Person:Benjamin Parker (14)

Source:Brown, Abram English. Beside Old Hearth-Stones (613908), p. 306, regarding the Parker Family in Chelmsford: A petition of 1653 for a grant of a tract six miles square, "which bordereth upon Merrimack near Pautucket," bears the names of twenty-nine men, four of whom are Parkers. The first recorded birth, in 1653, was that of Joseph Parker. A wellfounded tradition says that the wife of Abraham Parker was the first woman who "baked and brewed in Chelmsford." The first town clerk of the settlement was Jacob Parker, who, we believe, at this time was intending to become a permanent settler, but later removed, with Sarah his wife, to Malden. Some of their children, however, remained, and perhaps took up the work at this homestead relinquished by the parents. Benjamin Parker, born in 1663, is the first family proprietor known to have been located here on Chelmsford Neck. He married Sarah Howard, granddaughter of Major Simon Willard, one of the founders of Concord. They were succeeded by a son Benjamin, born in 1699, whose son Benjamin, born in 1723, continued the family possession. The next in order of descent is Jeduthan, born in 1763, succeeded by Benjamin, born in 1803, whose son Henry E. is the present owner, He has two sons, who represent the eighth generation on the homestead.

1. ↑ Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1914)
   105.

   Parker, Benjamin, s. Jacob and Sarah [Aug. 8, 1663. CTR].

2. ↑ Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1914)
   419.

   Parker, Benjamin, sr. [Ens. dup.], Apr. 14, 1742.