BIOGRAPHIES

CHAUNCEY DE WITT PARKER

CHAUNCEY DE WITT PARKER, named in honor of Gov. De Witt Clinton, of New York, an old time friend of the family is recognized as one of the leading ranchers of Sweet Grass county, his valuable property lying in the vicinity of Big Timber, Mont.  He was born in Arcade, Wyoming county, N. Y., on December 30, 1868, one of seven sons and four daughters.  His father, John Parker, also a native of Wyoming county, born on January 20, 1831, while his mother, Adelia M. (Keller) Parker, was born in the beautiful and romantic Mohawk valley.  The paternal grandfather, Silas Parker, was a native of New York.  John Parker was a soldier during the Civil war, fought gallantly and suffered untold miseries in the southern prisons of Bird Island, Lawton, Libby and Andersonville.  He first enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth New York, remained with the company one year and was transferred to the First New York Dragoons; served two years and was taken prisoner at the battle of the Wilderness.  When Mr. Parker enlisted he weighed 184 pounds, and when exchanged from Andersonville he was reduced to ninety-six pounds and had lost his teeth and hair.  In 1875 he removed to Minnesota with his family, where he remained until his death, which occurred from a kick by one of his horses in February, 1901.

The excellend public schools of Minnesota provided the early education of C. D. Parker, and he continued industriously at work on his father's farm until he was eighteen years of age, when he came to Montana, first to Great Cliff, where he engaged in ranching.  He then sought the Boulder mines, prospected for two summers and went to work for the Briggs & Ellis Company, at Big Timber, as foreman.  During his eighteen-months service with that company he engaged in all kinds of ranch work, breaking fractious bronchos, on the "round-up" and similar occupations, making a thorough study of the details.  His present property, lying on the Big Timber creek, he purchased in 1898, since which time he has extensively engaged in the sheep and cattle industries.  He has 280 acres, well irrigated, from which he gathers large and profitable crops of alfalfa.  Last year he killed fifty-nine hogs and intends to engage more prominently in that enterprise.  His favorite stock appears to be Percheron horses, shorthorn cattle and Merino sheep crossed with Shropshires.  Through the ranch courses Big Timber creek.  Mr. Parker was married on December 29, 1897, to Miss Dora Aldridge, of Big Timber.  They have one child, John Ray, born August 13, 1900.  As a man he is greatly respected and evidently he is on the high road to success.

Source: Transcription from the book, Progressive Men of the State of Montana, author and publication date unknown, pages 1194-1195, located on the website, Internet Archive (http://archive.org), accessed 27 June 2022.

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