George Ballard W. Parks

     George Ballard W. Parks was born on 19 March 1817 Greenup County, Kentucky.¹ He was the son of Robert Parks and Polly Hardwick.¹ George married Cynthia Ann Richardson, daughter of Caleb Richardson and Celia Humphries, 26 July 1845 Tipton County, Indiana.^2,3 George died 28 March 1898 , in Silverton, Marion County, Oregon at age 81 and was buried Miller Cemetery, Marion County, Oregon.

His estate was probated on 8 April 1898, Marion County, Oregon
The probate listed:
George B W - note his will was dated 15 July 1896 and he died 28 March 1898, testate;
Mary A Palmer - Daughter, Executor, Marion County;
Nixon E Palmer - grandson, Executor, age 22, Marion County;
Mary A Palmer - daughter, heir [husband, G W Palmer] age 52;
William W Parkes - son "last heard from at Cheyenne, WY" heir, age 51;
Robert H Parkes - son, Lewiston, ID, heir, age 48;
Caleb A Parkes - son, Colton, WA, heir, age 44;
James R Parkes - son, Concord, WA, heir;
George B Parkes - son, Colton, WA, heir;
Flora A McAlpin - daughter, Kiona, WA, heir;
Mary Palmer - granddaughter (Lottie), Lebanon, OR, heir, age (--?--);
Emma Reed - granddaughter (Lottie), Portland, heir, age 24;
Nettie Palmer - granddaughter (Lottie), Marion Co., OR, Heir;
Nellie Palmer - granddaughter (Lottie), Marion Co., OR, heir.

Weekly Oregonian Statesman (Salem) 15 Apr 1898
Testaments files with the County Court yesterday: Estates of Geo W B Parkes and Joseph Hassing Divided among the Respective heirs.
The last will and testament of Geo B W Parks, whose death occurred on March 28, 1895, was filed for probate yesterday. The will, which bears the date of July 15, 1896, disposes of real and personal property of the value of $5000. The will directs that all the just debts and funeral expenses be paid out of the estate; the reminder of the estate do be divided to the children of the decedent.
Mary A Palmer, aged 52 years, and Nixon E Palmer, aged 22 years are named executors of the will. Thomas Palmer and John English were the witnesses to the testament, and certify to the genuineness of the document. The heirs named are:
Mary A Palmer, daughter aged 52 years, of Marion County, Oregon. William W Parkes, son, aged 51 years of Cheyenne, Wy; Robert H Parkes, son, aged 48 years, of Lewiston, Idaho. The heirs of Lottie E Palmer, daughter: Mary Palmer, aged 26 years, of Lebanon; Emma Reed, aged 24 years, Portland; Nettie Palmer, aged 9 years of Marion county, and Nellie Palmer, aged 9 years, of Marion county; Caleb A Parkes, son, aged 44 years of Colton, Washington. James R Parkes, son, of Concord, Washington; George B Parkes, son, of Concord, Washington; Flora McAlpin, daughter, of Kiona, Washington.
Decedent was 80 years old when the will was made and signed.^4,5
His estate was probated on 25 July 1901 Mary A (Parks) Palmer was the executor, apparently, as there are legal notices regarding the estate, as late as 1901, e.g. "J R Parks to Mary A Palmer assigns interest in estate of F B W Parks deceased," 22 Feb 1901.

On 25 Jul 1901, in the Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon, p 3, the estate was declared final.
Probate Order Filled
"Mary A Palmer, as executor of the estate of G B W Parks, deeased has filed her final account and been discharged from her trust, together with her bondsman."^6,7
     In 1853, Bal, Cynthia and the family made the long journey from Indiana to Oregon. According to their Donation Land Claim application, they arrived "in Oregon" 20 October 1853. They would have left Missouri in the early spring, just as soon as the grass was up for the animals’ forage. We do not know exactly when they left, but by August they were in Fort Boise, facing the last long and arduous journey over the Cascade Mountains. Most trail pioneers went northwest to the Snake and Columbia rivers but there was budding an alternative, called the “Free Immigrant Road” and the Meek route. The new combination route had been scouted, but not finished, when Elijah Elliott went to Boise to meet his family in Ft Boise. To make it worse, Elliott did not go east on the road he was planning to bring the wagon west on. The Elliott route ran from the Idaho border, the "Elliott Cut-off," across the desert, crossed the Cascades, down the Middle Fork of the Willamette River to "Skinners" which later became known as Eugene. His bragging about the new route, which would cut 300 mile off the trip, caused a vast number of immigrants to choose to follow him. A good route, plenty of forage, mild climate, easy mountains. . . how could they lose? Leaving the first of September, the more than 1000 people, with thousands of stock animals, set out to the west. Although at first the going was ok, they soon came to the great desert, which had to be crossed. Because it was so late in the year, the streams were mostly dried up. It was very rough going. Some cattle walked away, people had to off-load furniture, food became scarce. The road they expected to find up the eastern slopes of the Cascades never appeared. It hadn't been built. So, they hacked their way up the mountain. Eventually they were exhausted, so Elliott sent ahead a scouting party to bring help on 16 October. Luckily, one of the scouts, Martin Blandling, was found by a farmer in the small village of Lowell. The villagers took food and water to the travelers who eventually made it to Lowell, and on to Eugene. Whether the 20 October date of “arrival” was entirely accurate, it served its purpose. The group had actually been in “Oregon” for close to two months by the time they landed.
Although records haven't been kept of the names of the 615 men and 412 women, by the process of elimination, some have been identified, as they were known to be in the area by the end of that year, and had not checked in at the Indian Agency on the northern route. They also were not known to have come up from the south. For this reason, the Parks family is included in the group.

Shortly after arriving in the area, the family went south to Roseburg, where GBW and Cynthia took out a Donation Land Claim for 135 acres in Township 27S Range 6W. This property is just west of Roseburg proper, on the side of a hill. Probably it wasn't the best place for a farm. The Abstract of Donation Land Claim reads: 818 Parks, George B. W., Douglas Co; b 1817, Greenup Co, Ky; Arr Ore 20 Oct 1853; SC 8 Nov 1855; m Syntha 25 July 1845, Tipton Co, Ind. Pat del 10 Jan 1874.

Sometime between 1865 and 1869, the family moved to Union County, where GBW again took out a claim, this time for 160 acres in Twp 3 south, range 38 east. Before 1880 the family moved again, this time to Whitman County, Washington, where several of the sons took out claims.
George, or Bal, as he was called then, had an orchard at the base of Steptoe Creek, now under water, and property extending up into the canyon. One of his brothers, Charles Rice Parks, and his family came and stayed with them sometime around 1887. I'm sure Bal's brother Robert Harrison Parks and family also visited, having moved to the Grande Ronde area around that time as well. Cynthia's youngest brother, Caleb Richardson, moved to Whitman County as well, having trekked from Indiana, through Kansas, to Washington.

After the death of Caleb Richardson, Sr., (1799-1870), Celia (Humphries) Richardson also moved to Whitman County. Both Cynthia (1826-1887) and her mother Celia (1802-1893) died in Whitman County and are buried in the Colton Cemetery. Bal was "getting on" and apparently became incapacitated, causing daughter Mary Ann (Parks) Palmer to go to court to obtain guardianship. She then moved Bal to the Mount Angel area of Marion County, Oregon, where she and husband Wash (George Washington Palmer) were growing hops. He died there in 1898, and was buried with members of the Palmer family in the Miller Cemetery. His daughter Lottie, who had married Henry Laramie Palmer, was buried there as well, although she died in Elk City, Oregon.