Early Parks Ancestors from Vermont and Before

This covers my early Parks ancestors, primarily after they reached Vermont. Here's a list of the generations, from my uncle back to Simeon Parks, the first settler in Vermont.

There's a video that goes along with this. You can watch it here:

The name Robert has been in the family for several hundred years. The book Genealogy of the Parke families of Connecticut gives a history of this family back to England and states that my 9th Great Grandfather, Sir Robert Park II, was personal friends with John Winthrop. It appears that Sir Robert was reasonably well off financially, a Puritan in search of religious freedom. He wrote Winthrop a letter asking to join him in the new world. He and his family came across on the ship Arabella as part of Winthrop’s fleet, landing in Boston on Dec. 29, 1630. Eventually Sir Robert settled in Mystic, Connecticut. The same book also talks about Simeon and Anne.

Simeon Parks and Anne Button

I had to look up what a pillion is. Historically it was a cushion attached to the back of a saddle for an additional passenger. Sounds comfortable!

Elijah Parks Sr. and Anne Smith

The next generation after Simeon is Elijah. His wife was Anne Smith, also from Connecticut. Here’s a paragraph from the Vermont Historical Gazatteer.

Elijah Parks Jr. and Hannah Hotchkiss

Grandpa Robert wrote about Elijah and Hannah in History of Wells, the book he co-wrote.

Hannah Delight Hotchkiss may have gone by her middle name, Delight. At least that’s what she is called in their marriage record, dated September, 1811. According to History of Wells, her father Robert Hotchkiss served in the Revolutionary War and was with Montgomery at the taking of St. Johns. He came to Wells from New Haven, Connecticut in 1796. His 2nd wife was Lucy Curtis. She is Hannah’s mother. Her family was also from Connecticut.

This photo of Elijah Jr. came from Laura at Ancestry.com. I don’t know how to prove this is him, since it was not handed down in our immediate family. But I'm hoping it has been handed down in her family and she can tell me more about it. I’m curious about the violin. I have written to ask permission to use the photo and am waiting to hear back. Often I get no reply on Ancestry. If she requests that I take it down, I will, but best guess it will not be an issue, since this has been passed around all over the place at this point. 

Elijah Parks Jr, from Laura at ancestry.com

Robert Parks and Lucy Brookins 

And here we are back at Robert and Lucy. I'll write a separate post on them in the future. Lucy’s parents were Philetus Brookins and Desire Ashley. Philetus served in the war of 1812 from April 1813 until April 1814. 

Nobody seems to be able to figure out whether Philetus’ father was Ithamar Brookins or James Brookins. Both were Revolutionary War soldiers, and it appears that they were twins. At least they have identical birthdates everywhere I look. 

Desire Ashley’s parents were John Ashley and Desire Thatcher. John Ashley was also a soldier in the Revolution. So how many Revolutionary Soldiers have I listed? Elijah Parks Sr., Robert Hotchkiss, Ithamar and James Brookins, and John Ashley - at least 5 Revolutionary soldiers from our Vermont Parks family.

That's enough for this installment. There's a video that accompanies this post. The link is at the top of the post. 

Lucy Brookins and Robert Parks

Lucy holding very still