Our Parker Family History Table of Contents

The Times

Of course, the Civil War which began in 1861 was the greatest influence on those times. Many of Iowa’s young men were joining the Union Army; in fact, more of the state’s population than from any other northern state. Some historians have stated that approximately 80,000 of Iowa’s 150,000 men served in the Union army. Many Iowa towns became camps and enlistment centers as the army grew in 1861 and 1862. Davenport, only 15 miles away, was a very important embarkation point for army units going south on the Mississippi and for railroads running east and west. Davenport was also used as the place where many Iowa men set foot in Iowa after their injury or discharge. Certainly, the War was much on the minds of all Iowans during the war years. Market prices of Iowa farm produce were also higher because of the war needs and the availability of rail transport to the east where farms were devastated.

When so many Iowa men went to war many farms and businesses were short of manpower. This also caused increased opportunities for those who stayed. Although thousands of Irish immigrants from the northern states had joined the army, none of the Parkers can be found to have gone to war.

The building of railroads was another great story of the times. The first railroad bridge across the Mississippi was built at Davenport in 1856. It was possible that our Parkers may have traveled all the way from New York to Scott County by rail. By 1862, the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad (later called the Rock Island Line) reached Iowa City, passing very near the south side of Cleona Township. The towns of Durant, Stockton and Walcott, all within ten miles of the Parker farm, were early stations on the M & M where farm produce could be loaded on trains.

It is important to note that when our Parkers arrived, less than ten years after the first pioneers, many of those pioneers were neighbors. Much of the prairie ground had not yet been broken by the plow. A note in the History of Scott County says that in Cleona Township, “James Paul broke 30 acres in the same time.¹⁰” The year was 1853. At the rate of 30 acres per year per plow team it took several years to open 240 acres of prairie.

By 1862, almost all of Iowa’s native Indian people had left the state. The years from 1845 to 1855 saw the greatest exodus of native Indians from Iowa. However, an incident occurred in 1857 at Spirit Lake in northwest Iowa that reminded many pioneers of the insecurity they lived with in earlier years. The nearest settlement of Indians was of the Mesquakie (Fox) settlement in Tama County.

Church

While in Cleona Township, the family connected with a Congregational Church in Durant, less than ten miles from the Parker farm. Unfortunately, that church building was sold to a St. Paul’s Episcopal Church congregation in 1896. We have not been able to find any records from the Congregational church. Here is a picture of the original church building as it stands today:

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