WARREN PARKER
was born in Putney, July 15, 1791. He was son of Capt. Roswell Parker, who was a son of Joshua Parker, one of the first settlers on the street, and one of the original members of the Congregational church. A daughter of Joshua Parker and sister of Roswell Parker, married Mr. John Adams of Canterbury, Ct., and they were the parents of Mr. John Adams, Jr., for many years the distinguished Principal of Andover Academy, Mass. Warren Parker and John Adams, Jr., were, of course, own cousins.
Mr. Parker spent about 12 years of his early manhood in Lyndon and Rockingham doing the business of a clothier. He at length returned to Putney where he spent the remainder of his days. For nearly forty years he was employed in manufacturing the horse-hay-rake, an employment which proved highly profitable. But at length it was his misfortune to lose a large share of his property in the failure of the First National Bank of Brattleboro. Still he had a competency left and he did not suffer for a want of the necessaries of life. For several of his last years, he was deprived of the use of his limbs, which, with other infirmities rendered his situation very uncomfortable. Yet he was a patient sufferer and was not known to complain of the dealings of his Heavenly Father. He died Jan 14, 1882, in his 91st year.
Descending from an ancestry of great intellectual and moral worth, he inherited traits of character which contributed largely to his usefulness as a member of civil society and secured for him the respect and good will of his fellow-citizens. The cause of Temperance, Moral Reform, and Human Rights enjoyed his approval, and his patronage.
He was ever ready to lend a helping hand to relieve the needy and destitute, and whatever objects of public welfare called attention, he was one of the first to proffer his influence and means for their promotion. Although not a member of the church, to sustain the Institutions of religion was a leading object of his desires and efforts. Not only was he a liberal supporter of the gospel pecuniarly, but during the years of his health and bodily activity, his place in the Sanctuary was usually occupied. But he has left us, and although missed in his family, in the social circle, and in the house of prayer, he will long be remembered with affection and high respect by all who knew him.
