The Parker Family
George W. Sanders was a native of Tennessee. He married Caldona Champion, also a native of Tennessee. He was a Southern sympathizer and served in the Confederate Army. After the end of the war, the family migrated to Arkansas, homesteading 160 acres in Marion County near the north side of Bull Shoals Mountain. Here the family of thirteen children was reared.
Uncle George, as he was known, was a rather well-educated man for his day and was an avid reader. In his early life he was a Democrat but in his later years he became a Socialist and a staunch supporter of Eugene V. Debs, the long-time Socialist leader.
Perhaps, no other family in Marion County was so nearly self-sufficient as was the Sanders family. On the farm, corn, oats, wheat and sorghum cane were grown; cattle, sheep, hogs, turkeys, geese, ducks, and chickens were raised; more that 100 bee hives furnished honey for the family and some for the market; the family orchard furnished apples, peaches, plums, and berries for fresh fruits in season and for canning and for dried fruits. Apples were stored in the family cellar.
The corn grown became grain for their livestock and for cornmeal; wheat was ground for whole wheat flour; oats became grain for livestock and poultry; sorghum was made by the family and stored in barrels for family use and some for sale; because of the high quality if found a ready market. The extra cane, along with the corn fodder, became feed for the livestock.
The cattle furnished the family with milk and butter and from the herd, one or two were butchered each year for fresh meat. Surplus beef was cured and dried somewhat in the manner of the Western "jerk" beef. Hogs furnished meat, sausage and cured hams and bacon as well as "lard" for seasoning. The sheep were sheared and the wool was corded, spun and woven into cloth to be made into clothing for the family; the sheep also supplied mutton. The poultry furnished meat and eggs and from the geese and ducks, feathers were plucked to make feather beds and comforters.
A large garden supplied fresh vegetables during the growing season and potatoes (Irish and Sweet), cabbage, turnips and onions were stored in the cellar for use during the winter months.
In the yard was an ash hopper which supplied the lye for making the lye soap. A machine shop and blacksmith shop made and repaired most of the farm equipment and much of the home furniture was made in the cabinet shop.
It was a closely knit family unit. The children were: Champion, a machinist who married Belle Reeves; George, Jr., a mechanic and carpenter who married a Morgan; Thomas (Tommie), a farmer who married Ethel Osborne; Romulus (Rommie), a machinist who married Lulu McCracken; Biddie who married W.J. Kirkland; Maggie who married Cam Parker; Liza who married Joe Parker; Winnie who married Elza Parker; Julia who married George Newberry; Sarah who married Ben Mitchell; Clara who married Will Osborne; Dona who married Russell Mitchell; Ida who married Oliver Parker.
Three of the sisters married Parker brothers; two of the sisters married Mitchell brothers, cousins of the Parker brothers. One sister married a Parker, cousin of the Parker brothers.
Uncle George and Aunt Callie were buried in a cedar grove on the homestead. Of the thirteen children only two survive. Rommie lives in Arizona and Ida (Mrs. Oliver Parker) lives in the Fairview Community, within three miles of where she was born and has lived all her life.