In the country around Dongola, no figure is so welcome as is that of Dr.
Charles A. C. Parker. Beginning his life as a young man in the service
of the public as a school teacher, he saved his small monthly stipend in
order that he might continue to give his services to his fellow men, as
their physician. Dr. Parker has been a practicing physician for nineteen
years, and in spite of having spent only four of these in Dongola, he is
loved as loyally as though he had spent all of his life among the people
of this section.
Charles A. C. Parker was born on the 7th of
September, 1863, in Pocahontas, Tennessee. He was the son of Rev. I. A.
J. Parker and Jane J. (Clary) Parker. The father is one of the oldest
ministers of the Christian church in the state of Illinois, his years of
service being over two score. When Dr. Parker was a baby of two years
the family left Tennessee, emigrating to Massac county, Illinois and
settling in the little town of Metropolis. Soon afterward they again
moved this time to Johnson county, near Buncombe. The parents now reside
in Vienna, where they are revered for the beauty of character which is
shown so clearly in their daily lives. They are the parents of eight
children, Dr. C. A. C.; Lucas, who is a printer and undertaker at
Vienna; Gus, living in Larned, Kansas; Lillie, staying on the old home
place; Willis, or better, Rev. W. E. Parker, at present a student at
Harvard University; Rev. Beverly P. the well loved Christian minister at
Roselle, Kansas; Ethel, now Mrs. Marbury of Leverett, Illinois: Myrtle,
the wife of the Rev. Sears of Maroa, Illinois.
Dr. Parker was
educated in the common schools of Johnson county, and when he was no
more than a school boy himself, at the age of seventeen, he began
teaching. He taught eight terms in all; five terms in Union county,
three in Johnson and four in Moscow. His success as a school teacher was
marked. He had the gift of sympathy and understanding, and children
gravitated to him naturally, though in his schools everyone knew they
dare not misbehave, for his rule though tender was firm. He now studied
medicine under Dr. Dick of Union county for one year and then in 1890
his great desire was fulfilled and he entered the doors of the Marion
Sims Medical College as a student. On the 25th of April, 1892 he was
graduated and immediately began the practice of his profession. The
first year he spent at Mt. Pleasant and then located near Cypress where
he remained from 1893 to 1906. During this year he moved to Campbell
Hill in Jackson county, Illinois, where he remained for the next two
years. In the spring of 1908 he came to Dongola, and with these years of
experience behind him he has been able to make himself indispensable to
the people of this section. His practice is very large, and much
scattered, so that sometimes this faithful practitioner is forced to
drive sixteen miles or so to cure a cold. It is worth while, for no
where is there a class of men who do a greater amount of good than the
country doctor, and no where can one win a more true and loyal set of
friends than in just such work. In accordance with his doctrine of
brotherly love, he is a firm believer in the good of fraternalism. He is
a member of the Masonic order of Dongola, is a Modern Woodman of
America, belongs to the Modern Brotherhood of America and to the Royal
Neighbors.
His affiliation in religious matters is with the
Baptist church, where he is a regular attendant. In 1881 he was married
to Mary A. Henard. the daughter of Francis M. and Lucretia A. (Bridges)
Henard. They have five children, three of whom are married and have
families of their own. Marie C. is Mrs. Hinkle and the mother of two
children. Loren and Leland. Charles M. is a railroad conductor and lives
at Salem, Illinois, with his two sons James and Jack, and his wife, who
was Ina Bridges. Eva E., who married W. 0. Holshouser lives at Cypress,
with her family of four children, Wanda, Hazel, Paul and Joseph. The two
youngest, Mary Edith and Zillah are still at home.
Dr. C. A. C.
Parker is interested in things outside of his profession, which is
rather rare for scientific men. He is vice-president and stockholder of
the new First National Bank of Dongola, which opened for business on the
30th of September, 1911. He is also the owner of a brick business block
and a fine residence in Dongola.
Dr. Parker must have received
his tendency to battle with disease from his long line of fighting
ancestors. His father was a soldier all through the Civil war, fighting
under Colonel Moss on the Union side. The grandfather of the doctor,
Aaron Parker also fought during the Civil war and died of chronic
dysentery during this period, so the doctor comes naturally by his
fighting propensities.
Extracted from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, by George W. Smith, volume 2, page 781.