James Parker Jr. (March 3, 1776 – April 1, 1868) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. He served as the Collector of the Port of New Jersey in Perth Amboy from 1829 to 1833. He was

Mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey The Current Mayor of Perth Amboy is Helmin Caba, who was elected on December 15, 2020 after defeating Wilda Diaz and was sworn in on January 1, 2021. Perth Amboy, New Jersey is governed under the Mayor-Council system of municipal government under t ...

Early life

Parker was born at "Shipley", his father's farm in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

in the

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1783. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after the ...

on March 3, 1776 to James Parker Sr. (1725–1797) and Gertrude MacGregor (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Skinner) Parker (1739–1811). His father was on the provincial council before the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, an active member of the board of proprietors of the colony, and the owner of large landed properties. Through his father, Parker's great-grandfather was James Parker, a prominent colonial American printer and publisher. His maternal grandparents were the Rev. William Skinner (the Rector of St. Peter's Church in Perth Amboy) and Elizabeth (née Van Cortlandt) Skinner (the daughter of

Stephanus Van Cortlandt Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor's ...

, the first native born

mayor of New York The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

). His uncle was Brig. Gen.

Cortlandt Skinner Cortlandt Skinner (December 16, 1727 – March 15, 1799) was the last Royal Attorney General of New Jersey and a brigadier general in a Loyalist force, the New Jersey Volunteers, also known as Skinner's Greens, during the American Revolutionary W ...

, the last Royal

Attorney General of New Jersey The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confirmed by the New Jersey Senate, and term limited. ...

and a

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

with the

New Jersey Volunteers The New Jersey Volunteers, also known as Jersey Volunteers, "Skinners", Skinner's Corps, and Skinner's Greens (due to their green wool uniform coats), were a British provincial military unit of Loyalists, raised for service by Cortlandt Skinner, ...

, also known as Skinner's Greens, during the Revolutionary War.

Career

Parker moved to

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

after the Revolution. He graduated from

Columbia College of Columbia University Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King' ...

in New York City in 1793, and then became a merchant in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, but on the death of his father returned to Perth Amboy. Parker engaged in the management and settlement of properties left by his father. He was also a

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

and as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, although he was never

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

. He was a member of the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

from 1806 to 1810 and in 1812–1813, 1815–1816, 1818, and 1827. During his legislative career, he originated the law that put an end to the local slave trade in 1819, the one that established the school fund, and the provisions of a law that regulated the partition of real estate in New Jersey and the rights of aliens to possess it. He was

in 1815 and again in 1850. He was Collector of the Port of New Jersey in Perth Amboy from 1829 to 1833. Parker was elected as a Jacksonian to the 23rd and 24th Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1833 to March 3, 1837. After leaving Congress he resumed his former activities, and was registrar of the board of proprietors of

East Jersey The Province of East Jersey, along with the Province of West Jersey, between 1674 and 1702 in accordance with the Quintipartite Deed, were two distinct political divisions of the Province of New Jersey, which became the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

. He was a member of the different boundary commissions to obtain a settlement of the boundary question between the States of New York and New Jersey, and was a delegate to the New Jersey constitutional convention in 1844. He was a vice president of the

New Jersey Historical Society The New Jersey Historical Society is a historical society and museum located in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The Historical Society is housed in the former headquarters of the Essex Club. It has two floors of exhibition space ...

for many years, its president from 1864 until his death, was active in the cause of education, and gave the land to

Rutgers College Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

on which its buildings now stand.

Personal life

On January 5, 1803, Parker was married to Penelope Coats Butler (1788–1823), the daughter of Anthony Butler and Elizabeth (née Coates) Butler. Together, they were the parents of: * James Parker (1804–1805), who died young. * James Parker (1805–1861), who married Anna Forbes. * William Parker (1807–1868), who married Lucy Cushing Whitwell (1811–1909) in 1836. William was one of the earliest railroad builders and was associated with the building of the

Boston & Worcester Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pass ...

. * Margaret Elizabeth Parker (1809–1886), who married William Adee Whitehead (1810–1884), a historian who assisted in the development of

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

. * Gertrude Parker (1811–1828), who died aged 16. * Penelope Parker (1813–1817), who died young. * Sarah Coats Levy Parker (1816–1842), who died unmarried. * John Cortlandt Parker (1818–1907), who married Elizabeth Wolcott Stites (1827–1907), the daughter of Richard Wayne Stites, in 1847. * Penelope Butler Parker (1821–1856), who married Edward Dunham (1819–1892) in 1855. After his first wife's death in 1823, Parker remarried to Catherine Morris Ogden on September 20, 1827. Catherine was the daughter of Euphemia (née Morris) Ogden and

Samuel Ogden Colonel Samuel Ogden (December 9, 1746 — December 1, 1810) was a colonial businessman in New Jersey who had an iron works. He fought on the winning side during the American Revolutionary War. Afterward, he became a developer and land speculator f ...

, the founder of Boonton Iron Works. Through her father she was a niece of

Abraham Ogden Abraham Ogden (December 30, 1743 – January 31, 1798) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1791 to 1798 and negotiated the Treaty of New York (1796). Early life Ogden was bor ...

and through her mother, she was a niece of

Gouverneur Morris Gouverneur Morris ( ; January 31, 1752 – November 6, 1816) was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to the U ...

, a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

and U.S. Minister to France. Parker died in

Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,4 ...

on April 1, 1868. He was buried in St. Peter's Episcopal Churchyard.

Descendants

Through his son Cortlandt, he was the grandfather of James Parker (a major general in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and a

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipient for his role in the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

during 1899), Richard Wayne Parker (also a United States Representative from New Jersey).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, James 1776 births 1868 deaths American surveyors Columbia College (New York) alumni Mayors of Perth Amboy, New Jersey Members of the New Jersey General Assembly People from Bethlehem Township, New Jersey Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey 19th-century American politicians People of colonial New Jersey Burials in New Jersey