Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Parker Family Papers #5366, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from George Elbert Ivey (b. 1937; grandson of Luther Rice Parker and Cora Lillian Parker) of Asheville, N.C., in October 2007 (Acc. 100805) on behalf of the family.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Amy Roberson, February 2008

Encoded by: Amy Roberson, February 2008

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Accountants--History.
• Courtship--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Courtship--Southern States.
• Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Harnett County (N.C.)--History.
• Harnett County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Morriston (Fla.)--History.
• Morriston (Fla.)--Social life and customs.
• Parker family.
• Railroads--Southern States--History--20th century.
• Telephone--History.
• Women teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.

Luther Rice Parker was born on 28 May 1879 in McColl, Marlboro County, S.C. He was the son of Joseph Parker (10 March 1849-27 Febraury 1921) and Isabel Permelia (also spelled Pamela) David (3 September 1845-15 June 1886). Luther Rice Parker wrote letters from Clio, S.C., Morriston, Fla., Clearwater, Fla., and Williston, Fla. He worked as a brick mason and later as an accountant for businesses in Florida and South Carolina. He served as clerk and treasurer for Morriston, Fla., in 1904. In 1905, he moved eastern North Carolina. Cora Lillian Parker was born on 13 August 1880 in Averesboro, Harnett County, N.C. She was the daughter of Festus Alfonso Parker (7 January 1854-6 February 1897) and Margaret Delaney Ennis (11 March 1854-12 May 1939). Cora Lillian Parker worked as a school teacher in Harnett County. Luther Rice Parker and Cora Lillian Parker courted, 1902-1907, and married in Dunn, N.C., in 1907. Luther Rice Parker died 7 October 1933 and Cora Lillian Parker died 18 August 1971.

The collection includes correspondence between brick mason and accountant Luther Rice Parker of Cleo, S.C., Morrison, Fla., and Clearwater, Fla., and teacher Cora Lillian Parker of Harnett County, N.C., during their courtship, 1902-1907. There are also two letters from Bessie Walton Parker, Cora Lillian Parker's sister, to Luther Rice Parker. Letters deal chiefly with courtship, thoughts on marriage, and church services, including Sunday School. Topics also include teaching; brick masonry; accounting; Luther Rice Parker's work for D.B. Morrison and Company, manufacturers of yellow pine lumber and rosin barrel staves in Morriston, Fla.; his election as clerk and treasurer for that town; and early 1900s technology, including the advent of the telephone and additional railroad lines in the South.