Mrs. Parker was the only child of Frankie and Charlie Silver, whose tragic story has been immortalized in Appalachian Mountain folklore. Only two years old when her mother died on the gallows for the murder of her father, she was raised by her grandmother. In January 1850, at the age of 19, she married David W. Parker, a young McDowell County farmer. The marriage proved to be a successful one, but the couple's happiness was shattered 11 years later by the advent of the American Civil War, when David enlisted in the Confederate Army. Repeatedly wounded in action during various engagements with his North Carolina Regiment, he eventually died of his wounds in April 1865. Nancy, then 34, was devastated by his loss. Left a widow with several children, in the early 1870's she wed William C. Robinson. Their marriage produced a son but ultimately failed, at which point Nancy reverted to using her first husband's surname. At the time of her death, shortly before her 71st birthday, her survivors included descendants from both marriages. The plaque at the foot of her grave honors the memory of her beloved first husband, whose remains were interred in a mass grave for Confederate casualties in Richmond, Virginia.
Mrs. Parker was the only child of Frankie and Charlie Silver, whose tragic story has been immortalized in Appalachian Mountain folklore. Only two years old when her mother died on the gallows for the murder of her father, she was raised by her grandmother. In January 1850, at the age of 19, she married David W. Parker, a young McDowell County farmer. The marriage proved to be a successful one, but the couple's happiness was shattered 11 years later by the advent of the American Civil War, when David enlisted in the Confederate Army. Repeatedly wounded in action during various engagements with his North Carolina Regiment, he eventually died of his wounds in April 1865. Nancy, then 34, was devastated by his loss. Left a widow with several children, in the early 1870's she wed William C. Robinson. Their marriage produced a son but ultimately failed, at which point Nancy reverted to using her first husband's surname. At the time of her death, shortly before her 71st birthday, her survivors included descendants from both marriages. The plaque at the foot of her grave honors the memory of her beloved first husband, whose remains were interred in a mass grave for Confederate casualties in Richmond, Virginia.
