John Parker

John Parker
No portrait from Parker’s life is known to exist.
Born	(1729-07-13)July 13, 1729 Lexington, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Died	September 17, 1775(1775-09-17) (aged 46) Lexington, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Cause of death	Tuberculosis
Allegiance	Massachusetts Bay
Branch	Massachusetts Militia
Years of service	1754–1763 1775
Rank	Captain
Battles / wars	French and Indian War Siege of Louisbourg Battle of the Plains of Abraham American Revolutionary War Battles of Lexington and Concord
Spouse(s)	Lydia Moore
Children	John Parker, Jr.[1]
Relations	Theodore Parker (Grandson)
Other work	farmer, mechanic, soldier, colonial militia officer

Captain John Riley^[2] Parker (July 13, 1729 – September 17, 1775) was an American farmer and military officer who commanded the minutemen who fought at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. Having served in the French and Indian War, Parker already had military experience before taking command of Lexington’s Minutemen.

He was born in Lexington, Massachusetts Bay to Josiah Parker and Anna Stone. He was a descendant of Deacon Thomas Parker, founder of Reading, Massachusetts.^[3] John Parker was also the grandfather of reformer and abolitionist Theodore Parker.^[4] He was dying from consumption (tuberculosis), on the morning of April 19, 1775, and had not quite five months left to live.^[5] he had served as a soldier in French and Indian War.^[6]

On the night of April 18, 1775, Parker received warning that the British, under the command of Major John Pitcairn, were approaching Lexington. He assembled about seventy volunteers, dubbed as the Minutemen, was appointed Captain, and went to face the British. In the ensuing Battle of Lexington, on April 19, 1775, eight Americans were killed and ten were wounded driving off the British.^[8] The Minutemen followed the British forces to Concord, sniping at them as they retreated.^[9] In the months following, Captain Parker's Minutemen participated in several skirmishes with the Redcoats until his death due to tuberculosis at the age of 46.^[10]

Parker and his wife, Lydia (Moore) Parker had seven children:

1. Lydia, b. November 8, 1756.
2. Anna, b. January 11, 1759. Married Ephraim Pierce, Jr., of Waltham,
3. John, b. February 7, 1761. Married Hannah Stearns, of Lexington.
4. Isaac, b. May 12, 1763. Married in Charleston, S.C.
5. Ruth, b. December 1, 1765. Married David Bent, Jr.; removed to Nova Scotia.
6. Rebecca, b. June 28, 1768. Married Peter Clarke of Watertown.
7. Robert, b. April 15, 1771. Married Elisabeth Simonds of Lexington.^[12]

The Parker homestead formerly stood on Spring Street in Lexington.^[13] A tablet marks the spot as the birthplace of a grandson, Theodore Parker, a Unitarian minister, transcendentalist and abolitionist who also donated two of Captain Parker's muskets to the state of Massachusetts; one the light musket/fowling-piece which he carried at Quebec and Lexington and a British musket that was captured at the Battle of Lexington & Concord and presented to him.^[14] They hung in the Senate Chamber of the Massachusetts State House^[15] until a 2018 renovation, and are now in a display case in a separate room.^[16]