Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1864-07-01
CAPTAIN VIM. T. Parker.

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From Discourse preached in the Bdpfis
| Mating House IN iTisworh, Ne, Jun
26, 1861. by ". VI. WitiiamS.
Our highly esteemed townsman. Cap
tain William +. Parker, was born in thu
| beautiful town of Pennington, Me. liz
entered Watcrvlle College in the yea
1854 at the carly age of fifteen. Hi
scholarship was of high order. While ;
member of college. his attention was turn
ed to the suhjec: of his relations to tn,
Creator. Conscious of guilt. he sough
the forgivncss of his sin, and believed tina
he received It through the mediation of tn,
Lord Jesus Christ. He was received in
to tie Baptist church in Wateftille ncal
the middle of his college course. lie grad
uatcd in ISIS. He taught the High School
in Bangor one term and he taught also the
High School in Ellsworth. In the veal
1850 he received and accepted the offer o.
Profcssorship in Bethel Collge, Russell
vile, Ky. At the expiration of the ycai
he returned to the North, and after study
inr law was admitted to the bar i'll the
Spring of ls6l.
With every prospect of success in his
profession, he enlisted in the 18th. Maine
Regiment in July 1852. In September
following. he was commissioned rs LIST.
Z s
Artillery. He was promoted to the Cap
taincy of Co. l. in January, 1861. The
in the Notifications around Washington till
the present campaign. 1t at length joined
the army of the Potomac, and was first
under fire in the battle of Laurel Hill,
Spotsylvania, Va. Captain Parker enter
ed upon the fight Thursday =. NJ. May
~, at twenty minutes of five. \ letter
from Major Shepherd, college as well as
military friend. says: During the after
noon of May 10 the day on which he was
wounded. | sat with Captain Parker a
long timc. He seemed cheerful aud hap
py. After the battle commenced. |
noticed he was pale but supposed it was
caused by the effort he put forth to keep
his men in position This company was new
and a little more difficult to managc) In
a short time learned that he was wound
ed in the thigh. urged him very strong
" To 70 the rear. He refused and remain
ed with his company uutil the firing ccas
ed. then passed along the line and found
that he had been wounded in the breast
helped him thirty or forty PAGES to the
rear, gave him Il cantccn of water. then
went back and detached two men to help
him to the hospital. At the time | did
not consider him mortally wounded, nor do
| think he considered himself dangerous
at the time. lie seemed cheerful and
spoke frclingly of the many poor fellows
that had been killed and wounded. | did
not see him aitcrward. ! learned from an
officer who was present, that he died calm
and cheerful like himself to the last.
also learned from an officer that the chris
tan fortitude which he cvinccd in his last
hour caused all TO look upon him with rev.
GRANGE and respect. He is buried in :,
pleas mt little grove of oaks about two and
a half miles east Of Spotsylvania Court
House. Captain Parker" continues
Major Shcperd, "was respected and loved
by every officer and enlisted man in the
regiment. He was one that had no enc
mics. Ny heart is too full to write
morc.'
From letter of the Chaplain of the
regiment, Rev. II. c. Leonard, | extract
the following: 1.-THE Chaplain of the lst
Mass. Artillery happened at the hospital
and was with Captains Parker and Pcttin-
gill when they died. Said he to me: Cap
tain Parker talked with composure and
chcerlulness, He was perfectly at peace
aud happy. He was sorry not to see YOU
and told me to give YOU his best regards.
Then he added: Ills was very beautiful
spirit" To this Chaplain Leonard him
self adds: 81 cannot tell YOU all wish
to. am dumb after so heavy stroke
BY -and-by will have time to say wha,
thought and think of the dear brave man
who has gone so soon from the field of du-
ty and sacrifice to heaven"
Such is the outline Of Captain Parker
general course of life, and such are all the
facts that have as yet come to our kmowl-
edge relative to his last hours. His char
acter could scarcely have been made more
fragrant by whatever messages he might
have been able To send to us in the hour of
his departure. He died on the Goth. of
May, at the age of p years and months.
| need not dwell upon his PATRIOTISM
Endowed with nature more than usually
sensitive, with an intellect disciplined by
faithful application to languages and math-
ematics, with taste capable Of approaching
the best English and American literature;
with abundant prospect of success in the
noble profession Of law, and which | ven
tire to say he would have contributed his
share to make still nobler; with a breadth
and strength of mind that made hin re-
solve TO hold works of fiction and all other
light literature in strict subordinalion to