Josiah Parker

Josiah Parker (11 May 1751 – 11 March 1810) was an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia in the First through Sixth United States Congresses.

Parker was born at the Macclesfield Estate in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. He became a member of the state Committee of Safety in 1775 and of the Virginia Convention that held sessions in March, July, and December of that year.

Upon the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Parker enlisted in the Continental Army and was commissioned major in the 5th Virginia Regiment 13 February 1776, lieutenant colonel on 28 July 1777, and full colonel on 1 April 1778. He served under General Charles Lee in Virginia until the fall of 1776, when he was transferred to George Washington’s army. He resigned from the army on 12 July 1778 and became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates for 1778, 1779, 1782 and 1783.

Parker became a naval officer at Portsmouth, Virginia in 1786 and the was an unsuccessful candidate for delegate to the 1788 Virginia Convention.

He was elected to the First United States Congress, was reelected to the Second and Third Congresses and reelected as a Federalist to the Fourth through Sixth United States Congress.

After his service in the Congress, Parker engaged in agricultural pursuits and died in Macclesfield, Virginia. He is interred in the private burial ground on his estate "Macclesfield" in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.

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