William Harwar Parker (1826 - 1896)

Born 8 Oct 1826 in New York, United States

Ancestors

Died 30 Dec 1896 at age 70 in Washington, District of Columbia

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Biography

William Harwar Parker was an officer in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate States Navy. Graduate of the United States Naval Academy. A veteran of the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. His autobiography, entitled Recollections of a Naval Officer 1841–1865, provides a unique insight into the United States Navy of the mid-19th century during an era when the Age of Sail was coming to an end and the advent of steam power and ironclads was beginning. Following the end of the American Civil War, Parker was captain of a Pacific Mail steamship and then served as president of Maryland Agricultural College. In his later years, he suffered from alcoholism, but this did not prevent his being appointed the Minister to Korea in 1886 and was relieved of his position less than a year later. Parker returned to live in Washington, DC, where he enjoyed retirement and focused on writing.^[1]

Son of Foxhall Alexander Parker and Sarah Jay Bogardus. ^[2]Husband of Margaret Griffin (m 1853). William passed away in 1896. Final resting place in Elmwood Cemetery, Norfolk, Norfolk City, Virginia.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ William Harwar Parker, Wikipedia.org, accessed October 9, 2020.
2. ↑ "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR4V-H5K : 29 January 2020), F. A. Parker in entry for William H. Parker, 1853.
3. ↑ William Harwar Parker, Find A Grave: Memorial #104701381, accessed October 9, 2020.