THE PARKER CABIN

Built: ca. 1848
Location: East of Birdville, Tarrant County, Texas
Owners: Hamilton Bennett Family; Isaac and Lucy C. Parker Family; and Isaac and
                 Virginia S. Family; Cynthia Ann Parker
Builder: Hamilton Bennett Family

This double-pen log house was built circa 1848 under an original Peters Colony Land Grant. It also played a part in the well known story of Cynthia Ann Parker.

This structure is an excellent example of a dogtrot cabin. A dogtrot is a covered breezeway that separates two log rooms. This design allows the breeze to flow through the house in the summer. Since the kitchen is separate from the bedroom, the heat coming from the stove does not reach the sleeping quarters. In addition, each log room has its own fireplace which provides warmth in the winter.

Among some of the artifacts displayed in the cabin are photographs of the Parker family, a small child’s chair owned by the Parker family, and the chair that is said to have been Sam Houston’s favorite when he visited the Parkers.

The Parker home was eventually turned into a spacious house that bore no resemblance to the log structure hidden underneath. In 1927, Amon G. Carter acquired the Parker home and restored the log portion at Shady Oak Farm. After Mr. Carter's death, the Amon G. Carter Foundation donated the historic structure to Log Cabin Village.

THE PARKER FAMILY

Isaac Parker

About eight miles east of Weatherford, Texas, a state historical marker commemorates the life of Isaac Parker. The marker reads,

"Pioneer, soldier and law maker. Born April 7, 1793 in Elbert County, Georgia. Came to Texas in 1833. Served in Elisha Camp's Company in 1836. Member of Congress of the Republic of Texas, 1839-1845; of the Constitutional Convention in 1845. State Senator. Died April 14, 1883, in Parker County."

During the War of 1812, Isaac fought under General Andrew Jackson and served alongside Sam Houston, who became his lifetime friend. Isaac went to Tennessee where he married Lucy W. Cheatham on August 13, 1816. They resided there only a short time before the lure of new lands, places and people beckoned. The young couple then headed west to the frontier of Illinois where they joined his parents. Here their five children were born:

In 1833, thirty-two members of the Parker family migrated to Texas where they settled on the Navasota River near the little town of Elkhart. In 1853, Isaac Parker and his family moved to Birdville, Texas, which was then the county seat of Tarrant County. It was here that he purchased this home from Hamilton Bennett. Over the next few years, Isaac converted the double log cabin into a spacious home, and the original dogtrot cabin was buried beneath sheetrock and clapboards for many years.

Lucy died in 1867, and Isaac remarried in 1870. Two years later he and his second wife, Virginia Simms, left the Birdville property in the care of his son, Isaac Duke Parker, and moved to Parker County, which had been named in his honor. Four children were borne to Isaac and Virginia. Isaac was in his eighties when his last child was born.

Because of his illustrious career, Parker County was named in his honor. Isaac died at the age of 91.