Biography:
Mr. Nicholas Parker was born in Carroll County, Maryland in 1831. He was enslaved by a farming family, although they have not yet been found. In the summer of 1863, after the Battle of Gettysburg, Mr. Parker self-liberated and enlisted in the US Army in New York State.
He served with Company G of the 8th Regiment, USCT, under the name of Augustus Roberts. Mr. Parker used the alias to conceal himself from his previous enslavers. He served as a hospital attendant in Hilton Head, South Carolina. In August of 1864 he was sent to the hospital, sick himself, until September when he returned to duty. He fought in the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm, where he lost his hearing in his left ear. Private Roberts (aka Parker) mustered out with his unit in Brownsville, Texas, in November of 1865.
Upon Mr. Parker’s return to Carroll County, he lived in Westminster. He worked as a cook at the New Windsor College (later Blue Ridge College, now closed) and at Wilson’s Hotel in Westminster.
He married Mrs. Ellen E. (Jackson) Dorsey on November 5, 1873. Mrs. Dorsey had been married before to Mr. Jonathan Dorsey, who died before the war.
The Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Parker lived on Union Street, next to Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College). In addition to his work as a cook, he also served as a Minister in the AME Church. He died at home in May of 1895 and is buried at Ellsworth Cemetery, near Westminster, Maryland.
His headstone was recently cleaned as part of the restoration of the cemetery.
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