Dec 16, 2013

A Glimmer



I’ve had a teeny breakthrough in my James Parks research! A new newspaper has come online in Indiana – a Farmland paper, which is spot on.  Unfortunately, so far the paper’s articles start in 1888, long past James’ lifetime and death.

However I found this article which got my heartbeat going:

1902 May 23, Farmland Enterprise, P5, Farmland, Indiana

Rev. W. F. Mullen and wife (the wife is Lydia Parks, my great grandfather’s sister) were called to Nottingham, Monday, to attend the funeral of the latter’s sister, Mrs. Martha Harshman, (this would actually be a half sister) who died Sunday, after an illness of fourteen weeks from dropsy.  The deceased lady was about seventy years of age and had many friends living in this vicinity.  Her maiden name was Parks, and when a young woman she taught school at Cedar and the Lindsey schoolhouse, south of Neff.

This Martha Harshman would be a daughter of my elusive great great grandfather, James Parks, by his first wife.  [I am descended from his second wife.]  A couple trees on Ancestry give the name of James' first wife as Susannah Johnson.  Since Martha named a couple boys with the middle name of Johnson, I'm inclined to believe that information.  Will 2014 be my lucky year?

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