Fort Parker Memorial, (sculpture).

Fort Parker Memorial, (sculpture).

Weldert and Dietz, fabricator.

Dietz, W. H., fabricator.

Weldert, Roy, fabricator.

Fort Parker Memorial, (sculpture).

Cornerstone placed: Aug. 23, 1922. Dedicated Dec. 11, 1922. Figures added: 1932.

Figures: Carrara marble; Base: gray granite.

Figures: approx. 7 ft. x 3 ft. 6 in. x 3 ft. 6 in.; Base: approx. 20 x 14 x 14 ft.

(On west side of base:) (Raised lettering:) .IN MEMORIAM./1836.FORT PARKER.1922 (Left column:) IN HONOR/OF/PIONEER HEROES OF/CIVILIZATION/FAMILIES/IN FORT/ELDER JOHN PARKER/NIXON KELLOGG/JAMES W. PARKER/DUTY FROST/BEN PARKER/DWIGHT PLUMMER/TOTAL 34 PERSONS (Right column:) MARTYRED/JOHN PARKER/BEN PARKER/SILAS PARKER/SAM FROST/ROBERT FROST/WOUNDED/GRANNY PARKER/MRS. JOHN PARKER/MRS. DUTY/CAPTURED-MRS. RACHAEL PLUMMER/MRS. KELLOGG

(On south side:) COMMITTEE/MRS. J. GULL SANDERS/MS C S BRADLEY/MR. W. P. BATES/APPROPRIATION BY/37TH LEGISLATURE/AND DONATIONS/BY CITIZENS OF/COUNTY AND STATE/PAT M. NEFF GOV./LYNCH DAVIDSON/LIEUT. GOV. SAM A. THOMAS REP/D. LEON HARP SEN./STATUE ERECTED IN 1932/IN HONOR OF/SILUS (sic) M. PARKER/LUCY PARKER/AND THEIR DAUGHTER/CYNTHIA ANN/APPROPRIATED/BY THE/42 LEGISLATURE/AND/DONATIONS BY /CITIZENS OF GROESBECK/ROSS S. STERLING GOV/EDGAR WITT LIEUT GOV/W.R. POAGE SEN/J.T. COX REP.

(On north side:) "FT. PARKER"/ESTABLISHED/BY/ILLINOIS COLONISTS/IN 1833/THREE YEARS LATER/AT 8 O'CLOCK A.M./AS THE DEW DROPS/GLISTENED IN THE/SUN-RAYS; IT FELL/BY THE HANDS OF/THE COMMANCHES/NEIGHBORS/RENDERING AID,/ABRAM ANGLIN/DAVID FAULKENBERRY/EVAN FAULKENBERRY/SILAS BATES/AND MR. LUNN./TO THE MEMORY OF/CYNTHIA ANN PARKER/AND BROTHER/JOHN PARKER/CAPTURED/MAY 19 1836/CYNTHIA ANN RECAPTURED/DEC. 18 1860/DIED/PALESTINE TEX./1864 unsigned

Three members of the pioneer Parker family stand side-by-side atop shaft. Silas M. Parker, stands about to leave the Fort, holding the barrel of a rifle with his proper right hand, the butt of which rests on the ground. He holds the rim of his wide-brimmed hat with his proper left hand. He is dressed in a long-sleeved shirt, a vest, pants and knee-high boots. To his proper left is Lucy Parker wearing a head covering and full-length dress, her head turned towards her husband. Her proper left hand rests on the shoulder of their young daughter, Cynthia Ann Parker, who stands beside her. The sculpture is mounted upon a shaft with a square column at each corner. The shaft rests on a tiered base set on a wide platform with two steps on each side.

History -- United States -- Westward Expansion

History -- United States -- Texas

Portrait group -- Family

Portrait male -- Parker, Silas M. -- Full length

Portrait female -- Parker, Lucy -- Full length

Portrait female -- Parker, Cynthia Ann -- Full length

Portrait female -- Parker, Cynthia Ann -- Child

Occupation -- Other -- Pioneer

Dress -- Historic -- Pioneer Dress

Outdoor Sculpture -- Texas -- Groesbeck

Administered by State of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744

Located Fort Parker Memorial Park Cemetery, Farm Road 1245, Groesbeck, Texas

The sculpture cost $4,791, and was funded through state appropriations and donations from Groesbeck citizens. The statue honors the Fort Parker "martyrs." On March 19, 1836, Comanche and Kiowa Indians attacked the fort, killing Silas M. Parker and four others, wounding three, and capturing several residents, including Cynthia Ann, the Parker's daughter.

Roy Weldert and W.H. Dietz of Weldert and Dietz fabricated the base of the memorial and ordered the sculpture from Italy. When the sculpture was installed in 1932, Fort Parker Memorial Park was known as Glenwood Memorial Cemetery. IAS files contain excerpt from the "Journal of the Senate of Texas, Third Session of the Forty-Second Legislature," August 30, 1932, pg. 187-188; and articles from The Groesbeck, Texas Journal, Aug. 19, 1993 and Sept. 9, 1993, pg. 8.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Texas survey, 1993.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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