[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Page Header” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Exhibit Title” _builder_version=”4.17.6″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” border_width_bottom=”1px” border_color_bottom=”#E09900″ global_module=”6078″ global_colors_info=”{}”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50Ijoic2l0ZV90aXRsZSIsInNldHRpbmdzIjp7ImJlZm9yZSI6IjxoMj4iLCJhZnRlciI6IjwvaDI+In19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Section Title” module_id=”section-title” module_class=”page-header” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”||5px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Page Title” module_id=”page-title” module_class=”page-header” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”0px||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/black-illinois-organizing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/01\/CCP_113_ByrdParker.png” title_text=”CCP_113_ByrdParker” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” height=”500px” max_height=”700px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”13px” text_line_height=”1.3em” header_font_size=”13px” custom_margin=”-11px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Byrd Parker Withdraws from A.M.E. Church, 1853 [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n \u2013 Byrd Parker, 1853<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Byrd Parker was a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopalian (A.M.E.) Church and a committed activist whose field of work stretched across Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. <\/span><\/p>\n Parker was born in North Carolina in 1815. Little is known of his early life, but in 1842 he married Caroline Carrey in St. Louis, Missouri. Somewhere along the way he became active in the A.M.E. Church, and in 1843 he helped found a congregation in Galena, in the northwest corner of Illinois. The A.M.E. leadership regularly moved pastors around, and by 1850, Byrd and Caroline were living in New Albany, Indiana, where Byrd worked as a minister. In the early 1850s, he led an A.M.E. Church in Louisville, Kentucky.[1]<\/span><\/p>\n Parker soon transferred his energies to Chicago where, according to one account, he established a school for Black children in 1852. He <\/span>was among the initial organizers of the 1853 Illinois Colored Convention, and in the summer of 1853, he served as an Illinois delegate to the national convention hosted by Frederick Douglass in Rochester, New York.<\/span>[2<\/span>]<\/p>\n From October 6 to 8, 1853, Parker and other Chicago-based activists hosted the first statewide Black convention in Illinois<\/a>. Parker was a vocal participant. He led some of the opening prayers, engaged in debates, and gave an address that was described as \u201camusing and effective.\u201d[3]<\/span><\/p>\n In a surprising development, later that month, writing from Louisville, Parker announced that he was resigning from the A.M.E. Church, stating in a public letter that he did so \u201cfor good and sufficient reasons to me appearing.\u201d[4<\/span>]<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n His resignation was likely related to personal issues that soon became public. In late 1853 or very early 1854, Parker married Jane Johnson. The problem was that he remained married to his first wife, Caroline, who traveled to Chicago and urged officials to charge Byrd with bigamy. The case went to trial in March 1854. Parker claimed he had tried to divorce Caroline because she had been unfaithful, but St. Louis authorities had refused to grant the divorce, saying the marriage was not valid because he had been enslaved at the time he married. Available sources haven\u2019t allowed us to piece together what really happened here.[5] <\/span><\/p>\n Concerned that Parker\u2019s reputation would be ruined, leading Black Chicagoans including Henry O. Wagoner<\/a>, John Jones<\/a>, and Lewis Isbell<\/a> published a statement of support for Parker in the Chicago Tribune<\/i>. After considering the evidence, the jury was unable to render a verdict, and the state\u2019s attorney simply dropped the case.<\/span>[6] <\/span><\/p>\n In 1855, Byrd and Jane Parker moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Byrd opened a restaurant and continued his advocacy, encouraging Wisconsin audiences to support Black men\u2019s right to vote. He died in 1860 while delivering a speech, collapsing on the platform from a lung condition. He left behind his widow and three children, the youngest just one year old. The oldest of those children grew up to become Lillian Thomas Fox, a prominent Indianapolis journalist and clubwoman.[7]<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/black-illinois-organizing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/01\/CCP_032_LillianThomasFox-1.jpeg” title_text=”CCP_032_LillianThomasFox” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”13px” text_line_height=”1.3em” header_font_size=”13px” min_height=”51.7px” custom_margin=”-8px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Lillian May Parker Thomas Fox, 1905 [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Sources” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n 1. 1850 US Census: Byrd Parker and St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., Marriage Index, 1804-1876, <\/i>both in Ancestry.com. H. F. Kett, The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois <\/i>(Chicago: H. F. Kett & Co., 1878), 506; \u201cNotes By the Way,\u201d Christian Recorder, <\/i>July 30, 1870.<\/p>\n 2. Roger D. Bridges, \u201cAntebellum Struggle for Citizenship,\u201d Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society<\/i> 108, no. 3-4 (Fall\/Winter 2015), 304-6;\u00a0 Weston Arthur Goodspeed and Daniel David Healy, History of Cook County, Illinois: Being a General Survey of Cook County History, <\/i>vol. 2 (Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1909), 115; \u201cHistorian Restores Oshkosh Gravestone of 1850s Abolitionist,\u201d Pioneer Press<\/i>, Aug. 14, 2010, accessed Sep. 8, 2021, https:\/\/www.twincities.com\/2010\/08\/14\/historian-restores-oshkosh-gravestone-of-1850s-abolitionist\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3. \u201cProceedings of the First Convention of the Colored Citizens of the State of Illinois, Convened at the City of Chicago, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 6th, 7th and 8th, 1853,\u201d Colored Conventions Project Digital Records<\/i>, accessed Jan. 5, 2022, https:\/\/omeka.coloredconventions.org\/items\/show\/261<\/a>.<\/p>\n 4. \u201cFrom the Alienated American,\u201d Frederick Douglass\u2019 Paper<\/i>, Nov. 18, 1853.<\/p>\n 5. \u201cRev. Byrd Parker,\u201d Chicago Tribune, <\/i>Feb. 13, 1854.<\/p>\n 6. \u201cRev. Byrd Parker\u201d; \u201cByrd Parker,\u201d Racine Advocate, <\/i>May 16, 1854; Untitled, Salem Weekly Advocate, <\/i>May 25, 1854.<\/p>\n 7. \u201cDeath of Byrd Parker,\u201d Janesville Daily Gazette, <\/i>May 3, 1860; \u201cHistorian Restores\u201d; 1860 US Census: Byrd Parker, Ancestry.com; Rev Byrd Parker, Find a Grave<\/i>, Memorial ID 103410062, citing Riverside Cemetery, Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, USA, accessed Sep. 17, 2021, https:\/\/www.findagrave.com\/memorial\/103410062\/byrd-parker<\/a>; \u201cFox, Lillian Thomas,\u201d The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, <\/i>597, accessed Jan. 5, 2022, https:\/\/indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org\/digital\/collection\/EOI\/id\/3843\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”References” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Written by Valeria Lira-Ruelas. Edited by Kate Masur.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Delegates and their FamiliesByrd ParkerByrd Parker Withdraws from A.M.E. Church, 1853In a public letter Byrd Parker withdrew his connection to the A.M.E. Church. (Source: “From the Alienated American,” Frederick Douglass’ Paper, Nov. 18, 1853. Courtesy of Accessible Archives.)”…I do this day hereby withdraw all my connection with, and relation to the above named church.” \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":6829,"parent":3469,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4585","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/strong>In a public letter Byrd Parker withdrew his connection to the A.M.E. Church. (Source: “From the Alienated American,” Frederick Douglass’ Paper<\/em>, Nov. 18, 1853. Courtesy of Accessible Archives.)<\/p>\n“…I do this day hereby withdraw all my connection with, and relation to the above named church.”<\/h2>\n
<\/strong>Lillian was the daughter of Byrd and Jane Parker. She was a prominent journalist, activist, and club woman, and became the first African American journalist to write regularly for a white newspaper (the\u00a0Indianapolis News<\/em>) in Indiana. (Source: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons<\/a>)<\/p>\nSources<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Credits<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![Wikimedia Commons<\/a>)<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Sources” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\nSources<\/strong><\/h4>\n1. 1850 US Census: Byrd Parker and St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., Marriage Index, 1804-1876, <\/i>both in Ancestry.com. H. F. Kett, The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois <\/i>(Chicago: H. F. Kett & Co., 1878), 506; \u201cNotes By the Way,\u201d Christian Recorder, <\/i>July 30, 1870.<\/p>\n2. Roger D. Bridges, \u201cAntebellum Struggle for Citizenship,\u201d Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society<\/i> 108, no. 3-4 (Fall\/Winter 2015), 304-6;\u00a0 Weston Arthur Goodspeed and Daniel David Healy, History of Cook County, Illinois: Being a General Survey of Cook County History, <\/i>vol. 2 (Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1909), 115; \u201cHistorian Restores Oshkosh Gravestone of 1850s Abolitionist,\u201d Pioneer Press<\/i>, Aug. 14, 2010, accessed Sep. 8, 2021, https:\/\/www.twincities.com\/2010\/08\/14\/historian-restores-oshkosh-gravestone-of-1850s-abolitionist\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n3. \u201cProceedings of the First Convention of the Colored Citizens of the State of Illinois, Convened at the City of Chicago, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 6th, 7th and 8th, 1853,\u201d Colored Conventions Project Digital Records<\/i>, accessed Jan. 5, 2022, https:\/\/omeka.coloredconventions.org\/items\/show\/261<\/a>.<\/p>\n4. \u201cFrom the Alienated American,\u201d Frederick Douglass\u2019 Paper<\/i>, Nov. 18, 1853.<\/p>\n5. \u201cRev. Byrd Parker,\u201d Chicago Tribune, <\/i>Feb. 13, 1854.<\/p>\n6. \u201cRev. Byrd Parker\u201d; \u201cByrd Parker,\u201d Racine Advocate, <\/i>May 16, 1854; Untitled, Salem Weekly Advocate, <\/i>May 25, 1854.<\/p>\n7. \u201cDeath of Byrd Parker,\u201d Janesville Daily Gazette, <\/i>May 3, 1860; \u201cHistorian Restores\u201d; 1860 US Census: Byrd Parker, Ancestry.com; Rev Byrd Parker, Find a Grave<\/i>, Memorial ID 103410062, citing Riverside Cemetery, Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, USA, accessed Sep. 17, 2021, https:\/\/www.findagrave.com\/memorial\/103410062\/byrd-parker<\/a>; \u201cFox, Lillian Thomas,\u201d The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, <\/i>597, accessed Jan. 5, 2022, https:\/\/indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org\/digital\/collection\/EOI\/id\/3843\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”References” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\nCredits<\/strong><\/h4>\nWritten by Valeria Lira-Ruelas. Edited by Kate Masur.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Delegates and their FamiliesByrd ParkerByrd Parker Withdraws from A.M.E. Church, 1853In a public letter Byrd Parker withdrew his connection to the A.M.E. Church. (Source: “From the Alienated American,” Frederick Douglass’ Paper, Nov. 18, 1853. Courtesy of Accessible Archives.)”…I do this day hereby withdraw all my connection with, and relation to the above named church.” \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":6829,"parent":3469,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4585","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nByrd Parker - Black Organizing in Pre-Civil War Illinois: Creating Community, Demanding Justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/black-illinois-organizing\/delegates\/byrd-parker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Byrd Parker - Black Organizing in Pre-Civil War Illinois: Creating Community, Demanding Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Delegates and their FamiliesByrd ParkerByrd Parker Withdraws from A.M.E. Church, 1853In a public letter Byrd Parker withdrew his connection to the A.M.E. Church. (Source: "From the Alienated American," Frederick Douglass' Paper, Nov. 18, 1853. Courtesy of Accessible Archives.)"...I do this day hereby withdraw all my connection with, and relation to the above named church." \u2013 […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/black-illinois-organizing\/delegates\/byrd-parker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Black Organizing in Pre-Civil War Illinois: Creating Community, Demanding Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-07T22:48:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/black-illinois-organizing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/02\/banner_exhibit_pre-civil-war-illinois2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\\\/black-illinois-organizing\\\/delegates\\\/byrd-parker\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\\\/black-illinois-organizing\\\/delegates\\\/byrd-parker\\\/\",\"name\":\"Byrd Parker - 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Church, 1853In a public letter Byrd Parker withdrew his connection to the A.M.E. Church. (Source: \"From the Alienated American,\" Frederick Douglass' Paper, Nov. 18, 1853. 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