The border vidette., 1904-07-16
OUR NEXT PRESIDENT.
Judge Parker's Personal and Polite al
 History.

| Harriet E. Stratton. His ancestors
 for several generations were residents of Massachusetts,, his great grand three years in the War of the Re
 volntion. His early education was obtained in the academy and normal school at Contland, where his parents resided. At the age of sixteen he commenced teaching in order to obtain money to enable him to continue at school after which he adopted the law as profession. But it was by no means all plain sailing. His family was not in affiuent circumstances, and it became necessary for him, besides working on the farm during the sum mer, to obtain other employment in order to enable him to attend the academy and normal school as well as the law school. This he did not hesitate to do; any honorable employ ment was eagerly sought. The winter after he was sixteen he started out to
 
 After a thirteen- mlle drive and hume rous disappointments, he was engaged by the trustees of a Virgil township school in his home county Later he entered the normal school, and the following winter taught school in the neighbor hood of Binghamton. The next winter Prof. J. IT. Hoose, the principal of the Cortland Normal School. received an application from school in Accord, Ulster County, for a principal of a school with wages at three dollarsa day, and he asked young Parker to take it. He was only too glad of the opportunity, and after teaching about seven months, he enter ed the office of Schoonmaker .E Harden burgh, as law student. Soon after entering MT. Schoonmaker's office, the latter, who was then serving his second term as county judge, was defeated for re election after hard campaign, and was so disheartened that he decided to withdraw altogether from politics. Relieving that his patron was unduly discouraged and that he was still very strong with the people, young Parker arranged for Mir. Shoemaker nom-- ination for State Senator in 1875 and prevailed upon him to accept The young lawyer so we'll managed the campaign that MT. Schoonmaker was elected by large majority and his prestige in politics fully restored. for he was, in 1877, elected attorney gen eral, ren ominated in 1879, nominated for judge of the Court of Appeals in 1880, and subsequently, appointed in terstate commerce commissioner by President Cleveland
 In the year 1877 young Parkers prominence and popularity in his party brought him forward as the party $ candidate for the office of Surrogate, then held by most able and popular Republican lawyer of the county. He was nominated in hotly contested convention and notwithstanding his opponent for the candidacy boited his nOmina tion, he was elected, being the only candidate elected on the ticket
 His popularity with the voters was still more strikingly shown in 1883, when, after having served six years as Surrogate, he Was re elected to the office by majority of l, 400 in a total vote of 5000 against a competition Judge William Lawton-whose popu- larIty County Judge had carried the county twice successlvely by large maiorities, and again he was the only candidate on the Democratic ticket who was elected. In 1881 he was delegate in the convention nominating Mir. Cleveland and in 1885 a delegate in the convention nominating David B. Hill for Governor. In this Stato campaign he was placed at the head of the State Executive Committee and had personal charge of tho campaign. Largely owing to Parkers musterful work the entire Democratic State ticket was elected by plurelities rang ;ng lety,con 1l coo ond 1000 Fur