Individual Details

An article about Richard Park exists in The Great Migration Series 2, Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P, p.360-363
Park Richard 1635 Cambridge GM 2:3:360-63

One reference gives a birth year of 1595 which does not agree with the ship's list.

Richard and Margery sailed from London on the Defence, 11 Jul 1635, with Rev. Thomas Shepard's company, Edward Bostock, Master.
"a miller Richard Perk, age 33; Margery Perk, age 40, Isabell Perk, aged 7, Elizabeth Perk, aged 4, bound for New England.
They arrived in Boston, 8 Oct 1635 and settled in Cambridge that year. I have searched various passenger lists online and I believe this list might be particularly difficult to read. I find differences in surname and the children. Although the couple is said to have had four children [and Thomas's age as indicated in his own court testimony would suggest he was certainly about age 6-8 in 1635] only two are listed with them on the Defence.
The list on Genealogy-Quest had Mrs. Margery Park, aged 30. Richard Park, aged 33. No children
Another list had Richard Park, 33, miller, Cambridge. Mrs. Margery Park, 30. No children.
Database on WorldConnect said the passengers were Richard Perk, miller, 33, wife Margery Perk, 40, Isabell Perk 7 and Elizabeth Perk 4. This listing compares with Hotten's The Original Lists.
The Winthrop Society had the most complete transcribed list. It stated that the rolls represent persons who were ready to embark at the date of record, which often preceded the actual sailing. The information was transcribed in the 19th century by James Savage from records in London at the Augmentation Office, Rolls Court, Westminster. On the same day, 11 Jul 1635, the following were enrolled to sail and they were the only ones on this date. Rich. Peck, miller, age 33. Margery Peck, age 40. And continuing on the same day and next page Israel Peck, age 7. Elizabeth Peck, age 4. It is notable that no Rev. Thomas Shepard was on this ship - the only Thomas Sheppard was 3 months old, a son of John Sheppard, husbandman.

Richard Parke was a proprietor of Cambridge Farms in 1642. He is considered to be one of the earliest settlers. He received 11 acres in Cambridge Village [Newton] on the south side of the Charles River in a division of land in 1647. In 1652, he received 100 acres, lot 73, on the Shawshine River. Sometime previous to 1652 he received 600 acres in the northwest part of the village. Edward Jackson was a neighbor of both this large acreage and the 11 acre dividend. It is suggested he bought the 600 acres from the Rev. Thomas Shepard or his heirs.

On 8 Feb 1635/6 a list of men who have houses in the town, included Richard Parke at Fresh Pond.

1639 Cambridge land inventory: Richard Parke had two parcels, one house on the cow common with half an acre, and on the north side of Jones' hill he had two acres, 10 pole of planting groun.

6 Sep 1642, Cambridge land inventory. Richard now had five parcels - his dwelling on the common with outhouses and half an acre; two acres in the New West Field; three acres in the plain towards Menotamye; six acres on the south side of the Charles River, being the 6th and 30th lot in the upper division; seven and a hlaf acres in Alewife Meadow.

In 1646, he was granted a woodlot of three acres on the other side of the Menotime Bridge. In early 1648, he was granted eleven acres on the south side of the Charles River and more to make up his full division for his own house - 13 acres adj the west end of the lot he bought of John Betts.

25 Mar 1650. Edward Winship relinquished to the inhabitants of Billerica, 200 acres of his own and ___ of his father Park's.

4 Jun 1652. Richard Parke granted 100 acres in the Shawsheen Division

In September of 1656, Richard married Sarah (Collier) Brewster, daughter of William Collier, widow of Love Brewster. She was still living at Duxbury in Marc of 1679/80. Her father was one of the initial shareholders of Plymouth Plantation.

In 1657, Richard Parke was to lay out and settle highways in the village along with Edward and John Jackson, and Samuel Hyde. He sent a petition to the Court requesting to retain his connection with Cambridge church, if Cambridge Village was set off.

In 1663, Richard was released from militia training due to his age - which might suggest he had reached the age of 60. Perhaps this was another source of a birth year of 1602.


I suspect these records from Watertown are not the same man. Some have tried to place him as a son, but the lengthy dispute over Richard's estate revealed no son of the same name - and in fact Y-DNA has revealed no relationship (see later)
19 Oct 1652 Richard was listed as a debtor to the ministry of Watertown for 2£.
22 Aug 1659. The selectmen of Watertown ordered that Richard and his wife not be allowed to reside there. [such an order might indicate a religious difference of opinion]
3 May 1664 At Watertown, Richard Parke sold to James Keene a horse valued at 6£, for which he was to build a frame house.
The position of the Parke Society regarding a "son" Richard (proven through the Parke Society's paternal DNA project):
"The Karl Eaton Parks volumes represent a lineage which descends from Richard’s 'son' Richard to a third generation Richard, generally known as Lt. Richard Parks, and DNA testing has confirmed the suspicions that these two Richards were NOT connected to the immigrant Richard [arr. 1635]. Lt. Richard Parks does NOT match Richard [arr. 1635] genetically." -Ken Parks, President of the Parke Society and manager of the Parke Society's paternal DNA project, July 2014

Richard took a second wife, circa 1656. Date of the death of Margery and the marriage date are not known. She was Sarah Collier, daughter of William & Jane Collier of Duxbury, and the widow of Love Brewster, son of Elder William Brewster of the Mayflower. After Richard's death, she moved back to Duxbury where she was a member of the Plymouth First Church. Thomas purchased her life estate in the land of his father, 26 Sep 1678.

Richard's will is dated 12 Jul 1665. To loving wife all houses, barns and lands during her natural life. He left his only son Thomas, all his housing and lands in Newton [was Cambridge Village] after the death of his wife. Thomas appears to have inherited the 600 acre tract. Other tracts, goods and chattels were divided equally between daughters Isabell and Elizabeth. Wife and son Thomas, executors.

There were two competing inventories of the Estate of Richard Parke
Inventory of his estate, 19 Oct 1665, taken by John Sherman and John Spring listed the dwelling house, barn, outhousing and 600 acres of land, although 20 acres is broken up, and appraised for 660£. 10 acres elsewhere was valued at 100£. Total 972£. Taken by Edward Winship, Thomas Park, and Francis Whitmore. This one was apparently accepted by the court and recorded.
Another inventory was taken 4 Aug 1665, The widow refused to attest to this version. The proceedings how that Winship and Whitmore had wives of the approximate ages of the two girsl that had come with their parents on the ship.
Disputes over the will continued for years - first between Thomas and his stepmother, then between Thomas and a tenant on the land.

Richard's children are said to be Isabell, born 2 Nov 1628 in England. If someone has discovered a baptismal record for her, then that would settle the name of the older child that came on the Defence with Richard and Margery. She is said to have married Francis Whitmore, died 31 Mar 1665 o.s. [grave marker suggested but no location]
Thomas, born 1628-29. Or was his name so difficult to read on the passenger list that he was the older child listed?
Elizabeth, born circa 1631 in England. Married Edward Winship who left a will naming three sons, 4 daughters. Elizabeth died 19 Sep 1690, Cambridge.

There was also possibly a son Richard - if so, he must have been deceased before 1665 - perhaps records of this younger Richard belong to a different relative, not a son.

The Genealogy of Parke Families of Massachusetts, compiled by Frank Sylvester Parks, Washington, D.C., 1909, p.33, attempts to differentiate between the Richard & Thomas Parks of Concord and Newton. I had already discovered there were two sets of men with these names and wondered how many records had been confused among them. The author makes a very good case for a son of Richard & Margery that was also named Richard. He certainly doesn't belong to the Parks of Concord. On 14 Oct 1678, a Richard Parks of Cambridge, planter and wife Mary, sold to Joseph Wilson, his dwelling house on the south side of the Charles River, six acres. One of the neighbors was Deliverance Jackson. The elder Richard Parks had now been dead for some 13 years; his son Thomas had named a son Richard, but he was a child in 1678. Although no Richard was named in the elder Richard's will, there remains a possibility that a son Richard had already received a portion of his father's estate and was to receive nothing else. The location on the Charles River and a Jackson neighbor suggests property that the elder Richard held at one time.
Further discussion ensues about the curious will of Richard Parks, 12 Jul 1665. That he died soon after is evident since his inventory was taken in October. The author states that the will is written partly in first person, partly in third person, and that the wife and two daughters are not named, and that there is a meaningless blot in place of the signature. Possibly Parks was in a bad way and dictated the document and it was drawn up hurriedly to assure the disposition of his property in regard to his wishes.
By 1682, Richard and Mary Parks were at Sherborn.

The Great Migration series has chosen not to include the younger Richard in the family, stating that given the years of dispute regarding the Will, surely such a son would have been named in the disputes even if he was not named in the will. No record has been found that connects to the two Richards.


Note: I was confused about the names of the town, so I found the following:
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM7T1Q
The Founding of Newtowne-Cambridge Massachusetts [Massachusetts Historical Marker]
1630

The original grant for Newtowne included an area southwest of Watertown over what is now Allston, Brighton and Newton, and northwest "some eight miles from the village." In 1641 the General Court extended the town boundaries northwest between Charlestown and Watertown "almost to the Merrimac," to "Shawhin" or what is now Tewksbury.

As the population of outlying areas reached numbers capable of supporting their own parish church and minister, the areas thus served were set off as separate towns. Thus Billerica was set off in 1655 and Bedford was later set off in turn from Billerica. Cambridge Village, now Newton, followed in 1688; Cambridge Farms, now Lexington, in 1713; West Cambridge, now Arlington and part of Belmont, in 1807; and Little Cambridge, now Brighton, and then including Allston, in 1837.


Find A Grave Memorial# 119613457
The Old East Parish Burying Ground is the resting place for all of the founding families of Newton. In 1654, families living south of the river started holding religious meetings locally rather than making the journey to Cambridge. John Jackson provided an acre of land for a burial ground and for a meeting house, and this remained the only burying site for residents of Newton until 1781. A monument was placed in memory of Newton's founders in 1852, erected by the descendants of the first settlers. At the time inscriptions were recorded, only six headstones from the earliest inhabitants were still standing. However, their memory lives on through their descendants.
The original acre was added to three times, and the cemetery was used continuously until near the end of the 1800s. The final addition to the burying ground was made in 1834. Family members dying in Newton after 1781 may be found here in the East Parish Burying Ground, in the West Parish Burying Ground (opening 1781), or in the South Parish Burying Ground (opening 1802).
Family members in this cemetery with known plot location:
Park, Thomas, d. 1705, Plot 603
Park, Richard, see 1st Settlers Monument (no headstone remains), Plot 432
Park, Ensign Richard Philip, d. Nov 28, 1746, 52y, Plot 805
Park, Sarah, d. Mar 20, 1737, 42y, w/o Richard Philip Park, Plot 921
Park, Esther, d. Dec 28, 1746, 42y, w/o Richard Philip Park, Plot 806
Park, Thomas, d. Sep 2, 1775, 72y, Plot 1043
Family members in this cemetery with unknown plot:
Park, Margery, d. Mar 31, 1656, Plot unknown
Park, Thomas Jr, d. Jun 23, 1681, Plot unknown
Park, Thomas, d. Aug 11, 1690, Plot unknown
Park, Abigail Dix, d. Feb 3, 1691, Plot unknown
Park, Anna Spring, d. Apr 27, 1691, Plot unknown
Park, Elizabeth Spring, d. Apr 10, 1713, Plot unknown
Park, John, d. Mar 21, 1717, Plot unknown
Park, Jonathan, d. 23 Jan 1719, Plot unknown
Park, Sarah Coolidge, d. Mar 5, 1721, Plot unknown
Park, Oliver, d. May 4, 1721, Plot unknown
Knapp, Sarah Park, d. Dec 19, 1726, Plot unknown
Park, Sarah King, d. May 16, 1727, Plot unknown
Park, Lucy, d. Jan 9, 1730, Plot unknown
Knapp, John (husband of Sarah Park), d. Feb 2, 1733, Plot unknown
Park, Richard, d. Feb 1, 1738, Plot unknown
Park, John, d. 3 May, 1741, Plot unknown
Park, Edward, d. Mar 1, 1745, Plot unknown
Park, Martha Fiske, d. Nov 29, 1746, Plot unknown
Park, John, d. May 4, 1747, Plot unknown
Fuller, Sarah Park, d. Apr 23, 1774, Plot unknown

Birth	Ca 1609	England
Marriage	Sep 1656	Sarah Collier
Death	Bet 12 Jul 1665 and 4 Aug 1665

Spouse	Margery [Parke] (1595 - 1656)
Child	THOMAS Parke (1626 - 1690)
Child	Isabel Parke (1628 - 1665)
Child	Elizabeth Parke (1631 - 1690)

Spouse

Sarah Collier ( - 1691)

Webtags

Notes