Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 202 - 203

GEORGE PARKE.  Among the pioneer settlers of Lincoln Township, this gentleman is especially worthy of notice in a work of this kind.  He was one of the first men to locate within its borders, and being possessed of a rare amount of energy, proved a most valued member of the young and rapidly growing community.  When he first came to Sedgwick County there were only seven houses where the flourishing city of Wichita now stands.  Now two miles from him is the young town of Furley, and seven miles in another direction the town of Annelly, in Harvey County, and he is only about nine miles from two or three other towns, making his farm convenient to market, and for general business.

      The early home of our subject was on the other side of the Atlantic, in County Westmeath, Ireland, where his birth took place in 1827.  He was the second child of Robert and Catherine (Simpson) Parke, whose family included seven sons and two daughters.  All his grandparents were of Irish birth and parentage, and his mother's parents, George and Mary Simpson, were natives of County Westmeath.  All the old people continue upon their native soil.

      Robert Parke, the father of our subject, in the spring of 1845, when George of our sketch was a youth of eighteen years, embarked with his family on the American sailing-vessel "Nicholas Biddel," and after a very pleasant voyage of five weeks and two days landed in Castle Garden, New York City.  From there they made their way to Vanderburg County, Ind., and settled on a farm, which continued the home of the father until his death in 1860.  The mother had passed to her rest several years previously.  Six of their children are living, and are residents mostly of Indiana and California.

      Our subject received a good education in his native county before coming to America, and assisted his father in farming until starting out for himself.  He was married in Gibson County, Ind., in 1856, to Miss Mary Tremble, a native of his own country, born in County Westmeath, in 1833.  Mrs. Parke was the eldest of the nine children born to Thomas and Jane (Cox) Tremble, also natives of Ireland, together with all the grandparents, George and Jane Tremble and Robert and Jane Cox.

      After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Parke settled on a farm in Gibson County, Ind., where they remained until after the outbreak of the Rebellion.  Our subject, soon after the first call for troops, enlisted for the three-years service, or during the war, in Company F, 42d Indiana Infantry, and was mustered in at Indianapolis.  He fought in many of the important battles of the war, being at Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Atlanta and Bentonville, and at the latter place was struck in the foot by a spent bullet which buried itself in the ground.  This wound, however, did not disable him, and he remained with his comrades until being mustered out at Indianapolis, on the 21st of July, 1865.

      Our subject now returned to his farm, and his family in Indiana, but since that time has suffered much from a trouble with his feet, which was the result of long and continued marches while in the service.  He left Indiana in the fall of 1870, and coming to this county, homesteaded 160 acres of raw prairie on section 8, Lincoln Township.  He at once commenced the improvements which are noticeable on account of  their tasteful and substantial character, putting up his residence in 1871.  His barn and other out-buildings are amply adapted to the storing of grain and the shelter of stock, the latter consisting of good grades of work horses, with cattle and Poland-China swine.

      Mr. Parke cast his first Presidential vote for Henry Clay, and continues an earnest supporter of Republican principles.  He is now the School Treasurer of his district, and has served as Road Overseer.  He came here in time to hunt buffaloes on the range, and to assist in the organization of the school districts.  His family includes seven children, of whom the record is as follows: Kate, the eldest, is the wife of Horace Ely, a well-to-do farmer of Lincoln Township; Annie married Joseph L. Turner, who is farming in Reno County; Jennie E., Mrs. Alfred Lane, lives with her husband on a farm in Payne Township; Sarah, Mrs. Shiblom, resides at Greenwich, in Payne Township.  The boys, Thomas H., William A., and George are at home with their parents.  Mrs. Parke is a member of the Protestant Methodist Church.

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