Dates: 1852 - 1863 (scattered); 1878; n.d. 
MDAH only has microfilm. (MF Roll # 36319)

 

Biography: 

Houston Huling Parker

Houston Huling Parker was a physician farmer in Brandon. He was appointed Chief Surgeon at the Confederate Hospital in Brandon in June 1862. His son, J. J. Parker, was also a surgeon at the Confederate Hospital in Brandon. He later moved to Prentiss. A. J. Parker was a circuit rider in the Mississippi Conference of the Methodist Church, admitted in 1839. He served many circuits during his life, primarily in central Mississippi. He died in 1878.

The collection consists of diaries (three), plantation journals (seven), one volume entitled "Medical Recipes," a folder of correspondence (13 items), and an undated diary presumably belonging to A. J. Parker, brother of H. H. Parker. The diaries cover the years 1852 (a fragment), 18611862. Parker kept daily entries during the latter years. The entries contain information on the weather and work done on the farm (April 5, 1861"have 75 acres of corn plantedcotton land all listed uprye in full headoats about a foot high.") and his visits as a physician (July 13, 1861"I visited J. A. Jackson's son Jasper"). In early 1861 his entries reflect the events of secession and the outbreak of the Civil War (January 13, 1861 "Political troubles gathering like a tornadoto desolate the country." April 28, 1861 "There is no talk but of war! war! war! All is preparation and everything else seems to be aborted by the one idea'war'").

Parker eventually began working at the Confederate hospital in Brandon. In April, 1862, he went to Corinth to get wounded soldiers from the Battle of Shiloh and brought back "40 or 50" to Brandon. "Some are doing badly," he noted, "several must die." On June 4, 1862, he noted that he "took position of Post Surgeon under the Confederate government for 200 patients." From mid-April to the end of 1862 almost all entries contain "I spent day in Hospital." The final entry is dated December 27, 1862.

The plantation journals are scattered, dating 1852, 1853, 1857, 1858, 1859, 1860 and 1863. The entries are daily concerning work done on his plantation. A volume entitled "Medical Recipes" was kept by Parker apparently while working at Charity Hospital in New Orleans in the 1840s. The correspondence mostly concerns financial matters on his plantation or his medical practice. The A. J. Parker diary was apparently kept by H. H. Parker's brother while he was serving as a circuit rider in Louisiana. The diary (undated) covers a portion of a year from April through September.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: H. H. Parker diaries (3 volumes) 1854, 1861-1862

Series 2: Plantation journals (7 volumes) 1852-1863 (scattered)

Series 3: "Medical Recipes" (1 volume) 184?

Series 4: Correspondence (13 items) 1852-1878 (scattered), n.d.

Series 5: A. J. Parker diary (1 volume) n.d.