John Parker (1693-1732)

He was born in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and became a Member of the New Jersey Bar. In 1715, he was commissioned as a Captain in the Middlesex County Militia and in 1718 he was appointed one of the Judges to try pirates in the Special Court. In 1724, he was appointed Chairman of the committee of ordinance to regulate the Court of Judicature, and several times he was appointed Chairman of the committee to regulate the expenditure of public monies. In addition, he was appointed one of the Loan Commissioners of the Provincial "Land Bank" that made it possible for people to borrow money using land as collateral. In the absence of commercial banks, the Parkers loaned money out at interest and through this he came into the possession of numerous parcels of land with mercantile interests. He served as a Member of the King's Council for East Jersey (1718-32) and in 1726 was elected Mayor of Perth Amboy. In about 1720-22, he built the Parker home (see images) referred to locally as "Parker's Castle" and which was home to eight generations of Parkers at Front and Water Streets. It stood empty after 1914 and was eventually demolished in 1942 on the order of Cortlandt Parker. James Parker was married in 1721 to Janet, daughter of Dr. John Johnstone, Mayor of New York City, and sister of Andrew Johnston, Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly. They had six children.