Pane-Joyce Genealogy
Thos. Parker family (223)

541. Dea. Thomas Parker. Born ca 1609 in Little Norton, Derbyshire. Thomas was baptized in Little Norton, Derbyshire, on 11 Mar 1609. Thomas died on 12 Aug 1683 in Reading, MA.14 Occupation: farmer.

From the 1893 Parker Genealogy:89
    “It seems that Thomas Parker was still an unmarried man when he embarked in the Susan and Ellen, March 31, 1635, for no Amy Parker appears at a later or earlier date upon emigration records, and no mention of his wife is made in the list of passengers, neither is there the name of any one whose first name was Amy. ... As he sailed from London in March, 1635, and arrived at Boston or Lynn in the latter part of the same year, it seems that it required five or six months to make the voyage. His wife Amy must have neen in America with him by the early part of 1636, and probably had the first records of Lynn been saved from an ancient fire we would find it recorded that Thomas Parker was married at about Christman, 1635. ...
    “A very small portion of the old records of Lynn are preserved. The part saved were jottings of public interest and called ‘They Lynn Annals.’ Therein we find the following: ‘1635. Came this year, Thomas Parker, a farmer, who embarked at London, March 11, 1635.’
    “In the Mass. Records we find the sumptuous prefix of Mr. to his name in the list of reemen; that was decidedly more carily pronounced in 1637 than to-day. On May 17 of that year, with scarce two years passed in America, he was made a freeman in Lynn (Colonial Records, Vol. I, p. 195). This was the lawful acceptance of his allegiance to the colony, the grant of full suffrage and the right of holding public office. It was a very highly appreciated right and was very often withheld to the settler for four, five or six years. Following this in the first division of land made by the town in 1638, 40 acres, a high average for this division was allotted to him. But Lynn seems to have been only a recruiting-ground for our ancestor, as at this time he removed to an inland habitation, being the first or one of the very first settlers of what is now the town of Reading. It was first known as Lynn Village. This was the abode and hunting-grounds of the Indians, whose arrow-heads are still found along the Saugus. The land was purchased from the Indians as a very early date. Mr. Parker was soon active in the establishment of a church. It was built about 1644 and stood upon the Common. He was ever active in spiritual matters and taught his large family that fear of God which he himself possessed. He was made decon, and it seems was later honored as chief deacon, as certain documents bear the title ‘Thomas Parker, Deacon of Redding.’ He was selectman in 1661, and continued irregularly for five years more. He with Deacons Thomas Kendall and William Cowdrey was appointed commissioner for trying and defending ‘small causes.’ We find his signature in several places among the archives of the State attached to the petitions of the town to the General Court. In the four divisions of land made by the town, wherein all had a share, large tracts of land were added to his estate, by one of which he received over 200 acres on the north side of Ipswich river, which land he mentioned in his will. He was a gentleman of property, but had some difficulty in establishing the bounds of his large tractrs of land.”89

    “Thomas Parker, the immigrant ancestor was born in England in 1609. He came to America in the ship Susan and Ellen, sailing from London March 11, 1635, in charge of Sir Richard Saltonstall, with whose family tradition connect that of Parker. He settled at Lynn, Massachusetts, and was admitted a freeman May 17, 1637. He was one of the first settlers in Lynn Village or Reading, and on his homestead in the eastern part of that town he and his descendants lived until 1822, when Deacon Parker, the last of the family to occupy it, died. He was a very active and prominent citizen, a man of ability and substance. He was appointed a commissioner to try small causes in 1636; was selectman in 1661 and five other years, and often honored with positions of trust. The Parker Genealogy locates his house within thirty rods of the present town hall of Wakefield, formerly the south parish of Reading, and on the east side of the common, adjoining the estate of Rev. Samuel Haugh. Parker was deacon of the Reading church. He gave his age as thirty when he left England; was seventy-eight when he died in 1683.”42

    The will of Thomas Parker, dated 3 Aug 1683, named his wife Amy, sons John, Thomas, Nathaniel, Hananiah; daughters Mary and Martha; and grandchidren Samuel and Sarah Parker. (Middlesex Probate 16812; “John of Lex.”)90

    On 21 Dec 1698, John Parker, Sr., with wife Thankful, Thomas Parker with wife Debora, and Nathaniel Parker with wife Bethiah, all of Reading, husbandmen, deeded to Thomas Poole of Reading ten acres of swamp in Redding known by the name of the Great Ash Swamp, joing a place called “John’s Neck.” Debora’s was the only signature of wives listed, and the deed was acknowledged only by Nathaniel Parker in 1704. (Middlesex Deeds, 15:85.)90

ca 1635 Thomas married Amy [Parker]. Amy died on 15 Jan 1689/90 in Reading, MA.14

Their children include:
1837 i. Dea. Thomas Parker (ca 1636-17 Jul 1699)
1838 ii. Lieut. Hananiah Parker (ca 1638-10 Mar 1723/4)
1839 iii. Sergt. John Parker (ca 1640-21 Feb 1698/9)
1840 iv. Joseph Parker (Died soon) (24 Dec 164[2]-bef 1645)
1841 v. Joseph Parker (Died soon) (24 Dec 1645-14 Apr 1646)
1842 vi. Mary Parker (12 Dec 1647-6 Aug 1717)
1843 vii. Martha Parker (24 Mar 1649-)
1844 viii. Ens. Nathaniel Parker (16 May 1651-7 Dec 1737)
1845 ix. Sarah Parker (Died young) (30 Sep 1653-26 Oct 1656)
1846 x. Jonathan Parker (18 May 1656-10 Jun 1680)
1847 xi. Sarah Parker (23 May 1658-bef 1683)

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