Benjamin Parks, Jr.
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Larry E. Mitchell
Lumpkin County, Georgia makes clear claim to the first discovery of gold in the United States, and Benjamin Parks Jr. is the man who literally stumbled upon it and launched the area's big gold boom in 1828. Descendants of the famous pioneer miner now live from Georgia to California, but "Uncle Benny," as he is often remem- bered, lives on only in family records, yellowed news clippings, scant mention in books, and stories of which legends are made. Apparently, so much confusion and sharing of credit followed Georgia's gold rush that Parks found it necessary as well as enjoyable to retell his story time and again. "Other men may claim it," he said a year before his death, "men will claim anything--but dog-my-cats if I ain't the one sure enough." The Parks family is a very old one in Georgia, dating back to Colonial times. Benjamin Parks Jr. moved to what was then Hall County, Georgia from Franklin County around 1820, as sources quote his saying he moved to Georgia at age 18 and at age 20. Andrew W. Cain's History of Lumpkin County also puts the date at "about 12 years before the county was organized" in 1832. OPPOSITE: Benjamin and Sarah Henderson Parks. This is the only known photograph of Benjamin and Sarah and was probably taken around 1870. The original tintype is owned by a great-grandson Woodrow Parks. |
Parks was the son of Capt. Benjamin
Parks Sr. (March 25, 1746 - July 11, 1839)
and Virlinche (Valentia) Branch Parks.
A Revolutionary War soldier, Parks Sr.
stated in his government pension application
that he was born in King George County,
Virginia. As a young man, he moved with
his family to Amherst County, later to
become Bedford County, Virginia. Records
suggest that he was drafted in April 1779,
but these orders were countermanded before
he was assigned to a regiment. He moved
to Surry County, North Carolina, in 1780
and was appointed an ensign in the U.S.
Army in February of that year. The Parks family, his pension appli- cation says, lived in Burke and Haywood Counties, North Carolina, for 27 years af ter the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Jr. is quoted as giving three counties as his place of birth, but Floretta Smith (Mrs. Curtis Benjamin) Parks, great-great-grand- daughter-in-law, Gainesville, Georgia believes Burke County is "probably correct" because of the pension statement and the fact that Haywood County was not formed until 1808. Benjamin Parks Jr. was born on October 27, 1802. Documents and family members confirm that the 1809 birthdate on the Parks marker at Yellow Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Hall County is incorrect. According to some family records, Benjamin Parks Sr. and family moved to Franklin County, Georgia in 1810. Mrs. Curtis Parks' research fixes the time of the move at about 1815, with the move |
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Above: Benjamin and Sarah Parks and several generations of the Parks family
are buried at Yellow Creek Baptist Church in Hall County, Ga.
to Hall County in 1820. This more closely
agrees with Benjamin Jr.'s reference to
his age when he first saw the mountains
of North Georgia. |
dants lists two brothers, William and Gabriel,
but no dates are given. Mrs. Curtis Parks'
records show another child, Mary, and
she believes the family could have consisted
of as many as nine children. Tracing the Parks line beyond Benjamin Parks Sr. becomes highly confusing because of the number of persons named Benjamin and John. Mrs. Parks concludes that John Parks (May 18, 1708-1790) and Sarah Wing- field (Winfield) likely were parents of Ben- jamin Sr., but she says there is not undis- puted proof. Additionally, a family document dated 1797 names a John Parks Jr. as deceased. Mrs. Parks' research and Clerk of Court records, Amherst County, Virginia, show that William Parks (1730-1777) who was killed in Powell's Valley, Washington County, Virginia had a son named Benjamin and grandsons named Benjamin, Samuel, George, and John. William may have been Benjamin Sr.'s older brother since 16 years separate their birthdates. Yet another Benjamin Parks, possibly Benjamin Lynch- field Parks, also may have come from North Carolina to north Georgia about the same time as Benjamin Jr.; while a Benjamin J. Parks, according to the National Archives, enrolled for military service in Gilmer County in 1837. Some have said that this Parks line is connected to John Park (1804-1865) Edinburgh, Scotland, a poet who never left his homeland. How he was related is unclear. Another possible ascendant, Mrs. Curtis Parks has been told, was a Scottish travel writer named Mungo Park (1771-1806), whose father, also named Mungo Park, had 13 children. The military pension statement, family Bible, and a land deed all tie Benjamin Parks Jr. to Benjamin Sr. from North Carolina. No middle initial is given for either man. Another curious link in Lumpkin County records is an 1837 document in which the father gives Benjamin Jr. an indentured Negro named Julius Ceaser (sic). Records also show that a presumed relative, Henry Parks of Jackson County, sold Benjamin Jr. a 200-acre tract of land on the west side of Yellow Creek in 1837. According to one family history, in 1828, the year Benjamin found gold, he and Lewis Ralston, originally from Pendleton County, South Carolina, were running cattle on land west of the Chestatee River. The stream that flows into the river at this point later became known as Ralston Branch. |
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RIGHT: A later and more well-known photograph
of Benjamin Parks. A copy of this photograph is
permanently displayed at the Dahlonega Courthouse
Gold Museum. The original tintype is owned by
a great-grandson, Woodrow Parks.
The two cattlemen had
a lick-log at the site where
the Dahlonega Courthouse
Gold Museum now stands.
It was a frontier practice
for people to "salt' their
livestock by placing salt blocks
in grazing areas, and from
the location of Parks and
Ralston's block Dahlonega
got its locally known "licklog"
name. |
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have accepted it. "Our children would have
had no nation, so I did not marry her,"
Parks said, "but, dear me, how beautiful
she was!" |
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Frank W. Hall, the Vermont native who
made a fortune in gold prospecting here.
Moran recorded Parks' age then at 94,
actually he was 91 in mid-1894, less than a year before his death. |
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ABOVE: The "Gold Rush King and Queen"
in 1957 in Lumpkin County were Gordon
Parks, a grandson of Benjamin, and Mrs.
Harvey Franklin Parks (Sally Green) a
granddaughter-in-law. They were photo-
graphed at the old Parks homeplace. The
house has since been remodeled.
Meaders retold his daugher Margaret, now
retired and writing a Lumpkin County
history in New Mexico, this Parks story: |
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his story just "so much wind rattlin' a
gourd." But O'Bar agreed to a 40-year
lease, dated September 12, 1829, and said
that Parks could have three-quarters of
all gold mined. |
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ABOVE: Where the Gold Rush began!! Dr.
Ray Rensi is pictured at the entrance to
the famous Calhoun Mine where Benjamin
Parks made his famous discovery of gold. (Photo: Courtesy Olen F. Jackson) LEFT: This historical marker on Hwy. 60 south of Dahlonega, is a visible reminder of Parks' historic discovery. The smaller sign underneath 'Mine Closed To Public" is a visible reminder also. A visible reminder of what is happening to much of our beautiful North Georgia mountains. It seems that practically every time someone from outside the area buys property in North Georgia, they quickly post a "No Trespassing" sign thus selfishly depriving the local people of a part of their heritage. Can this trend be reversed? Think about it!! Reader comments are invited.
As the years passed, "Uncle Benny" developed quite a repertoire of stories with which he regaled listeners. One of those depicts Parks and Lewis Ralston rescuing a woman from an attack by a respected man from another county. While deer hunting near Auraria, Parks said that he and Ralston heard screams. Nearing the Ellison homeplace, |
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ABOVE: William D. Parks (April 22, 1835-
March 27,, 191 1) and his wife Sarah F.
Jay Parks (Feb. 22, 1839 - Oct. 21, 1908).
They were married in Hall County on Feb.
8, 1855. They are both buried at Yellow
Creek Baptist Church, Hall County.
they startled the attacker. Parks wrestled
a large knife from the man and threw
him over a fence. He even dislodged the
man's thumb, and at his request, put it
in place again. But Parks never reported
the incident to authorities. |
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ABOVE: The old arbor at Yellow Creek
Baptist. Benjamin Parks was a deacon
and a member of the building committee
when the arbor was constructed in 1854.
It was later sold and moved to the museum
village of Westville near Lumpkin, Ga.
in Stewart, County.
Great grandson Perry E. Parks, Gainesville,
held the weapon and powder horn until
his death, and they are now property of
Perry E. Parks Jr., Dallas, Texas. |
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where most Dahlonega visitors stop, also
says "I have more people to come in here
saying that they are related to Benjamin
Parks than any other person."
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