Biography written by Evelyn Park Blalock. Photographs are from the collection of Donald Edward Park (1934-2014), posted here by his daughter. Please do not publish elsewhere without providing full and proper credit. Thank you.
----------

Henry Thomas Park was born in 1827, in Millersburg, Bourbon County, Kentucky, to Elza D. Park and Mary "Polly" Morris McIntire Park.

The obituary for Henry Thomas Park reads as follows:

"H. T. Parke was born May 15, 1827 at Millers Burgs, Bourbon county, Kentucky and died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Wylie at Red Wing, Kansas, Monday, July 3, aged 84 years. In 1832 he moved with his parents to Adams county, Ills., and there was married to Sarah Ann Crawford on September 2, 1848. To this union ten children were born, eight of whom are living as follows: F. M. Park, White Cloud, Kansas; Mrs. Lina Bennett of Cyril, Okla.; Mrs. Lizzie Wylie of Red Wing; Henry Park, Kewanee, Ills.; Warren Park, Goodland, Idaho; Mrs. Ollie DeForest of Ahpeatone, Okla.; Mrs. Ella Harrison, Neola, Iowa; and Mrs. Kate Menike of Peoria, Ills. Funeral services were held at the home of his daughter at Red Wing, yesterday conducted by Rev. R. C. Smith and interment was made in the Hoisington cemetery."

H.T.'s birth date is placed as May 15, 1827, in the obituary, but as August 15, 1827, on his headstone. As no birth record has been found, a determination regarding which date is correct cannot be made at this time. Regarding H.T.'s marriage to Sarah, this record can be found in Warren County rather than Adams County, Illinois.

After their marriage, H.T. and Sarah lived in Fall Creek (Adams County) for the birth of their first child, but moved to Swan (Warren County) for the births of their next seven children. Tragically, they lost two of their sons at a very young age. John Crawford Park was born on March 2, 1856, and died on January 19, 1860. He suffered from a disease of the throat for three months prior to his death. George Elza Park was born on January 30, 1859, and died on October 6, 1859. His cause of death was listed as inflammation of the bowel. It is quite possible that George died of Typhoid fever, which was going through the area at the time of his death. Six other individuals died of similar symptoms during September and October 1859 in this small community. The deaths of both George and John are recorded in the U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule (Swan Township, Warren County, Illinois) for the year ending June 1860.

John and George are buried in McMahill Cemetery in Greenbush -- the same cemetery as their uncle John Samuel Crawford, their great uncle and great aunt Albert Famous Morris and wife Mary Summers Morris, and their great aunt and great uncle Mary Snapp McMahill and husband William McMahill (whose family donated the property for McMahill Cemetery).

The family moved to McDonough County about 1868, where H.T. and Sarah's youngest two children were born.

Some time between 1870 and 1880, members of the Park family began to move further west. In the 1880 US Census, H.T. is shown living with the family of his daughter, Elizabeth Wylie, in Scott, Poweshiek County, Iowa. Information contained on this census demonstrates why researchers should not rely strictly on a Census to trace their family history. H.T. is reported as a widower here, but actually Sarah was alive. She is shown on the 1880 US Census still living in Illinois with their younger children: Henry, Warren, Ollie, Ella and Kate.

On the 1885 Kansas Census, H.T. is shown residing with daughter Angeline Bennett and her family, in Big Bend, Republic County, Kansas. H.T.'s daughter Ollie is also shown in the household. Elizabeth Wylie and her family are shown living next door. H.T. is again shown as a widower, though Sarah was still alive. Sarah is not found on the 1885 Kansas Census, but she had joined the family in Big Bend by the time of her death there in 1887.

By 1900, Angeline's family again moved westward, and H.T. went with them. They settled in Keowee, Garfield County, Oklahoma. H.T. is shown with them again on the 1910 Census, living in Doyle, Caddo County, Oklahoma.

Unfortunately, though H.T. did provide a strong example of perseverance and hard work while assisting in the establishment of numerous homesteads for his children, several grandchildren and great grandchildren recounted unpleasant memories. As is often the case when extended families live together in difficult situations, tempers flared and personalities clashed.

Here is a recollection from Lola Taylor Turner (great granddaughter of H.T. through his granddaughter Stella Park Taylor):

"Many incidents that stand out in our memories are not happy to recall. I, my sisters, and two older brothers remember this man demanding that we call him Granddaddy Tom. He was very good at swinging a cane. He and Francis Marion did not get along and he came to our house causing no end of trouble, until my father Edward Taylor bought him a ticket and put him on a train to Farmington, Illinois. That was the last we ever saw of him."

It is unclear exactly when H.T. returned to Kansas, but he was living in Hoisington with his daughter Lizzie (Wylie) at the time of his death in 1911.

Children of H.T. and Sarah Ann:
Francis Marion Park
Angeline Park Bennett
Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Park Wylie
John Crawford Park
George Elza Park
Henry Hand Park
Warren Gooding Park
Ollie Park DeForest
Ella Park Harrison
Katherine Lucinda (Kate) Park Switzer