Alexander was probably born in SC about the time of the close of the Rev. War. Marvin Parks, son of Wm and Miranda Presnall Parks said that Alexander was born on Saluda River in upper Greenville Co. SC.
Acc think she lived above Greensboro. I remember her telling us a lot about our ancestors. Therefore, I assumed that she wrote this document.
She said, 'At the present time we have no trace of our ancestors any further back than Alexander Parks. He was born in SC about the time of the close of the Rev. War.
She also said, ' Early in the 1800's when Alexander was about 21 years of age, he started out from home to make his way in the world. He finally settled in Rockingham or Caswell Co. NC. He married a girl whose last name was Apple and reared a family of 4 boys and 1 girl. I do not know the name of the girl only that she married a Lowery in Rockingham Co. NC and was the grandmother of the Lowery family some of whom we know. The boys were: John, (my great-grandfather), Lewis, George, and Wm. All of the boys moved at one time or another to upper Montgomery Co. NC.
'John Parks married Mary Chrisman, in Guilford Co. NC. Lewis and George married while living in Montgomery Co. They married sisters: either Allens or Simmons. I do not know the name of William's wife only that she was a sister to the wife of Dennis Presnall (of Randolph Co.)
In the course of a few years the brothers moved farther apart: John moving to Pisgah, (Union Township in southern Randolph Co. NC), Lewis to where Seagrove (Randolph Co.) is now, George went back to Rockingham Co. NC, and Wm to Robeson now Hoke County, NC).
John was born in 1810, Wm, the youngest was born in 1820 and died in 1892 at the age of 72. He was buried in Springhill Cem. in northern Scotland Co. NC.'""My father, Walter Parks had added in the margin of her letter that there were lots of people with the name Apple in the Reidsville area of NC. Also that the Parks brothers lived in Montgomery Co. between 1840-50. All my life I knew that we had ancestors by the name of Apple as well as Lewis Parks in Seagrove.
When I was young I remember Simeon Parks and his brother Perry Marvin Parks sons of William and Miranda Presnall Parks coming to our house and Marvin telling us that he had found a book in a library in Hawaii which stated that Alexander Parks was born on the Saluda River in upper Greenville Co. SC. That really impressed me.(There is a whole page or section missing here.....I, Del Taylor, will continue typing what follows)
..night the entertainment was in the form of a spelling bee. Later they sent their only daughter Dovy Parks Callicutt to Why Not Academy near Seagrove. I, along with the children of Causey and Nettie Vuncannon Parks, attended school there. I remember walking to school in fall of 1922. Mada Parks Loflin, daughter of Causey and Nettie, was the teacher. After finishing the 7th grade there Mada had gone to Asheboro High School but they were so short of teachers in Randolph Co. that she was given a job teaching after 3 years of high school. The only improvement between the time it was built and when I went there was that they now had a stove to help keep us warm. The fireplace was still there.The Randolph County Business Directory, 1894 edition listed that John Parks owned 140 acres valued at $160. John Brooks owned 40 acres valued at $40, Mary A. (widow of Riley Parks who died 1892 and mother of six small children) owned 102 acres valued at $100, George owned 150 acres valued at $250, (It lists a John W.___?__ owning 150acres valued at $420.)
Some of the young men of Randolph Co. did not want to fight in the Civil War. They were asked to go work in the Salt Works near Wilmington not far from Fort Fisher on the Cape Fear River. (See The Randolph County Heritage Book, Vol. I, page 124). An epidemic of yellow fever broke out in the Wilmington area. John Brooks was among the ones who developed yellow fever. If it had not been for his brother William nursing him he might have died. In the meantime Wilmington fell to the Northern army. the South was not able to pay the workers; food was very scarce and costly. some of the men from Pisgah decided to go home. They secured a rowboat and traveled at night, spending the days hidden in the woods, eating what they could find, occasionally raiding some ones garden, and finally arrived in Fayetteville where they left the rowboat continuing walking at night and sleeping in the daytime until they reached home. there were men searching for those who were not engaged in the Southern army. If they found a young man of a certain age they were allowed to shoot him if he refused to go and fight. This happened to the Hulin brothers in Montgomery County. As far as I know the Parks' were conscientious objectors to the war as were perhaps one-half of the population of Randolph Co., (Randolph County 1779-1979, page 82). after they returned home from Wilmington, John Brooks, Wm and one of their neighbors went into the woods on his father's land--just south of the road that goes west beside Pisgah Ch. Cem. --and dug a cave. They dug at night and carried the dirt to the creek so it could not be seen. then made a cover for it, put tar and leaves on the cover. When it rained they would get wet and cold. Once when John Brooks slipped home to get food , the hunters came looking for him but one of his sisters talked to the men which detained them long enough for John Brooks to slip out through the barn back to the cave. They were able to remain hidden until the close of the war.
(For a listing of the children and their spouses of John and Mary Parks see booklet, "Descendants of Elizabeth and John Brooks Parks.")
I am using the spelling of names from the Bibles,of John Brooks Parks and Harvey Presnall.
There must have been a lot of Parks in SC because there is a small town near the Savannah River named "Parksville".
While living the Montgomery Co. John and Mary lived on Dennison Creek near Love Joy Methodist Protestant Ch. just north of Troy. Later in 1866 Pisgah Meth Episcopal Ch was built on land joinging their farm. John, Mary, and several of their children became members. Later, they, with the following children and spouses were buried in the church cemetery: Lucinda (never married), Riley, Millie, George, Jane, and Eliza. John Brooks and Wm were buried in the Presnall-Parks Cem. Katie, Peggy, and Sallie were buried and Macedonia Methodist Ch. Cem. in upper Montgomery Co.
Education was very important to John and Mary. When the County wanted to build a schoolhouse John gave them land, southwest of the church, to build a one-room 1st through 7th grade schoolhouse. This building was heated by a large fireplace in one end of the building. Water came from a spring nearby and everybody used the same dipper in the water bucket. "A path" was also a vital part of the equipment. All the children of John Brooks and Elizabeth attended school there. The school term only lasted 3 months. The teachers often boarded with John Brooks and Elizabeth.