Thomas Parker (1783–1860) was a judge, writer, and philanthropist from Maine, who is the namesake of Parker Hall at Bates College. Parker was born in 1783 in

Edgartown, Massachusetts Edgartown is a tourist destination on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, for which it is the county seat. It was once a major whaling port, with historic houses that have been carefully preserved. Tod ...

but moved to

Farmington, Maine Farmington is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,592. Farmington is home to the University of Maine at Farmington, Nordica Memorial Auditorium, the Nordica Homestea ...

as a child with his father, Elvation Parker, and eventually worked for a period as a stonemason. In 1807 he married Judith Thomas. Parker served as a County Commissioner for several years and in 1838 Governor

Edward Kent Edward Kent (January 8, 1802 – May 19, 1877) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 12th and 15th Governor of Maine. He was among the last prominent members of the Whig Party in Maine before it collapsed in favor of th ...

appointed Parker to be a probate judge from Franklin County where he served until 1845. Parker later carried on extensive business in the probate courts. In 1846 Parker published a book on the ''History of Farmington Maine''. In 1856 he donated $5,000 to Bates College then called the Maine State Seminary, and Parker Hall at Bates is named in his honor.Emeline Burlingame-Cheney, The Story of the Life and Work of Oren B. Cheney, Founder and First President of Bates College (Boston, MA: Morning Star Publishing House, 1907), p. 106 He died in 1860.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Thomas Maine state court judges Bates College people 1783 births 1860 deaths People from Edgartown, Massachusetts People from Farmington, Maine 19th-century American judges