My Genealogy Hound

ROBERT G. PARKER, a frugal, industrious farmer of Riverdale township, Buffalo county, is the son of Henry and Henrietta (Gayetty) Parker, the former of whom was a native of London, England, and came to America in 1844, locating in Pittsburg, Pa., thence moving to Illinois. He was a cabinet-maker by trade and was considered a very skilled workman. Turning to farming he purchased his brother’s farm in Carroll county, Ill., and resided there till death, which occurred in 1871, at the age of seventy-seven. He was united in marriage with Henrietta Gayetty, a native of Pennsylvania, in 1853, at Galena, Ill., by the mayor of that city. To Mr. and Mrs. Parker were born three children — Robert G., George (now living in Dakota and by occupation a farmer), and Elizabeth (Mrs. Reed), who lives in Brown county, Nebr.

Robert G., the subject of this biography, was born in Carroll county, Ills., in 1856. Being of an adventurous and independent turn of mind, he determined to seek a home for himself in the then “wild West,” and first settled in Riverdale township, Nebr., in the spring of 1873. The first year his entire crops were destroyed by the grasshoppers and he was obliged to go to Adams county for necessary provisions. His perseverance and courage not being daunted by these calamities, he still evinced that characteristic peculiar to him, pertinacity of purpose. Being without money, his only resource was an enviable reputation for honorableness, and Mr. Green, knowing this, supplied him with the necessary seed grain, to be paid for after harvest. From this seed, when sown, eleven hundred bushels were harvested, which sold at 90 cents per bushel.

In 1881 he went to Colorado and there prospected for silver for some time, and from there went to New Mexico, and put in one year on a sheep ranch. He then returued to Riverdale township, Nebr., in 1885, and engaged in farming, giving especial attention to raising recorded Chester white hogs. Mr. Parker, at present owns two hundred and forty acres of land beautifully located and well improved. His success is largely due to economy and hard work.

Politically, Mr. Parker is independent, but is friendly to tariff reform.

Mr. Parker was married June, 1886, to Miss Angeline Grammer, daughter of Charles M. and Martha Grammer, of Adams county, Ill.