George Washington Parker was born in Sherbrooke, Canada, on January 5, 1813, to Jonathan Parker. He immigrated to America early in life and earned a living farming and rafting. He settled in the Iowa Territory around 1836 and eventually purchased 320 acres of land. He married Hannah Heller in the Iowa Territory on March 13, 1842. They had at least eight children: Caroline, born around 1845; George, born around 1847; Clara, born around 1849; James, born around 1851; Linda, born around 1854; Mary, born around 1855; Ellen, born around 1858; and Charles, born around 1860.

 

Parker worked as a farmer in Liberty, Iowa, and by 1850, he owned $1,000 of real estate. A decade later, he owned $7,000 of real estate and $900 of personal property. He supported the Whig Party and then the Republican Party, and he secured a seat in the state legislature in 1859. He served for three successive terms before becoming a justice of the peace and then a county commissioner. By 1870, he owned $15,000 of real estate and $3,000 of personal property, and he employed at least four farm laborers. He moved to Davenport, Iowa, around 1880, and his wife died there around 1893. He passed away in Davenport on July 16, 1901.

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