Our Paternal Great Grandmother, Anna Rebecca (nee Plankinton) Parker, was born in East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, PA. (Post Office: Mortonville) Parents: Alfred Herbert Plankinton (b.1828 PA, d.1866 PA) and Rebecca "Beckie" (nee Careff) Plankinton (b.abt 1836 Maine, d.1902 PA).
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PA & NJ, Church & Town Burial Records show Anna R. Parker died in "Cottage Hill", which I believe to be the name of a residential section in West Goshen Township. Anna Rebecca and Joseph's home was on Garfield Avenue.

The above-referenced Church Burial Record states that Anna R. Parker died at the young age of 37 years, on 1 March 1892 or [Tuesday] 2 Mar 1892 {36 years, 3 months and 8 {7} days} from "Consumption", a common term used for several types of diseases at that time, which for her was Tuberculosis.

[Newspaper accounts state Anna died Thursday, 3 Mar 1892.]

She was buried on Saturday, 5 Mar 1892. The Clergyman conducting the service was the Rev. G. Heathcote Hills of the Protestant Episcopal Church of The Holy Trinity in West Chester.
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In addition to the trauma of the disease which took her life, one child died before she did, her namesake, and knowing she would die before seeing her children reared, must have been unbearable. Unbeknownst to her, two more of her children died shortly after she succumbed.

I can only imagine the sorrow that her husband, Joseph had with all of these deaths of his dear loved ones. Also, having to give up his two youngest daughters to Adoption because he couldn't work and care for them. The youngest one, Hattie, died at nine months of age from Pneumonia not long after her Mother died. She had been Adopted by a prominent couple in the West Chester area, Joaquin B. and Kate (nee Dutton) Matlack of Sugartown, Chester, Pennsylvania...I'm sure they were totally heartbroken as well.

The next youngest daughter given to Adoption was our Grandmother, Lillian "Lillie/Lily Dell", who was Adopted by William H. and Ellie A. (nee Greenfield) Tompkins, with whom she had a good life.

Thankfully, her natural Father, Joseph Filmore Parker, was able to stay in touch with Lillian as she was reared and in his later years. (Our family has letters from him to her.)

Anna and Joseph were married 31 Aug 1876 by the Rev. Joseph S. Evans. Witnesses were Mrs Joseph Evans and Genevieve Baker. Charles Smith, Sr., a miller, and Will Smith, Jr. introduced them in 1875. Anna and her Sister Martha Plankinton were visiting the Smiths. The wedding took place at the Baptist Church at the Northeast Corner of Darlington and Union Streets. Anna was aged 21 and Joseph was aged 19.

Their Honeymoon was spent at the exciting Centennial Exposition, the first "World's Fair" for the United States of America, ("International Exhibition of Arts, Manufacturers and Products of the Soil and Mine") at the Fairmount Park along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It was built for the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Signing of The Declaration of Independence. It ran from 10 May to 10 November 1876. Our Parker/Plankinton Family has one, small souvenir from their trip...a Colonial-style clear glass slipper! (Made by Gillinder and Sons, Philadelphia, 1861-1930). {Only four of the buildings of the many built, still exist today.}
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Anna and Joseph had the following six children:

Emma Webster Parker Weaver 1878–1934
Laura May Parker Wood 1881–1952
Anna Rebecca Parker "Jr" 1883–1891
Lillian Lillie Dell PARKER (Tompkins-Adoptive Name after Mother died) Handwork, LeBaron 1888–1968
Joseph Filmore Parker Jr 1890–1893
Hattie Ingram Parker (Matlack-Adoptive Name after Mother died) 1891–1893
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OBITUARY/DEATH NOTICES (Thank you, Dan Oh - 4 Aug 2015)

Daily Local News, West Chester, Chester County, Pa
March 4, 1892

PARKER- In West Goshen, on March 3d, 1892, Mrs. Anna R. Parker, wife of Joseph Parker, in the 37th year of her age.

Friends and relatives of the family are respectfully invited to attend the funeral from her late residence, on Garfield avenue, in West Goshen, adjoining West Chester, on Saturday, March 5th, 1892. Meet at the house at 2 o'clock. Services at P.E.Church (Holy Trinity), West Chester, at 2:30 p.m. Interment at Greenmount (sic) Cemetery. [Green Mount]
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Ibid:

Mrs. Joseph Parker

Mrs. Parker, wife of Joseph Parker, of Garfield avenue, West Chester, died this morning. She had been ill for the past two years with consumption. She leaves three small children and a husband to mourn her loss.
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Ibid
Publication date unknown

The funeral of Mrs. Joseph Parker, took place Saturday afternoon. Services were held at the Church of the Holy Trinity and interment was made at Greenmount (sic) Cemetery. The pall-bearers were Elmer Rodenbh, T. Lin Lewis, Milton Watson and Harry S. Johnson, all members of West Chester Lodge, I.O.O.F. of which Mr. Parker was a member.
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The following is a lovely poem I found among my Maternal Grandmother, Cassandra William (nee Taylor) Mellen's papers that she saved for me. The date it was written/printed is unknown. It is blank on the back side.

Great-grandmother

I like to think that at twelve,
she ran barefoot through July clover
in her white cotton dress,
wore her hair in braids,
and smelled like
the early morning after a thundershower
and the wild roses that grow
beyond the split rail fence
of adulthood . . .

Then she got old---
she used to wash me in the kitchen sink
and let me play with the music box in the
hall---
and sometimes, when I close my eyes,
I can smell her house;
all wood floors and geraniums and clean
sheets.

She lives in a nursing home now, but
her mind loves to nod off and roam
through eighty-odd years
of back streets and wild-flower fields.

The nurses float silently by, and her eyes
smile at them like
moon-glow fireflies
dancing in the dark.

I've kept her pearls
and lace handkerchiefs, and
every year I throw away the picture they
send me
(out of respect, I think)
and keep the one I found
in her velvet photo album.

She is nineteen, and she sits,
serene, smiling at me,
and the years evaporate
like morning dreams
and old perfume.

---Wendy Martin, 17, Grand Rapids, Mich.
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NOTE: 17 Feb 2016 ~ Thank you, 52P37 (Ctaylor #48914644), for the photos of Joseph and Rebecca's monument, and for the photo of the MEMORIAL CHAPEL SHELTER BY REQUEST OF THE LATE JOHN G. SPRINGER 1892, too! Thank you R Houseman for the more recent photo of the PARKER, Joseph Filmore and Anna Rebecca's Monument.