohio township, was born near Columbus; Columbia county, Wisconsin, June 18, 1865, the son of Josiah Harrison and Minerva' Huntington (Norton) Parker. Josiah Parker was a native of Maine, where his ancestors settled in 1650. Capt. John Parker, one of his ancestors, was a soldier in the French and Indian wars, and also in the war of the Revolution. He was a lumberman, having learned the art of logging while a boy, in the great Maine woods. In 1848 he married Minerva Norton, and the same year went to Wisconsin. At that time the state had not been surveyed, but he preëmpted some government land and engaged in farming and lumbering, which was a profitable industry during the early days. Mr. Parker continued to live on the same farm until his death, in 1872. Mrs. Parker was also a native of Maine, where her ancestors settled in 1630. Elihu Norton, her father, served as a captain in the war of 1812, under Gen. Winfield Scott. He was one of the youngest captains ever commissioned in the United States army, and in after life was superintendent of schools of the city of Boston, Mass. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Parker: Harry Edward, born June 3, 1858, now a mining engineer at Prescott, Ariz.; Elmer Ellsworth, born Feb. 2, 1862, died in 1877; George Josiah; Wesley Clarence, born June 16, 1868, a retired farmer, who lives at Oskaloosa, Kan.

George Parker was very ambitious, and he received his early education in Wisconsin, in the schools afforded by the pioneers of that day. In 1878 he came by wagon to Kansas, in company with his mother and brother, Harry. They located near Sabetha, Nemaha county. There George attended school again, and not being satisfied with the education afforded by the public schools entered the State Agricultural College at Manhattan, in 1882, and he devoted two and one-half years to study there. After leaving college he taught school in Nemaha county from 1885 to 1899 and Morris county from 1902 to 1906, and at the same time engaged in farming. On July 20, 1887, Mr. Parker married Mary McCarty, the daughter of Frank McCarty, a well to do farmer of Sabetha, Nemaha county. Five children were born to this union: Francis Robert, born March 2, 1892; Ethel May, born May 8, 1894; George Lee, born Oct. 17, 1896; Mary Ellen, born Oct. 2, 1898; and Martha Blanche, born Nov. 19, 1900. Mrs. Parker died Oct. 11, 1902, and on March 6, 1906, Mr. Parker married Martha May Rader, the daughter of George W. and Tisha Rader, residents of Dwight, Morris county. Mrs. Parker had been a teacher in Morris county before her marriage. One child has come to bless this union, a son, Harry Lawrence, born Jan. 16, 1907. In 1890 Mr. Parker removed to Morris county and settled in Ohio township, where he owns two fine farms. He has held a township office for fourteen years and in 1908 was elected county clerk of Morris county, when he led the ticket in the number of votes cast. In 1910 he was nominated again by the Republican party and elected without opposition. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a member of the Christian church.