DUANE
Duane's take
The way I tell it, I'm followin' the official marker on Thomas S. Parker, standing right here in Nueces County — so let's let the record do the talkin'. Philadelphia, 1817.
That's where this story begins — about as far from the Texas brush country as a man can get. But Thomas S. Parker didn't stay put.
He came to Texas at the age of twenty, and if that sounds like a young man with something to prove, well, the land itself was about to hand him every opportunity. By 1839, the Parker family was planting roots in a serious way. Thomas, along with his parents William W. and Hannah Parker, were awarded large land grants in the vicinity of what we now call Corpus Christi.
They put that land to work raising cattle — which, in that time and place, was about as foundational as it gets. Now, about 1845, Parker threw in his lot with a friend named Henry L. Kinney.
Kinney was the kind of man who showed up first — he'd already established a trading post in this very vicinity, and he commanded a Texas Ranger unit on top of it. Two men like that finding common ground? The country around them didn't stand a chance of staying quiet for long.
And then, in August of 1845, General Zachary Taylor's U.S. Army came and set up camp right near Kinney's trading post. Things moved fast from there.
Kinney was named the army's quartermaster. And Thomas Parker — cattle man, landowner, friend in the right place — was awarded the contract to supply beef for the soldiers. Out of that army post, the town of Corpus Christi grew.
Sit with that a moment. The whole city, sprouting from a trading post and a beef contract. By the time Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845, the locals knew exactly who their man was.
Thomas Parker — "Col. Tom," as people called him — was appointed the first Nueces County Sheriff. The first one.
In a county that needed someone steady, they reached for the man who was already there. He wasn't done serving, not by a long measure. He went on to ride as a Texas Ranger, and when the Civil War came, he marched into it as a soldier in the Confederate army.
Wars end, though. And when this one did, Col. Tom came back to Corpus Christi — the town that had grown up, in part, because of him.
In 1873 he became City Marshal, and he held on in this country until 1886. The marker says his contributions in commercial activity and law enforcement were vital to the early growth of Corpus Christi. Vital.
That's not a word the Texas Historical Commission throws around lightly. He and his wife Rachel are buried at this site. A man born in Philadelphia who spent his life feeding armies, keeping the peace, and watching a city rise from a trading post in the Texas brush — buried right here in the ground he helped make matter.
What the marker says
Born in Philadelphia in 1817, Thomas S. Parker came to Texas at the age of twenty. In 1839 he and his parents William W. and Hannah Parker were awarded large land grants in the vicinity of present-day Corpus Christi; they used the land to raise cattle. About 1845 Parker joined forces with his friend Henry L. Kinney, who had established a trading post in this vicinity and also commanded a Texas Ranger unit. When General Zachary Taylor's U.S. Army set up came near the trading post in August 1845, Kinney was named the army's quartermaster, and Thomas Parker was awarded the contract to supply beef for the soldiers. It was from this army post that the town of Corpus Christi grew. As an established resident of the area, "Col. Tom" Parker, as he was known, was appointed the first Nueces County Sheriff after Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845. He later served as a Texas Ranger and as a soldier in the Confederate army. After the end of the Civil War, Parker returned to Corpus Christi, where he became City Marshal in 1873 and died in 1886. Thomas Parker's contributions in commercial activity and law enforcement were vital to the early growth of Corpus Christi. He and his wife Rachel are buried at this site. (1983)