Eben Parker (b. 1793 - d. 1838)
MSA SC 5496-51365
Maryland State Colonization Society Emigrant to Liberia from Queen
Anne's County, 1835
Biography:
Eben Parker was a farmer who was freed by Thomas Brown of Queen Anne's County. He emigrated to Liberia with his wife, Charlotte, and five daughters, Amie, Kitty, Elizabeth, Charlotte Ann, and Caroline.1 On December 24, 1835, the family sailed from Baltimore on the brig Fortune, arriving at Cape Palmas, Liberia on February 4, 1836.2 By 1837, his youngest daughter Caroline is absent from the census, suggesting that she passed away.3
Eben continued farming in the new settlement despite suffering from crippling arthritis. He cleared and fenced a lot on Maryland Avenue, opposite the Episcopal mission at Mt. Vaughan. Early in 1838, he decided to grow his own rice than rather purchase it from the native Grebo people. This turned out to be a fateful decision. The Grebo feared that they would lose their monopoly on selling rice if Eben and other settlers discovered a way to grow rice successfully. In order to impede Eben's success, one of the sedibo (Grebo official) decreed that no African could work for him. Nevertheless, Eben persisted in growing rise with the assistance of his wife and daughters. He also worked the fields himself, sitting down on a stool whenever he needed to rest.4
Nevertheless, the Grebo harassed Eben and his family. On one occasion, a Grebo woman assaulted Charlotte and her daughter on the road, pushing Charlotte into a ditch and cutting the little girl on the arm with a billhook. During another incident, a Grebo broke into their home and stole a gun. With the colony dependant upon African produce for survival, colonial officials focused on appeasing the Grebo rather than defending the Parkers. As tensions mounted, some Grebo states shut off the supply of cassava, bringing the colonists to the brink of famine.5
On July 24, 1838, Eben Parker purchased a sheep from a native Barrawe man trading livestock and other items. Later that the day, the man showed up at Eben's home, claiming that he had not been paid enough and demanding the return of his sheep. When the man tried to recover his sheep, Eben shot him, hitting him in the shoulder. Convinced that he had acted properly, Eben threatened to shoot any officer who tried to arrest him. Two days later, approximately fifty of the injured Barrawe's relatives returned to take redress for his injury. They proceeded to Eben's house and attacked the family. Eben and three of his daughters were killed. Wounded, Charlotte Parker fled from a back window of the house with a child in her arms. The group of Grebo then robbed the house and set it on fire. Charlotte later reported that the entire family could have escaped safely if not for Eben's stubbornness in wanting to face the Grebos.6, 7
The following morning, Captain Charles Snetter took a small band of colonists went to Parker's farm to investigate. Nearby, they encountered a group of Grebo men and boys who had just returned from inspecting their farms. Settlers accused them of being the same men who had killed the Parkers. Likely fearing for their lives as another group of militia approached, the Grebo scattered into the bush. Snetter ordered his men to fire, killing two Grebo while the rest escaped. A court condemned Snetter's actions and banished him from the colony. However, with the murder of Eben Parker and his family fresh in their minds, many of the colony's citizens disagreed with the court's decision, believing that the government showed too much favor to Africans.8 Colonial officials held little sympathy for Eben Parker, as demonstrated by a letter from John Russworm, the colonial governor, to John Latrobe, the president Maryland State Colonization Society. Russworm believed Eben's fate to be his own fault, "Though Parker has fallen by native violence, his fate is nothing more than I expected, as he was daily engaged in palavering, pointing his gun, &c. and in the case before firing at the natives."9 Nevertheless, Snetter's prosecution as well as increased fortifications around the colony helped to avert further bloodshed for the time being.10
2. Hall, Richard L. On Afric’s Shore: A History of Maryland in Liberia, 1834-1857. (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2003), 453.
4. Hall, 182.
5. Ibid, 182-183.
6. Ibid, 184-186.
8. Ibid, 188-189.
10. Ibid, 194.
Return
to Eben Parker's Introductory Page
|
Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
|