Representative women of New England/S. Agnes Parker

by Mary H. Graves

S. AGNES PARKER, Past National Chaplain of the Woman^s Relief Corps, was born in New London, N.H., January 12, 1841, daughter of Martin and Anna (Adams) Packard and the eldest of five children. Her father was son of David⁶ and Susanna (Perkins) Packard, of North Bridgewater, Mass., and lineally descended from Samuel¹ Packard, of West Bridgewater, through Zaccheus,² David,³ William,⁴ and Lemuel.⁵

Anna Adams, wife of Martin Packard and mother of S. Agnes, was daughter of Moses, Jr., and Betsy (Stinson) Adams and on the paternal side a descendant in the seventh generation of Robert Adams, of Newbury, Mass., and his wife Eleanor. The ancestral line was Robert,¹ Abraham,² John,^{3 4} ’Moses,⁵ Moses, Jr.⁶ Abraham⁷ Adams, born in Salem in 1639 — the year before his father removed to Newbury—married Mary Pettengill. John,³ born in Newbury in 1684, married Sarah Pearson, and resided in Rowley, Mass. John,⁴ born in 1721, married in 1764 for his third wife a widow, Meribah Stickney (born Tenney), of Bradford, and some years later removed to New London, N. H. Moses,⁵ born in 1765, married in 1790 Dolly (or Dorothy) Perley, and resided in New London, N.H., where his son Moses, Jr.,⁶ above named, was born in 1792. Moses Adams, Jr., and Betsy Stinson were married in December, 1819. They had four daughters. Anna, the eldest, married in March, 1840, Martin Packard.

Mr. and Mrs. Martin Packard removed from New London, N.H., to North Bridgewater (now Brockton), Mass., in 1844. Their daugh- ter Agnes was then three years old. She was educated in the public schools and at Hunt's Academy. On January 23, 1859, she was married to John B. Parker, of North Bridge- water, who was later a veteran of the Civil War.

Mrs. Parker became identified with the Uni- versalist church forty-five years ago, and is one of its most active members. The Ladies' Aid Society connected with the church elected her president several years in succession, and she has held other important positions associated with the work of this church.

When the Hosjjital Aid Society was formed in Brockton, she was elected one of the Direc- tors, and the next year was chosen President. She assisted in founiling the Woman's Educa- tional and Industrial Union of Brockton, and has served continuously in office, was its President six years, and has been active in raising funds for its benefit. This union has had a large membership, and has been supported by all the churches in the city.

Mrs. Parker is naturally patriotic; and when, early in 1873, a Grand Army Sewing Society was formed, to' assist Post No. 13, of Brockton, she joined its membership roll and was chosen secretary. Elected its first President when the society became a branch of the Department of Massachusetts Woman's Relief Corps in October, 1879, she was subsequently re-elected for three successive years.

The corps, which is one of the largest and most efficient in the State, is auxiliary to Fletcher Webster Post, No. 13, G. A. R., and is No. 7 on the roster of the Department W. R. C. The members appreciate Mrs. Parker's long-continued and faithful service in the cause.

At the annual State convention in Boston in 1880 " the various corps presidents gave good accounts of their corps, that of Mrs. S. Agnes Parker, of Fletcher Webster Corps, of Brockton, being specially interesting."

Mrs. Parker served on important committees that year, and at the convention in 1881 was elected Department Treasurer. She was Department Inspector in 1882, and also served as a member of the Committee on Ritual, Rules, and Regulations. The following year she was appointed chairman of this committee, and was elected to the office of Department Junior ^'ice-President. In 1884 she was chosen Department Senior Vice-President, and in 1885 re-elected. She presided over the annual convention in Boston in 1886, the Department President, Mrs. Goodale, being detained at home by illne.ss. This cf)nvention elected Mrs. Parker President for the ensuing year, and at its close she presented a report, in which the following summary of the work under her charge is given: —

" I have been on duty at headejuarters every week but two. I have issued seven general orders. In my first and seconil general orders I appointed a staff of aides to assist the depart- ment officers in their work and be of service to those corps in remote parts of the State where they needed assistance or instruction. . . .

" My duties as Department President have occupied the greater part of my time. I have travelled in official capacity in the State of Massachusetts four thousand and seventy-one miles, have made forty-one visits to corps, and have been cordially received by the mem- bers. I attended the National Convention at San Francisco, receiving many courtesies on this trip from Department Commander John D. Billings and other officials of the Grand Army of the Republic. I have accepted many invi- tations to anniversaries and inspections, have instituted one corps, installed the officers of six corps, and have paid other official visits too numerous to mention.

" We have expended in relief the past year three thousand nine hundred and three dollars and forty-seven cents. This sum does not in- clude the entire amount contributed, as nnich has been given in the way of clothing and other articles. The Soliliers' Home has received six hundred and fifty-.seven dollars and twenty- eight cents."

Mrs. Parker was unanimously re-elected Department President at the convention in Boston in 1887. In her annual address in 1888 she referred to the growth tun I work of the order in Massachusetts;—

"January, 1887, we had seventy-seven corps with a membership of five thousand two hundred and fifty-seven. To-day we number one hundred corps with a membership of over six thousand seven hundred. Ancient expended in relief the past year, five thousand six hundred and twenty-four dollars and forty cents, and turned over to posts, three thousand two hundred and fifty-eight dollars and thirty-four cents. This amount does not cover the amount of all clothing and food given, as in many cases the value is not estimated. The amount reported as given the Soldiers' Home the past year is six thousand seven hundred and ninety-one dollars and eighty cents, which does not include the total figures.

"My duties as Department President have occupied nearly all my time. I have issued seven general orders and two circular letters, have visited headquarters ninety times, have travelled in official capacity in this State five thousand eight hundred and forty-four miles, visiting thirty-eight different corps. ... I have had the pleasure of installing the officers of seven corps, have instituted two corps, and assisted at the institution of others. I had the honor of attending the National Convention held at St. Louis. Number of official visits made during the year is two hundred and seven." A reception was tendered Mrs. Parker in Boston, upon her return from St. Louis, by the delegates who represented Massachusetts at the Fourth National Convention. Fletcher Webster Post and Corps, of Brockton, also gave her a reception in that city.

Mrs. Parker gained the love of her associates and won the regard of the Grand Army of the Republic during the two years of her administration. Upon retiring from the chair she was appointed and installed Department Counsellor and reappointed the following year. At the convention of 1890 Mrs. Parker was appointed a member of the Committee on Department Rooms at the Soldiers' Home and at every subsequent convention she has been reappointed. She is also a member of other important committees. At the National Convention in Pittsburg, Pa., September, 1894, she was unanimously elected National Chaplain.

Mrs. Parker's husband, Mr. John B. Parker, of Brockton, was born in Boxford, Mass., a son of Aaron L. and Priscilla (Buzzell) Parker. He served in the Civil War in Company F, Fifty-eighth Massachusetts Volunteers, was wounded at Cold Harbor, and honorably discharged for disability soon after the surrender of General Lee. He has been Quartermaster of Fletcher Webster Post, of Brockton, the past twenty years.

Three of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Parker died in infancy. Of the four others the following is a brief record : Katie Florence, born March 23, 1862, is the wife of Robert Davis, of North Easton, and mother of four children—Arthur Horace, Fred Carleton, Helen Parker, and Agnes Elena; Fred Chandler, born August 31, 1866, married in February, 1901, M. Elizabeth Crummitt, and died January 12, 1904; Annie Edith, born December 28, 1875, married Harry L. Thompson, and has one child, Errol Mitchell; Frank Adams Parker was born June 30, 1884.