"Trail of Tears" and Company I, 69th North Carolina Infantry (Thomas' Legion) CSA, Military Service.

"Col. Thomas sent Captains Commissions to J. W. Cooper of Cheoah and Willis Parker of Valley River late in 1861 or early in 1862 and asked each of them to get up a Company to join his Regiment. They each made up a Company, Cooper's Company camped at what is now Robbinsville. Parker's Company camped at what is now Marble and called it Camp Valley Town. I joined Parker's Company. Both Companies drilled at their camps for a short time and then were ordered to Chilhowie, Tennessee and there drilled until further orders. From that time until near Christmas, 1864 the two Companies were together in the 69th Regiment part of Thomas' Legion. They were together every day, in camp, on the march and in battles. And this is the true..." John H. Stewart's account as stated in John H. Stewart Papers [see link at bottom of this page].

Prior to the Civil War, Willis Parker served in the military during the "Trail of Tears" or Indian Removal, Pvt., Company L, under Capt. Isaac Truitt, 1838. [See notes below].

Thomas' Legion of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders (69th North Carolina Regiment)

During the Civil War, Thomas' Legion Muster Records: Company I – Cherokee County – Willis Parker, Captain, and Jos. A. Kimsey, Captain; Sol. E. Egan, First Lieutenant, all of Cherokee county; N. G. Phillips, First and Second Lieutenant, and P. B. Gailer, Second Lieutenant, both of Graham county. Number of officers and men, 109.

Walter Clark's Regiments: An Extended Index to the Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-1865: By Charles C. Davis: Page 345, Parker, Willis, (Capt, Co I, 69th NCST, Thomas' Legion), III: 731.

He resigned his commission after the "Battle of Bull's Gap." Bull's Gap, Tennessee, is located about 70 miles north of Waynesville, N.C.

For "Battle of Bull's Gap" information, click here: Battle of Bull's Gap Tennessee.

Excerpt from OUR HERITAGE by Margaret Walker Freel, the Miller Printing Company, Asheville, NC, 1956, p. 325 and 326:

Willis Parker, the oldest son of Jonathan Parker, belonged to the State Militia, and assisted in the removal in 1838 (see website below). He always said the Indians should have been allowed to remain in their mountain homes. He and the Indians were always friends.

The Indians who remained here often came to his home to talk with him and to ask his advice. Willis and John A. were Captains of Volunteer Companies of the Confederate Army in the War Between the States. Willis Parker's company in Cherokee Co., and John A. Parker's company in Ga.

Willis Parker married Adaline Vannoy, daughter of Joel Vannoy, who moved his family in wagons from Wilkes Co. to Cherokee Co. in 1839. He came to mine for gold, but not finding much gold, returned to Wilkesboro. Willis Parker bought the farm owned by Vannoy. He and his wife lived there the rest of their lives and reared ten children.

The fifth generation is living on the farm. During the war the home was ransacked by a posse posing as Federal soldiers, thinking there was gold on the place, and threatened to burn the home when they failed to find it. Capt. Parker mined for gold at his home and at Dahlonega, Ga., in the gold strike there.

Willis Parker was a Captain in Co. I, NC Infantry, Thomas' Legion, North Carolina Troops. Volunteers enlisted in Cherokee County into Colonel W. H. Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders, North Carolina Volunteers. He was listed as being 6' 2" and having a dark complexion, black eyes, and black hair; farmer; resigned December 7, 1864. (Bulls Gap, Tennessee) His reason was that he was over 45 years of age.

Source:  Company Muster and Descriptive Roll.  (Military Record).

More Civil War Records

Willis S. Parker, William Benson Parker, and William Asbury Parker

All three served in Company I of Thomas' Legion, 69th North Carolina Regiment. All three are recorded on Official Civil War Muster Records.

Also called: Thomas' North Carolina Legion, 69th North Carolina Regiment, and Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders.

For Official American Civil War Documentation, click on each name below:

Parker, William, Parker, William Asbury, and Parker, Willis

William Asbury served in "Thomas' Legion", with his brother, Captain Willis Parker, and his nephew, Corporal William Benson (Willis' son). All three are listed on Thomas' Legion's muster roll: THOMAS LEGION, COMPANY I OF THE FIRST REGIMENT MUSTER ROLL.

THOMAS LEGION, COMPANY I OF THE FIRST REGIMENT MUSTER ROLL

31 August, 1863, through 31 October, 1863

1. Willis Parker, Capt. Enlisted July 2, 1862, Valley Town, N.C., by Col. W.H. Thomas. 
Listed as present.

65. Parker, William, private.  Enlisted July 24, 1862, S. Plains, TN, by Capt.
Stringfield.  Present.  Made mark for pay.

Parker, Willis S. 
Birth: 12 APR 1819 Haywood Co., N.C.
Death: 18 MAR 1905 Cherokee Co, N.C.
Burial: Willis Parker Family Cemetery, Cherokee Co., N.C.
Gender: Male
Parents:

             Father: Parker, Jonathan
             Mother: Blythe, Leoma

Family:

Spouse:

     Vannoy, Adeline Amelia  
     Birth: 18 MAR 1827
     Death: 20 AUG 1897 Cherokee Co., N.C.
     Burial: Parker Family Cemetery, Cherokee Co., N.C.
     Gender: Female
     Parents:

         Father: Vannoy, Joel
         Mother: St.Clair, Elizabeth

Children:

Parker, John Rufus
Birth: 12 NOV 1843 Cherokee Co., N.C.
Death: 1863 Cherokee Co., N.C. (While visiting the Willis Parker/Johnson Greybeard Cemetery in September 2006, Mr. William M. Palmer--the great grandson of Captain Willis Parker--stated the following history: "While serving in the Confederate Army in Virginia, Rufus contracted Typhoid. Willis escorted his son Rufus to Cherokee Co., where Rufus succumbed to Typhoid. John Rufus is believed to have served in Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders." Burial: Willis Parker/Johnson Greybeard Family Cemetery. Inscription: RUFUS PARKER 1843--1863 CONFEDERATE ARMY DIED IN SERVICE)
Gender: Male
Parker, William Benson (Thomas' Legion, see below)
Parker, Louisa Maria
Parker, Eugenia Vannoy
Parker, Sophia
Parker, Joseph Vannoy
Parker, Edwin A.
Birth: 1 FEB 1859 Cherokee Co., N.C.
Death: 1919 Oklahoma
Gender: Male
Parker, Mary
Parker, Jonathan Carl