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"Land Record - Elijah Parker, Mary Harris, and Rosanah Barringer."

Type of Record: Photographs with family history.

Location: Raus Community, Bedford County, Tennessee.

Photographs provided by Melinda Pennington, but she had originally received them from Vicky Claiser.

Information about the Parker family property:

In the late nineteenth century, innovation in the field of livestock breeding resulted in more productive beef cattle and swine herds. A brief review of Parkers’ Farm identifies this Century Farm as a key contributor to the popularity of Angus cattle in Middle Tennessee. Located in the Raus Community of Bedford County, Parkers’ Farm is one of the oldest in Bedford County. Elijah Parker, a North Carolina native, established the homestead in the early 1800s and acquired the title in 1812.

Elijah Parker was married twice, but his first wife Mary (Harris) Parker bore all of his fourteen children. Active in local politics and community affairs, Elijah also farmed over 400 acres of land, cultivating clover, cattle, horses and grain.

Elijah and Mary’s son Daniel Parker acquired about 410 acres of the farm in 1850. A prominent Bedford County politician, Daniel Parker served in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1861. Like those of his neighbors, Parker’s farm yielded small grains and livestock. Daniel also married three times and had four children.

By 1885 Henry T. Parker, Daniel’s son by his third wife Susan W. G. Parker, had acquired 374 acres of Parkers’ Farm. He continued to grow the same crops as his grandfather and father, but Henry was an innovator in livestock production. The first member of the American Angus Association in Tennessee, Parker played a key role in introducing the Angus breed to the region.

Daniel W. Parker, the third of Henry and May Shofner Parker’s five children, inherited 200 acres of the farm in 1936. Like his father, Daniel was eager to improve farm efficiency. In 1936, intrigued by the federal government’s Rural Electric Co-op program, he helped to organize the Duck River Electric Membership Corporation. Daniel served as its secretary/treasurer until the early 1970s.

In 1972, Henry Dale and Paul Reagor Parker, the great great grandsons of Elijah Parker, inherited the family farm of 200 acres.

As of August 14, 2003, the only inhabitants of this beautiful old farmhouse was a hive of bees living in the back wall.

Additional Information:

Elijah Parker was first married to Mary Harris. After her death, Elijah Parker married his second wife Rosanah Barringer.

The person taking the photo's met Henry Dale Parker who is the great-grandson of Elijah and Mary (Harris) Parker. He told them where the old farmhouse was located, and gave them permission to look around. The back-wing of the house is actually the old cabin where Elijah Parker and his family had lived. The front main part of the farmhouse was built by Elijah's son in 1903. 

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