Augusta Co records in 1749 show an order for a valuation or appraisal of a William Parke's estate on the South Branch of the Potomac including "improvements on 2464 acres belonging to Wm Parks, on Southern Border Potomac, 17 Nov 1749..." This is a huge amount of land. Who is this William Parks--was he granted the land prior to Fairfax's claim? Sara Patton -----Original Message----- From: Sutliff <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, September 28, 1999 11:36 AM Subject: Re: [WVHAMPSH-L] Parke Valley Cemetery (Old Cartmel Cemetery) Origins >Comments and questions interspersed in message: > >"Doug Park - Descendant of Park Pioneer Settlers in VA/WV, NC and KY" >wrote: > >> Hello Friends, >> >> Can anyone tell me the origin of Parke Valley Cemetery's (Rt. 50 between >> Romney and Capon Bridge) previous name of "Old Cartmel Cemetery" as listed >> in the late Ralph Triplett's book set (4-volume) Hampshire Co. Cemeteries >> at Handley Library in Winchester? A cousin of mine, Grant McBride, is >> checking on this for me as well. >> >> I suspect it has its roots in where my 8th Great Grandfather, Dr. Roger >> Parke of Hunterdon Co., NJ came from in England (Cartmel). His oldest son, >> John Parke I and wife, Sarah Smith (English-born) came to Frederick Co., VA >> (later Hampshire Co., VA) in 1735 and named the land they first settled on >> prior to moving to Capon Bridge area, "Jersey Mountain" (also off of Rt. 50 >> on County Rt. 5--based on the state from which they came from. Dr. Parke >> arrived in NJ in 1682 from England. > >Generally Dr. Roger Parke is called "of Hexham, Northumberland" (as >identified in a deed in 1682) when was this changed to Cartmel which is >in Cumbria? Perhaps Dr. Kerns might want to comment on this, but I >believe the area was called Jersey Mountain before arrival of the Parks. >There were many, many immigrants to Hampshire from New Jersey. > >You should check out Pat Patterson's website >(http://www.patpnyc.com/gene-gen.htm) for a well researched ancestry of >the Smith Family. Sarah Smith was almost certainly the daughter of >Andrew Smith's first marriage to Sarah Foster. Sarah Smith's name is >written in the same hand in the Smith Bible as Sarah Foster's name. > >> >> >> John I's grandson is none other than John Parke III m. Susanna >> Elrod....both of whom are buried in Parke Valley. John III is the brother >> to my 5th Great Grandfather, Ebenezer Parke m. Tabitha Mills. Ebenezer >> migrated to Rowan Co., NC (present-day Jackson Hill) where he married >> Tabitha on 6 Jan 1772 and lived near Salisbury until retracing Daniel >> Boone's footsteps up the Wilderness Trail in 1796 into Madison Co., KY. > >Although this is not of concern to you as a descendant of Ebenezer, the >identity of John Parke III's wife as Susannah Elrod is one that I will >challenge pending reliable documentation. I realize that this is what is >accepted by Park descendants, but my own research shows this as anything >but conclusive. In fact, all Elrod research that I have found shows that >Susa nnah, daughter of William Elrod and Anna Beschel, was married to >John Elledge of Rowan Co., NC. However, William Elrod had a half-sister >Hannah (Susannah?) who is supposed to have married a John Parke. I have >checked with a number of Elrod, Elledge and Wood (Hannah/Susannah's >mother would be a Sarah Wood of Cecil Co.MD) researchers and all show >this scenario as opposed to the Parke identification. I am not satisfied >with documentation of any of them, so am keeping an open mind. > >Solomon Park, son of John III and (?Susannah Elrod), married Rhoda >Dillingham of Madison Co., KY, so there may have been other members of >this family there prior to Ebenezer. Certainly it seems to be an area of >Park settlement whoever was there first. > >> >> >> Also, can anyone tell me of the plans of Hampshire County to build a school >> in Parke Valley? I'm looking for particulars, including assurrances that >> the Parke Homestead and Cemetery there will not be disturbed throughout >> this building process! > >The Park cemetery is rather high up on the hill overlooking the Valley, >so I would doubt that anything would be done to disturb it. Boy Scout >Troop No. 86 of Delray recently cleaned up the little cemetery and >received a big write-up on this in the December 16th Hampshire Review. > >Whatever happens, I am sure there will not be as great an indignancy as >was done to my great-grandparents and the others who were buried in the >Laurel Hill Cemetery in San Francisco. In the later 1930's the City of >San Francisco appropriated the land upon which the cemetery was located >for a car barn. All the hundreds of people, including my >great-grandparents and their infant children, were dug up, moved twenty >miles to the south to Colma and buried in a mass grave. Existing >headstones were dumped into San Francisco Bay for land fill. It just >shows how times have changed. > >Best regards, > >Henry Sutliff > > > >> >> >> Thank you. >> >> Doug Park >> Fayetteville, NC >