Daniel Parker, an early Baptist leader in Texas, was born April 6, 1781, to Rev. John and Sarah (White) Parker. The family moved to Georgia and in 1802 Parker married Patsy Dickson. In 1803 he was licensed to preach in Dickerson County, Tennessee, in the Primitive Baptist church and became an advocate of Two Seedism. Parker published several pamphlets supporting the doctrine while living in Illinois. In 1833 he founded the Pilgrim Predestinarian Regular Baptist Church in Lamotte, Illinois, and in November the entire congregation immigrated to Texas, eventually settling near present-day Elkhart in Anderson County. An already established church did not break Mexican laws prohibiting the establishment of non-Catholic religious bodies. Parker led the second Baptist association organized in Texas, the Union Primitive Baptist Association, in 1840. He died at home in Anderson County in 1844.
Benjamin F. Parker, son of Daniel and Patsy Parker, was born February 10, 1819, in Crawford County, Illinois. In November 1833 he moved to Texas with his father and his congregation. In 1846 he married Irena Douthell and earned his living as a farmer, schoolteacher, and surveyor. He represented Anderson County for two terms in the Texas Legislature, 1855 and 1859. In 1863 Benjamin Parker and his wife Irena were baptized in the Pilgrim Predestinarian Regular Baptist Church. Called to preach, he became assistant pastor of the church in 1864 and pastor in 1869. He served in that capacity until his death December 28, 1896. Parker is probably best known for his appointment by the Texas legislature as one of the guardians of Cynthia Ann Parker and her daughter, Topsanna.
The Walston family immigrated from Troup County, Georgia, and settled in Anderson County, Texas. Elder Benjamin Walston was clerk of the Union Primitive Baptist Association in 1933. It is assumed in that capacity he came into possession of the Church Book of the Fort Houston Baptist Church, established October 22, 1840, which was later donated by his family to the San Jacinto Museum of History.
From the guide to the Walston family papers MC079. 52598853., 1831-1933, (Bulk: 1840-1890), (Albert and Ethel Herzstein Library, )
