James C. Parker

James Crawford “J.C.” Parker (1841-1906) was a Helenwood attorney who served as Scott County Judge in the 19th century, and was also Scott County’s first superintendent of schools.

See Also: Mayors of Scott County
Preceded By: John M. Cordell • Succeeded By: Bransford L. Riseden

See Also: Scott County School Superintendents
Succeeded By: Lafayette Sproule

Early Life

Born March 22, 1841 in Kentucky, James Parker was the son of Joel Parker (1818-1900) and Maria Hurt (1821-1901). They were from Sheep Ranch near present-day Robbins, and James Parker was their oldest son.

Parker married Mary Burke (1845-1885) on Nov. 19, 1867. She was the daughter of Allen and Elizabeth Burk of Wayne County, Ky. The Burk family lived on Rock Creek, and Allen Burk was a brother to Jonathan Burke, who settled on the Big South Fork River near No Business and is the ancestor of all Burkes living in Scott County today.

J.C. and Mary Parker had nine children: Ella, Albert J., Alice, Marie Belle, Ida J., Luther M., Sam Young, Burdette, and John.

Professional Life

Parker became an attorney at law and was prominent in Republican politics. He served as Scott County’s first superintendent of schools and was also elected judge of Tennessee’s 3rd Judicial District.

Superintendent of Schools

Parker was appointed Scott County’s first superintendent of schools in 1867 by Scott County Quarterly Court. He served one two-year term and was replaced in 1879 by Lafayette Sproule. Prior to 1867, Scott County School System did not exist; rather, public education in Scott County was provided by many different independent school systems in the various communities, each of which appointed their own school commissioners.

Judge of Scott County

Parker was elected Scott County Judge in 1883, replacing John Marion Cordell. He served one term, and was replaced in 1886 by Bransford Riseden.

Death

On July 6, 1906, Sam Parker — J.C. Parker’s son — was gunned down as he stepped off a train in Helenwood. He was a baseball player at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. He was killed for unknown reasons by James E. Fulton, who was also a judge.

Fulton was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was pardoned by Tennessee Gov. Malcolm Rice Patterson after 10 months.

J.C. Parker was said to have essentially grieved himself to death over the killing of his son. He died several weeks later, on July 26, 1906, at his home in Helenwood. He was buried in the Cut Cemetery, where his wife — who served as the Helenwood postmaster — had been buried after her untimely death on Christmas Day in 1885. Also buried there were J.C.’s young sons, Burdette, who died in 1900 at age 19, and Sam. Another son, John, was later buried there in 1938.

Eleven years later, Fulton was shot and killed by newspaper editor J.E. Bell. Fulton, who was by that time the city attorney for Oneida, had been criticized in an editorial by Bell, who was the editor of the Scott County News. The two became engaged in a bitter argument, and Bell gunned down Fulton when Fulton arrived at his office — allegedly after threatening to kill him.

Bell was later pardoned by Tennessee Gov. Thomas Clarke Rye, who opined that Bell was acting in self-defense.