Saving ‘The Parker House’

If traveling on Front Street along the Ohio River in Ripley 30 years ago, you may have caught view of a dilapidated, two-story home with broken-out windows and crumbling bricks. But there was a small group of local residents that saw much more than a deteriorating shack that should be placed on the chopping block. Instead, they saw an important piece of American history that needed to be saved. For that old building was once the home of John P. Parker. Parker, once a slave, bought his freedom and became an inventor, industrialist, and abolitionist who helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom along the Underground Railroad.

Not only was he one of the few black people to patent an invention before 1900 (which included the harrow and the John P. Parker tobacco press), but he served as a major conductor on the Underground Railroad, helping slaves cross into Ohio from Kentucky while living on Front Street in Ripley.

A group of interested citizens of Ripley began meeting in the 1960s with hopes of having a tribute to John P. Parker. In 1996, the John P. Parker Historical Society, Inc. was formed, purchasing the former home of John P. Parker in its deteriorating condition with hopes of being able to restore the building.

Among the driving forces as a volunteer board member was the late Miriam Zachman of Ripley. Carol Stivers, current John P. Parker Historical Society President, has also played a huge role over in the quest to restore the Parker House and preserve a significant part of Ripley’s history, and so has Ripley resident and local historian Betty Campbell.

But not all those who took interest in restoring the Parker House were of Ripley. Charles Nuckolls, of Cincinnati, read an article written by a Ohio Historical Society intern on Ripley’s history of the Underground Railroad, which sparked his interest in the life of John P. Parker and his house in Ripley. It was March 29, 1993 when Nuckolls paid a visit to Ripley to see the Parker House.

“I didn’t believe it could be saved,” said Nuckolls, as he recalled his visit to the former home of John P. Parker.

It was in the 1990s when Nuckolls met with the local group interested in saving the Parker House in front of the Union Township Public Library in Ripley. After meeting with the dedicated group members and hearing of their plans, Nuckolls said, “I’m in it for the long haul.”

Nuckolls joined as a board member, and nearly three decades after his first visit to the the Parker House in Ripley he continues his efforts as a volunteer to help preserve and promote that part of Ripley’s history.

“Thirty years later and I’m still with it,” said Nuckolls.

After the John P. Parker Historical Society, Inc. formed in 1996 and purchased the Parker House, a great deal of work came for the group of volunteers in the years that followed.

“Our organization spent the next six years researching, restoring, rehabbing, and conducting archaeological digs to find out as much history as possible to preserve the legacy of John P. Parker,” said Stivers.

“We would not be responsible stewards of our landmark if we did not preserve it,” said Nuckolls.

The organization even conducted research on the John . P. Parker family tree, and though it wasn’t easy, they were able to track down the only living descendant of John Parker that they could find. Their search for a living family member of John P. Parker led them to Dianne Tweedle, a real estate agent of Chicago. Tweedle said John P. Parker was her grandfather’s grandfather, but she didn’t know that before the John P. Parker Society found her.

Tweedle said Nuckolls had located her, but she had no idea she was a descendant of John. P. Parker at the time.

“He found out and told me, and for awhile there I didn’t believe it,” said Tweedle.

After listening to Nuckolls, Tweedle was actually able to fill in the empty pieces to the puzzle of her family’s past, a past they seemed to keep a secret for generations, perhaps to put a painful past that included slavery behind them in their attempts to live happy, successful lives in America.

“My family was very secretive about the slave history. My family didn’t want us to know,” said Tweedle.

Tweedle said her family spoke about success and accomplishments in education of past generations, and on occasion when she would dip into conversations as a young girl, Tweedle could recall her grandfather and other family members speaking of John Parker being an inventor who was educated and successful, but nothing about him being a slave who purchased his freedom and lived a successful life as a free man in the small town of Ripley, OH.

“I remember being told little bits of these things about John Parker,” said Tweedle, who is now 83 years old. “These were stories that were dropped casually, that John Parker had six children who went to college. That’s what I was told.”

Tweedle held a good relationship with her grandfather, who she feels must have been a lot like John P. Parker.

“My grandfather, I think, was a lot like John Parker. He was pushy and dominant, and he didn’t back down from anyone,” she said.

The John P. Parker Historical Society arranged for Tweedle to visit Ripley to see the home of John P. Parker that the group intended on restoring in the 1990s, bringing to light a part of her family’s history that seemed to have been hidden for so many years.

“They sent for me, they paid my way to fly to Cincinnati, and off I went,” said Tweedle.

It was an emotional visit to Ripley, to say the least.

“I was just so happy that I wanted to scream. I said to myself, ‘I can’t believe they’ve been doing this for years, taking care of John Parker’s memory,’” Tweedle said as she recalled her first visit to the Parker House in Ripley. “These are strangers to me, and they are wonderful people who have done wonderful things. I feel I owe them. They have been unbelievably dedicated. I’m overwhelmed by what they have done for my family.”

Tweedle has visited Ripley twice, and has also visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.

“I was practically an old lady when I found out that my grandfather’s grandfather was a slave who bought his freedom,” she said.

“John Parker pulled the whole family out of slavery, and I think he died happy,” she said. “He was inventing and helping slaves escape across the Ohio River. I stood on the banks of that river for a very long time, thinking about what my family did.”

“It’s been quite an experience.”

The John P. Parker Society Inc. has received a great deal of support to help restore the Parker House, which is now a museum.

Current John Parker Board Members are Druann Kendrick, Michael Mussinan, Charles Nuckolls, Roberta Platt, Danny Price, Susan Redman-Rengstorf., Wanda Taylor-Smith, Carol Stivers and Peggy Mills Warner.

One thing for certain is that the Parker House has come a long way from that dilapidated old building it was 30 years ago.

“At first we had limited displays, but each year since then we have added and improved our displays. We now have very nice displays for visitors to see. Each year we have sponsored a free Summer History Camp for students in grades 3-5. In 2007 there was an Opera written and produced in Cincinnati called “Rise to Freedom” about the life of John Parker. Dianne Tweedle and her daughter attended that event,” said Stivers. “After the Independent Warehouse (near Front Street in Ripley) burned, we bought that lot next door, and in 2012 we dedicated The Parker Memorial Park which has stations that tell about the life and times of John Parker. Just this year we dedicated the Phoenix Foundry Display Center, an area that houses some of the iron items that Parker manufactured in his foundry.”

“We usually welcome several thousand visitors from all over the United States and several other countries to our site each year. However the pandemic cut that number of visitors during 2020 and 2021. Parker House has a wonderful docent who tells visitors of the life and time of John P. Parker. We have exhibits and displays for all to see,” said Stivers.

The John Parker Museum is open May through October on Friday, Saturday 10 to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. All other times are by appointment (937) 392-4188.

The John P. Parker Historical Society is now a member of the National Park Service Network to Freedom Program and the Parker House been a National Historic Landmark since 1967.

The John P. Parker Historical Society hopes that in the near future it will be approved as a Unit of the National Park Service.

“The reasons we would like to become a Unit of the National Park Service is to give John P. Parker (1827-1900), the recognition that he deserves. Parker, born into slavery, bought his own freedom, became an abolitionist , an Underground Railroad Conductor, a foundry owner (Phoenix Foundry) and an inventor with three patents before 1900. By becoming a Unit of the National Park Service, we could ensure the legacy and home of John Parker would be promoted and protected for generations to come,” said Stivers.

“This can be done in several ways,” Stivers said of getting approved as a Unit of the National Park Service. “We can have a Bill introduced by our U.S Representatives into the House of Representatives for a National Park Service Resource Study. If passed, that Bill then goes to the Senate. after being referred to committees, it goes back to the House of Representatives to come up for a vote again. This is a long process. We have been working on that route. However, the fastest way is to have the President of the United States use his Presidential powers to declare the John P. Parker House a National Monument. Getting the President to do that also takes a lot of effort. The Parker organization is actually working on both ways to become a Unit of the National Park Service. We urge all interested individuals and organizations to help with this process by writing letters of support for the Parker House to become a Unit of the National Park Service to the President of the United States or to the members of Congress.”

For Nuckolls, the decades of volunteer work to help save the Parker House and keep the memory of John P. Parker alive has been well worth it.

“It has been a pleasurable adventure,” he said.