Luther Parker
First permanent white settler of the Town of Muskego, 1836
Net worth
$5,000
1850
About
Luther Parker was the New Hampshire schoolteacher and justice of the peace who became the first permanent white settler of the Town of Muskego and later sat in Wisconsin's territorial assembly.
He was born in Temple, New Hampshire, on December 18, 1800, taught school, made shoes, and helped draft the 1832 constitution of the short-lived Republic of Indian Stream on the unsettled New Hampshire–Canada border. Canadians arrested him in 1835. The next year he brought his wife, Alletta, and their children to Wisconsin Territory.
Giles French and Asa Parker were already in temporary quarters; in January 1837 Luther moved the family into a log cabin on the wooded south shore of the lake. County historians still call him the township's first permanent white settler. The 1845 election sent him to the territorial assembly that met in January 1846, where he served on the schools and engrossed-bills committees and chaired agriculture and manufactures. He was in the room when Waukesha County separated from Milwaukee County, and he sat on the county board in 1851.
He died in Muskego on June 16, 1853, at age fifty-two. Alletta was already buried in the Durham Hill ground; the cemetery later took the Parker name. His son Charles, raised on that farm from age nine, later served two terms as Wisconsin's lieutenant governor from St. Croix County. Muskego kept the father.
Notable facts
Moved his family into a log cabin on the south shore of a Muskego-area lake in January 1837 and is remembered as the Town of Muskego's first permanent white settler.
Helped draft the 1832 constitution of the Republic of Indian Stream on the New Hampshire–Canada border and was arrested by Canadian authorities in 1835.
Served in the Wisconsin territorial assembly that met in January 1846 and took part in the creation of Waukesha County; died in Muskego on June 16, 1853.
What questions can this profile answer
- What makes Luther Parker notable?
- Luther Parker was the New Hampshire schoolteacher and justice of the peace who became the first permanent white settler of the Town of Muskego and later sat in Wisconsin's territorial assembly. He was born in Temple, New Hampshire, on December 18, 1800, taught school, made shoes, and helped draft the 1832…
- What is Luther Parker's estimated net worth?
- Luther Parker's estimated net worth is $5,000 as of 1850.