Early History of Parker

This historical account details the rapid establishment and early social dynamics of Parker, Kansas, founded in 1869 by James W. Parker for both personal health and business opportunities. Despite its initial sparse settlement, Parker quickly transformed into a thriving commercial center, attracting settlers and businesses due to the founder’s reputation and a large initial investment in a general store. The narrative also explores the community’s character, highlighting a focus on order and cooperation rather than typical “wild west” lawlessness, even amidst conflicts and a fierce rivalry with the nearby town of Coffeyville.

In the late summer of 1869, James W. Parker, of the Southwestern Stage Company, came to southern Kansas to rest and recuperate and incidentally to try the effect of the climate on a painful disease from which he had long been a sufferer. While here he became greatly interested in the prospect of the early growth of a good town on the border, but not being satisfied with the conditions of either of the sites already laid out, he purchased a claim of Peter Miller on the east bank of the Verdigris river, about one mile from Westralia and a little nearer to the state line. Here he laid out and platted a town site, and soon after organized a town company, with Maj. H. W. Martin as president, and D. T. Parker as secretary.

This town was christened Parkersbourg in honor of its founder, but a little later on the “bourg” was dropped, as it was thought that the simple name of the founder was more appropriate, as well as being less cumbersome. The well known character of Mr. Parker for honesty and financial standing served to attract immediate attention to the new town and people began to talk about the rising metropolis before there was anything, except the surveyor’s stakes to mark the site.

When I came to the place in the last days of October in 1869 there were just three houses on the town site; the original claim cabin, a small structure built of logs, a little board shanty used by the town company as an office, and a small three-room building owned and occupied by Robert Walker as a boarding house; but ground had been broken for the location of a large double store room soon to be occupied by Parker, York & Co. as a general store. Their $40,000.00 stock of goods was already being received and stored in temporary sheds, until the building could be made ready for occupancy.

Wright & Kirby had located a saw mill near by and a considerable number of men were engaged in felling the oak, cottonwood and walnut trees, of which there was an abundant growth in the valley lands, and carting them to the mill to be cut into lumber to supply the rapidly increasing demand. The saw and hammer were heard early and late, and stores, shops and residences sprang up as fast as lumber could be obtained for their construction.

Parker, York & Co.’s building was soon completed and their immense stock of merchandise, consisting of dry goods, groceries, hardware, boots and shoes, hats and caps, farming implements, liquors, etc. were opened up and a corps of clerks installed to serve the numerous customers who came from many miles around.

The opening of this mammoth store was followed by the opening of many smaller places, representing all lines of trade, transforming the place, in a few weeks, from a quiet landscape into a thriving commercial center.

The wide reputation of the founder of the new town, the confidence displayed by Parker, York & Co. in the investment of a small fortune in mercantile business in this border land, and the unprecedented growth of the county in population, served to stimulate a marvelous growth in the little city, so that, in less than a year, it had completely overshadowed the rival villages and acquired a population estimated at one thousand souls.

Among those engaging in business here, at this early period, I remember Parker, York & Co., W. W. Ford, Green L. Canada, Buenaman Bros., Barricklaw Bros., and Gould & McDonald, general merchandise; Frazier & Frazier, Wells Bros., George Hall, John Wright, and Cox Bros., groceries; Cunningham & Frazier, and Scott & Hooser, drugs; D. A. Davis, and Hines & Holty, harness and saddlery; Ziba Maxwell, stoves and tinware; Capt. A. M. Smith, and Vannum & Peterson, livery; S. O. Ebersole, jewelry; John Todd, wagon-maker; Morehouse & Beardsley, and John Lewark, blacksmiths; J. C. Frazier, lumberman; Joseph Benadum, Frank Boggs, and John McDonald, carpenters and builders; C. W. Ellis, Leroy Neal, and K. E. Horner, attorneys; G. D. Baker, editor of the Parker Record; John Beverly, barber; Louis Rhule, baker and confectioner; C. M. Heatherington, billiard hall; Smith & Mallen, Scott & Kearns, John Prutteman, and Neal & Cottingham, liquors; John Lipsy, Robert Walker, John Brown, John Harper and Henry Lee, boarding; S. B. Morehouse and M. D. Bailey, hotels; G. S. Brown, book-keeper; William Wallace, John S. Lang, Prosper Vitue, Fred O’Brien, Enoch Hadder, Litt Draper, and Edwin Foster, clerks; T. G. Frazier and E. B. Dunwell, physicians; several of whom are still residents of the county.

Society in Parker

On Christmas night, 1869, the successful inauguration of the new town was celebrated in the midst of a blinding snow storm (the first of the season) by a grand ball given in the large hall over Parker, York & Co.’s store, the banquet being spread at James Brown’s hotel, where plates were laid for one hundred couples. This was doubtless the first social event, of any considerable importance, in Montgomery county and it was conducted in a manner that would have done credit to a much older settlement.

Much has been said and written about the “wild and wooly” character of the people, their predilection for “a man for breakfast every morning,” and all that, but, as a matter of fact, personal encounters were infrequent and the low dives and dance houses that disgrace the average border town, were not tolerated. On the contrary, there was a friendly feeling and unanimity of purpose among our people — a disposition to act together in matters pertaining to the material welfare of the community, and an absence of petty jealousies that would have been remarkable in a much older community. True, the town was a resort for many rough characters, as every bustling, border town must be, but as a rule good fellowship prevailed, even in the most boisterous assemblages.

As for our social gatherings they would compare favorably with those of any old community. A stranger dropping into one of our evening entertainments would have found our women as modest and well dressed, our men as genteel and courtly, and our conversation as refined and well sustained as in any part of the country. He might have missed the music, the flowers, and the swallow-tailed coat, but in other respects he would have no reason to consider us uncivilized.

To be sure the “shindig” was patronized by the ruder element of society, and on such occasions the hoodlum was very much in evidence, but even in these meetings good nature usually prevailed, and when it was otherwise, a black eye or a bloody nose was generally the most serious casualty.

It was the unity of purpose, above mentioned, that enabled the people of Parker to sustain, for three years, the bitter fight for supremacy which was waged against the rival town of Coffeyville, backed by the powerful influence of the railroad company. It was this unity of effort that enabled them to compel the railroad company to extend its line to Parker and maintain there, for months, better depot facilities than were supplied to its own town of Coffeyville, but the contest was unequal and some of our largest capitalists, growing tired of the struggle, abandoned the fight and a stampede quickly followed.

Incidents

It is no easy task to select from the multiplicity of events which gave color to our community life during the brief time in which Parker was the recognized metropolis of this corner of the county, those which will best illustrate the characteristics of the residents of that ill-fated village, but as my story would hardly be complete without some such attempt, a few of the more striking are selected, leaving much to the imagination of the reader.

The story of the summary justice meted out to the murderers of John A. Twiss has already been recited, so it only remains to be said that this, although itself an unlawful act, serves to emphasize the determination of this pioneer community to protect the lives and property of the well-disposed, even to the point of taking human life, when the circumstances seemed to warrant such heroic measures.

On numerous occasions our people were called upon to exhibit this determination in such an emphatic manner as to warn the tough element that they would not be permitted to terrorize the weak and timid with impunity.

In the spring of 1871, when the railroad was nearing completion to Coffeyville, that village took on quite a little boom. Cattlemen were driving their herds to that point for shipment and with these herds came the usual quota of reckless cowboys. The influx of this element caused the opening of numerous saloons and dance houses, and this, of course, brought into the community the usual gang of gamblers, pickpockets, thugs, and all-round toughs who constitute the patrons and hangers-on of such places. These gentry, as might be expected, soon took sides with Coffeyville in the town fight then just beginning between that village and Parker. Almost daily threats were made by these fellows that they were about to raid the latter place and wipe it out of existence, and the experiment was actually made on several occasions.

Among the frequenters of “Red Hot Street,” as the locality in Coffeyville given over to saloons and dance halls was called, was a notorious gang, known as the “Adams gang.” These fellows had frequently given it out that they were going down to Parker to shoot up the town. One morning word was brought in that the “gang” was actually advancing upon the city, and preparation was made to give them a warm reception. Pretty soon they were heard riding across the river bridge and in a few moments they appeared in the south end of Oak street, which was then the main business street of the town. Here they were met by a committee who notified them that they were not wanted in that town, at the same time calling their attention to the gleaming gun barrels protruding from every corner and doorway along the street; a convincing evidence of the inhospitable intentions of the people toward such fellows as they. This ended the interview, and the “gang”, esteeming discretion the better part of valor, quietly withdrew to be seen in that town no more.

On another occasion two young fellows rode into the town without previous announcement, “to have some fun with the town.” They were more daring than the “Adams gang” and actually commenced hostilities by shooting the windows out of one of the hotels. The shooting attracted the attention of the marshal, who soon appeared on the scene with a posse and summoned the invaders to surrender, and upon their refusal to do so the marshal shot one of them through the neck, while one of his assistants beat the other into insensibility with a club. When the man with the bullet in his neck was picked up he was found to have sustained a broken neck, producing complete paralysis of the body and limbs, from which he died two days later. His companion soon regained consciousness and was permitted to leave town, while the wounded man was put to bed in the hotel upon which he had just made a wanton assault, and tenderly cared for until death.

Out of the killing just described grew the only fatal collision between resident citizens of the town. This tragedy — the killing of George Conry by Alex. Kearns — which was enacted on the following day, created a more intense feeling of excitement than any other event which ever occurred in the village of Parker. These two men were rival saloon keepers, between whom an unfriendly feeling had existed for some time, and after the fracas above described Conry accused Kearns of kicking the clubbed man as he lay unconscious where he fell from his horse. Kearns resented the accusation and on the following morning went to Conry’s place of business and demanded an apology, which Conry refused to make, but, instead, reiterated the charge previously made. This so enraged Kearns that he opened fire upon Conry with a small caliber revolver, inflicting several body wounds. Friends interfered and Kearns then returned to his own place, while Conry went to his boarding house a few rods away, where I was summoned to dress his wounds.

As I passed down the street toward Lee’s boarding house, where Conry lived, Kearns came out of an alley just ahead of me and also turned in the direction of the boarding house. A moment later, Conry, stripped to the waist, rushed into the street pistol in hand, and a duel with large caliber weapons began. Several shots were fired, one of which, from Kearns’ pistol, passed through the thin walls of the building, wounding Henry Lee in the arm. Finally, Kearns, resting his pistol on his left arm, took deliberate aim and fired. Simultaneously with the report of his pistol Conry leaped high in the air and fell dead in the street; the ball having entered his right eye so centrally as to make only a slight nick in both the upper and lower lids. Kearns was immediately placed under arrest and then began the intense popular excitement before referred to. Kearns, who was blamed for following Conry up, after having the best of the first encounter, was a fierce-tempered, overbearing fellow, while Conry, aside from his business, was considered a quiet and respectable citizen; hence public indignation ran high against Kearns. The friends of Conry were bent on avenging his death by mob violence, but the better element determined, if possible, to prevent this additional blot on the fair name of the city, so they formed themselves into a voluntary committee to protect the prisoner and quiet the excitement. After two days and nights of unremitting effort, dispersing groups of excited people here and there and doing guard duty at the hotel where the prisoner was held, the committee succeeded in bringing about a better state of feeling. Men returned to their various occupations and the law was permitted to take its course. In this case, however, its course was not in accordance with the known facts and I have heard some very good men express a regret that the mob had not been permitted to work its will upon the slayer.