Biographical Sketches

b. 14 Jun 1841 · d. 8 Jan 1918 · age 72 years, 6 months, 24 days

A small woman, already old but very lively still — Ann Eliza Barker was a pioneer wife and mother who defended her homestead against Comanche raids, outwitted Indian scouts, and walked miles to Clark Cemetery carrying a walking stick she used to dispatch a copperhead snake along the way.

b. 7 Dec 1834 · d. 17 Dec 1893 · age 59 years, 0 months, 10 days

Born in Lafayette County, Missouri, James Jasper Barker traveled by wagon train to Parker County in December 1853 — brother of Anzaline (Barker) Godfrey. He was granted 160 acres on the Upper Denton Road, built a log cabin, and defended his homestead through years of Comanche raids.

b. 1849 · d. 4 Mar 1928 · age approximately 79 years

Born in Wood County, Texas in 1849, Jim Clark's family traced its roots from Glasgow, Scotland through Alabama and Mississippi to the Texas frontier. He grew up on the edge of Comanche country in Stephens County, witnessed Indian raids as a boy, and eventually settled on land adjacent to Clark Cemetery.

b. 3 May 1825 · d. 1 Feb 1906 · age 80 years, 8 months, 28 days

Born in Bradley County, Tennessee, George Lee Dobbs came to Parker County in 1858 and became one of its earliest and most prominent settlers. He participated in many a chase after marauding Indians and received a government settlement for an Indian depredation claim shortly before his death.

b. 2 Aug 1825 · d. 5 Aug 1897 · age 72 years, 0 months, 3 days

Born in Knox County, Tennessee, John William Godfrey was a Methodist minister who founded Godfrey's Chapel — one of the earliest churches in Parker County — on land that would become Clark Cemetery. His name is woven through the earliest history of the community.

b. 9 Feb 1828 · d. 3 Jan 1913 · age 84 years, 10 months, 24 days

Born in Arkansas, Mary Henderson Lafferty came to Parker County in 1857 with a caravan of Criswells. She married the widower Rev. John Godfrey and raised his children as her own, living in Springtown near Weatherford for the rest of her long life.

b. 4 Dec 1807 · d. 15 Jun 1874 · age approximately 67 years

Born in Mercer County, Kentucky, Daniel Lee Kutch migrated with his family to Texas by water — down the Mississippi to New Orleans, up the Red River to Shreveport, then by wagon to Texas. Their boat blew up on the Mississippi, and the family lost all their possessions except the clothes on their backs.

b. 1824 · d. Nov 1870

Born in Arkansas in 1824, Lewis Plato McDonald was one of the earliest settlers of Parker County and was on the list of petitioners that established the county. He had a pre-emption land grant of 280 acres on the Clear Fork of the Trinity — the very site of Clark Cemetery.

b. 11 Dec 1803 · d. 22 Mar 1880 · age 76 years, 3 months, 11 days

Born in Chester County, South Carolina in 1803, Edwin Leroy R. Patton was duly elected and commissioned as Chief Justice of Robertson County on February 22, 1843 — his commission signed by Republic of Texas President Sam Houston and Secretary of State Anson Jones.

b. 24 Dec 1828 · d. Dec 1897 · age approximately 69 years

Born in Patterson, New Jersey, Henry Ward led an extraordinary life before settling in Parker County — learning the blacksmith trade, sailing on whaling voyages in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, and working in machine shops in Newark before heading to Texas in 1855.

b. 17 Jul 1880 · d. c. 1960s

The Woody family has left an enormous imprint on the area around Clark Cemetery and Veal Station. Joe Woody's great grandfather Samuel Woody (1797–1879) is generally recognized as the first settler of Parker County — arriving in the mid-1840s by water and ox team via Shreveport, Louisiana.