The following is an obituary on Sallie Ann Clarke Parker from an Abilene, Texas newspaper:

MRS. R. H. PARKER 91, DIES AT HER HOME WEDNESDAY

Hundreds of friends and acquaintances in Abilene and West Texas learn with regret of the death of Mrs. R. H. Parker, who passed away at her home at 1243 South Second and Butternut street, Wednesday night at 9:50 o'clock, at the remarkable old age of ninety-one years, four months and one week. She had been ill only a few days when the end came and all of the family were present except two daughters and the only son, who were unable to be here on account of illness and distance to travel.

The funeral has been set for Friday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock from the new First Presbyterian Church, with Dr. T. S. Knox officiating.

The life of "Grandma" Parker needs no eulogy. It speaks for itself. She was a living example of the purest, sweetest, kindest and most lovable life that could be lived by a mortal being and a devout Christian.

The history of the life of Mrs. Parker dates back to Dec. 3, 1832, when she was born in Frankfort, Ky., an daughter of Joseph Clarke, an elder in the Presbyterian church and his father before him was also an elder in the same church. Miss Sallie A. Clarke (maiden name of the deceased) joined the church at the early age of eleven years, under the preaching of the once well known, Rev. Stuart R. Robinson, whose name is today revered in the state of Kentucky. The mother of Miss Sallie Clarke, died when she was only six years old.

On Nov. 20, 1851, Miss Sallie A. Clarke was married to Robt. H. Parker in Frankfort, Ky. To this union twelve children were born, ten daughters and two sons. Besides these twelve children, Major and Mrs. Parker reared three grandchildren and one orphan boy.

After living in Frankfort a number of years, the family moved to Burlin, Mo., and later to Lexington, Mo., which was before the Civil war. In 1861 the family moved to Texas and located at McKinney, where they lived until 1869, when the family moved to Shreveport, La., where Mr. Parker was in the service of the government. He was a major in the Civil War.

After spending some four years in Shreveport, the family moved back to the old home in McKinney, Texas, where they remained until they moved to Abilene on Dec. 31, 1883. Abilene was then a village, the town having been organized in March, 1881. Upon moving to Abilene, Major Parker became connected with the M. T. Jones Lumber Company, one of the two lumber yards in Abilene at that time. Later on Major Parker established the R. H. Parker Lunber Co. on the property just east of the present homestead, where the Coca Cola Bottling Works plant is located. Major Parker died on Sept. 15, 1896.

The old home in which Mrs. Parker died was built in 1885 and has been the home of Mrs. Parker these forty years and during all this time, despite the fact that other members of the family lived there with her, the old home was always Mrs. Parker's home and never lost its identity to other members of the family.

Of the twelve children born to Major and Mrs. Parker, eight survive. Those who have gone on before are Joseph Clarke Parker, and three daughters Mary, Jennie and Roberta. The living children are Mrs. Hallie Adams, Dallas; Mrs. Bettie Kelly, Denver, Colo.; Mrs. Sallie Willis, Abilene; John T. Parker, Hurley, N. M.; Mrs. Maggie Cox, Abilene; Mrs. Lavinia P. McDaniel, Abilene; Mrs. Neva Woodward, Dallas, and Mrs. Nellie Jack, Beaumont. The son and Mesdames Jack and Kelly are unable to be here for the funeral.

Grandmother of 35.

Mrs. Parker was the grandmother of thirty-five grandchildren, of whom twenty-one are living and there are also fourteen great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Parker was the oldest member of the First Presbyterian church both in years and service and for many years was the teacher of a Sunday School class. Most of her children were reared in a country home, remote from churches, and she taught them the catechism out of her own head and reared her children in the good old fashioned way, adhereing to the very strictest rules of Christian living. Mrs. Parker was always cheerful and no one ever heard her say an unkind remark about anybody. She was friend to all and sought to do all she could to help humanity. Always a worker in the church, she looked forward to the opening of the new First Presbyterian Church and her funeral will be the first to be held in the new edifice.

Just one week exactly before she passed away, she visited the church and while there offered a prayer on her knees. She attended church Sunday before last on the last day that the congregation worshiped in the Carnegie Library Auditorium, prior to moving into the new church the following week.

At the request of Mrs. Parker, Mrs. S. M. Alexander will sing a solo at the funeral service and there will be special numbers by the choir, and it was the requested wish of the deceased that the choir master, Mr. Henry Morgan, preside over the music at her funeral, assisted by Mrs. Jesse Walker. Mrs. Alexander will sing "Come Thou Disconsolate." Mr. Morgan will sing "Face to Face." Other members of the choir were selected at her request, and some of the songs that will be sung were requested by her.

The pall bearers will be eight grandsons, four sons of Mr. and Mrs. T. M. Willis and four sons of Mr. and Mrs. George W. McDaniel. John T. Willis of Waco arrived in Abilene this morning and Parker Willis of Wichita Falls came in yesterday. Yancey C. McDaniel, who was out of the city arrived Thursday morning. The other grandsons are George, Robert and Julian McDaniel and Grant and Tom Willis.

The present pulpit in the First Presbyterian Church was given to the church 40 years ago by the husband of the deceased, who assisted in construction of a number of the old churches of this section of West Texas.

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The following is an obituary on Sallie Ann Clarke Parker, widow of Robert Henry Parker, from the Dallas Morning News, April 11, 1924:

MRS. R. H. PARKER, ABILENE PIONEER, CALLED BY DEATH

Special to The News.

ABILENE, Texas. April 10.-
Mrs. R. H. Parker, 91 years old, one of the oldest and best-known pioneer residents of this city, died here Wednesday night after a brief illness. The funeral will be held Friday afternoon from the First Presbyterian Church. Dr. T. S. Knox, the pastor, will conduct the services.

Mrs. Parker was born at Frankfort, Ky., Dec. 3, 1832. She joined the Presbyterian Church at the age of 11. In 1851 she was married to Major Robert H. Parker at Frankfort. After a short residence in Missouri, the family moved to McKinney, Texas in 1861 and to Abilene in 1883. Major Parker died in 1896. Of twelve children born to this couple, eight survive as follows: Mrs. Sallie Adams, Dallas; Mrs. Bettie Kelly, Denver; Mrs. Sallie Willis, Abilene; John T. Parker, Hurley, N.M.; Mrs. Maggie Cox, Abilene; Mrs. Lavinia P. McDaniel, Abilene; Mrs. Neva Woodward, Dallas, and Mrs. Nellie Jacks, Beaumont. Mrs. Parker also was the grandmother of thirty-five and left fourteen great grandchildren. Eight grandsons will serve as pallbearers, four sons of Mr. and Mrs. T. M. Willis and four sons of Mr. and Mrs. George W. McDaniel.

***

SARAH (SALLIE) CLARKE PARKER

Grandma Parker was born December 3, 1832, at Frankfort, Kentucky. She was one of 11 children born to Joseph and Harriet Julian Clarke. The mother died when Sallie was six years old. Later Joseph married a cousin of his first wife. Harriet's father, Charles, and her grandfather, John Julian, were both physicians. They had been educated at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Dr. John Julian (a Revolutionary War physician) had married Margaret Isabelle Lounds of Scotland. Her father and brother were both physicians in Scotland. The Julian family members, (known as "St. Julians" in Paris, France), were Huguenots in the home country. They settled in Scotland after the persecution in France, later coming to America and making their home in Virginia.
On November 20, 1851, Sallie Clarke became the bride of Robert H. Parker in Frankfort. After living in Frankfort several years, the couple moved to Burlin, Missouri, and later back to Kentucky-at Lexington. Then they moved to Texas, as stated in Grandpa's sketch.
The Parkers reared three grandchildren and an orphan boy, besides their own large family. They were the grandparents of 35 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. Most of their children were reared in a country home, remote from churches in their early years. Grandma taught them the catechism (from memory), and brought them up by the strict rules of Christian living. She had been raised in a Presbyterian home, her father having been an elder in the Kentucky church and her grandfather (Mathew Clarke) likewise before that. She joined the church in Frankfort when she was eleven years of age.
Grandma was the oldest member of the First Presbyterian Church at the time of her death April 9, 1924. She was a Sunday School teacher for many years, and was an active worker in church activities and in the "Ladies Aid Society".
Just one week to the day before she died (at age 91) she visited the new church building at 4th and Orange accompanied by Mag and Vene. While there, she dropped to her knees and offered a prayer. The previous Sunday she had attended services as usual in the Carnegie Library Auditorium, where the congregation worshipped while the new building was under construction. This was her last attendance at church. Two weeks later her funeral service was in the new church sanctuary-the first to be held there. At her last request, favorite songs of hers were sung, and eight grandsons were pall-bearers-four each from the Willis and McDaniel families. She was buried April10, 1924, beside the grave of her husband on the family plot near Roberta (her daughter), and Nellie's baby son.
Our Parker grandparents came from good "stock" on both sides. They left us a fine heritage of which we should be proud.

Written by Lavinia McDaniel Ward in 1984 for the Parker-Willis reunion in Abilene, Texas.

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This article is from the March 7, 1937 Abilene Reporter News:

Five invitations to Abilene's 56th birthday party, to be held March 15
at the Hilton hotel, have been issued
to five sisters, three of whom
now live in Abilene, and all of whom
came here in 1883.

They are the Parker sisters-
Mrs. Samuel R. Cox (Maggie), Mrs. George W. McDaniel (Lavinia),
Mrs. Tom Willis (Sallie), Mrs. D.
P. Woodward (Neva), and Mrs.
Bettie P. Kelley.

With their mother, Mrs. R. H.
Parker, four sisters and a brother,
they came to Abilene on Dec. 31,
1883. Maj. Parker, the father, had
been in Abilene since 1882, coming
here to take charge of the J. G. Hayes
Lumber Co., a branch of a
Shreveport company.

When the firm was sold, Maj.
Parker opened his own lumber company
at South Second and Elm
streets where the Franklin Motor
company now stands. He later moved
across the street, on the spot
where the Coca Cola Bottling company
now is, and built his home—
the first two-story frame house in
Abilene—just west. Maj. Parker
lived there until his death, in 1896.
Mrs. Parker died in 1924.

Only members of the family still
living are the five sisters.

Mrs. Cox, 1042 Hickory, is married
to another old-timer. He came to
Abilene Nov. 28, 1881, and resided
a ranch near Ft. Phantom Hill
several years before moving to Abilene.
Mrs. Cox was the widow of
Dr. Samuel W. Field, and during
his life lived in Mexico, Houston
and Beaumont, returning here
shortly before she married Mr. Cox.

Mrs. McDaniel's husband came to
Abilene in 1889. He purchased lumber
from his father-in-law to build
a home at 774 Butternut, and from
the time of his marriage until his
death on May 20, 1931, lived there.