William Asbury Parker

Thomas' Legion
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William Asbury Parker

William Asbury (aka Asbery) Parker (son of Jonathan Parker)

Hyperlinks are courtesy of Shawna Hall : http://www.shahall.com/ 

Parker, William Asbury is recorded on muster records as a private serving in Company I, Thomas' Legion (69th Regiment, North Carolina). Few documents I have studied reflect William Asbery, while most reflect William Asbury. In either case it is the same individual. 

Thomas' Legion of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders: 69th North Carolina Regiment: a.k.a. Thomas' North Carolina Legion, 69th North Carolina Regiment, and Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders.

William Asbury Parker, William Benson Parker, and Captain Willis Parker

All three served in Company I, Thomas' Legion (69th North Carolina Regiment). All three are recorded on Official Civil War Muster Records.

William Asbury served in Thomas' Legion with his brother, Captain Willis Parker, and his nephew, Corporal William Benson Parker (Willis' son). William Asbury is also listed on Thomas' Legion's muster roll: THOMAS LEGION, COMPANY I OF THE FIRST REGIMENT MUSTER ROLL, 31 August, 1863, through 31 October, 1863. Numerous relatives served in Thomas' Legion. William Asbury Parker is recorded in the National Park Service Civil War Archives:

William Asbury Parker (First_Last)
Regiment Name Infantry Regiment, Thomas' Legion, North Carolina.

Parker, William Asbury 
Birth: 22 MAR 1835 Cherokee Co., N.C.
Death: 10 MAR 1914 Delaware Co., Oklahoma
Burial: Grove Cemetery, Indian Territory, Oklahoma
Gender: Male
Parents:

Father: Parker, Jonathan
Mother: Blythe, Leoma

Family:

Spouse: Kimsey, Nancy
Birth: 22 DEC 1837 Union Co., Ga.
Death: July 1899
Burial: Grove Cemetery, Indian Territory, Oklahoma
Gender: Female
Parents:
 

Her father, James Kimsey - see below - first married Mary Malissa Parker (Parker, Mary Malissa), daughter of William S. Parker, Jr., (Parker, William S, Jr.). William S. Parker, Jr., is brother of Jonathan Parker (Parker, Jonathan). Jonathan Parker (Parker, Jonathan) is the father of William Asbury Parker (Parker, William Asbury). Meanwhile, her sister, Martha Jane Kimsey (Kimsey, Martha Jane ), married John Brown Parker (Parker, John Brown ), son of William S. Parker, Jr. (Parker, William S., Jr.)

Father: Kimsey, James
Mother: Russell, Sarah

Children:

Parker, Sara
Birth: 1858
Gender: Female
Parker, Albert
Birth: 1860
Gender: Male
Parker, Lucille
Birth: 1862
Gender: Female
Parker, Caroline
Birth: 1864
Gender: Female
Parker, Susan
Birth: 1867
Gender: Female

Notes:
 
After the American Civil War, many Parkers relocated to Delaware and Sequoyah Counties, Cherokee Nation (one of the Five Civilized Tribes and former parent to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation), Oklahoma.
 
Thomas' Legion (Overview)

In the American Civil War, William served in Confederate Colonel Thomas' Legion of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders (Mountaineers) with William Holland Thomas, James R. Love, William C. Walker, and William Williams Stringfield. The Legion consisted of Love's Regiment, Walker's Battalion, and Levi's Artillery Battery. The Legion fought in the Cumberland Gap, Smoky Mountains, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia areas. They are known for the last battle of the Civil War in North Carolina, also called The Last Shot and the Last Battle of Waynesville, North Carolina. The Battle of Waynesville, N.C., also reflected the sheer determination of the Western North Carolinians. 

Related Reading:

Recommended Reading: Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor (Hardcover). Description: It is tantalizing to speculate about the role your ancestors may have played in the great national drama of the Civil War. But family records are often inaccurate, or provide precious few leads on where to begin the search. Now, experienced historian Bertram Hawthorne Groene shows you how easy it is to trace your forbearers' role in the war, where and how long they fought, whether they were Union or Rebel, soldier or sailor -- even with a minimum of information. Continued...

Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor provides you with:

-- The names and addresses of all state archives.

-- Names and addresses of institutions that hold microfilmed service records from the national archives.

-- Names and publishers of useful regional Civil War reference books.

-- Names and publishers of sourcebooks for identifying Civil War weapons and accoutrements.

-- And much more.

Historians, genealogists, antique dealers, and collectors of Civil War artifacts will find this concise guidebook of great value. But most of all it is of inestimable practical value to family historians, North and South, who are discovering the pleasure and satisfaction of compiling an accurate family history.

 

Recommended Reading: The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy (444 pages) (Louisiana State University Press) (Updated edition: November 2007) Description: The Life of Johnny Reb does not merely describe the battles and skirmishes fought by the Confederate foot soldier. Rather, it provides an intimate history of a soldier's daily life--the songs he sang, the foods he ate, the hopes and fears he experienced, the reasons he fought. Wiley examined countless letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, and official records to construct this frequently poignant, sometimes humorous account of the life of Johnny Reb. In a new foreword for this updated edition, Civil War expert James I. Robertson, Jr., explores the exemplary career of Bell Irvin Wiley, who championed the common folk, whom he saw as ensnared in the great conflict of the 1860s. Continued below...

About Johnny Reb:

"A Civil War classic."--Florida Historical Quarterly

"This book deserves to be on the shelf of every Civil War modeler and enthusiast."--Model Retailer

"[Wiley] has painted with skill a picture of the life of the Confederate private. . . . It is a picture that is not only by far the most complete we have ever had but perhaps the best of its kind we ever shall have."--Saturday Review of Literature 

 
North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster (Volume XVI: Thomas's Legion) (Hardcover: 537 pages), North Carolina Office of Archives and History (June 26, 2008). Description: The volume begins with an authoritative 246-page history of Thomas's Legion. The history, including Civil War battles and campaigns, is followed by a complete roster and service records of the field officers, staff, and troops that served in the legion. A thorough index completes the volume. Continued...
Volume XVI of North Carolina Troops: A Roster contains the history and roster of the most unusual North Carolina Confederate Civil War unit, significant because of the large number of Cherokee Indians who served in its ranks. Thomas's Legion was the creation of William Holland Thomas, an influential businessman, state legislator, and Cherokee chief. He initially raised a small battalion of Cherokees in April 1862, and gradually expanded his command with companies of white soldiers raised in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and Virginia. By the end of 1862, Thomas's Legion comprised an infantry regiment and a battalion of infantry and cavalry. An artillery battery was added in April 1863. Furthermore, in General Early's Army of the Valley, the Thomas Legion was well-known for its fighting prowess. It is also known for its pivotal role in the last Civil War battle east of the Mississippi River. The Thomas Legion mustered more than 2,500 soldiers and it closely resembled a brigade. With troop roster, muster records, and Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR) this volume is also a must have for anyone interested in genealogy and researching Civil War ancestors. Simply stated, it is an outstanding source for genealogists.

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