William Parker was one of the earliest railroad builders: he was associated with the building of the Boston & Worcester Railroad (one of the first railroads to enter Boston in 1830) and was later involved in the construction and management of other roads in Massachusetts and the east coast. In 1860, Parker was hired as superintendent of the Panama Railroad at Aspinwall [now Colón], the Caribbean terminus of the line. (The railroad had been completed in 1855 at great cost to speed travelers seeking their fortune in the gold fields.) According to newspaper accounts, Parker was "assassinated" September 24, 1868 by an engineer working for him, who feared Parker was preventing his advancement in the company. Parker was buried, with full honors, in the Foreign Cemetery in Panama.
An extended sketch of Parker's history is provided by his widow, Lucy C. Whitwell Parker, who late in life, penned a letter to her children, dated Brookline, Mass., October 1890. ("The Diary of Lucy C. Whitwell Parker.")
At the age of 15, his widow reported, young William was sent to Capt. Partridge's Military Academy at Norwich, VT where he studied Civil Engineering and Surveying. After about two years, he left for work in Pennsylvania. While engaged on work on a railroad near Germantown, he made the acquaintance of a young Boston civil engineer, William Scollay Whitwell (1809-1899), just two years younger than Parker (and who in 1836 would become his brother-in-law). "They soon became intimate friends," his widow told her children, "and, when the Boston & Worcester R.R. was to be built, your uncle obtained for him the appointment of First Assistant, under Colonel Fessenden." The two engineers continued a close association and were engaged in 1835 to survey a route for the East Florida Railroad.
An extended sketch of Parker's history is provided by his widow, Lucy C. Whitwell Parker, who late in life, penned a letter to her children, dated Brookline, Mass., October 1890. ("The Diary of Lucy C. Whitwell Parker.")
At the age of 15, his widow reported, young William was sent to Capt. Partridge's Military Academy at Norwich, VT where he studied Civil Engineering and Surveying. After about two years, he left for work in Pennsylvania. While engaged on work on a railroad near Germantown, he made the acquaintance of a young Boston civil engineer, William Scollay Whitwell (1809-1899), just two years younger than Parker (and who in 1836 would become his brother-in-law). "They soon became intimate friends," his widow told her children, "and, when the Boston & Worcester R.R. was to be built, your uncle obtained for him the appointment of First Assistant, under Colonel Fessenden." The two engineers continued a close association and were engaged in 1835 to survey a route for the East Florida Railroad.
William Parker was one of the earliest railroad builders: he was associated with the building of the Boston & Worcester Railroad (one of the first railroads to enter Boston in 1830) and was later involved in the construction and management of other roads in Massachusetts and the east coast. In 1860, Parker was hired as superintendent of the Panama Railroad at Aspinwall [now Colón], the Caribbean terminus of the line. (The railroad had been completed in 1855 at great cost to speed travelers seeking their fortune in the gold fields.) According to newspaper accounts, Parker was "assassinated" September 24, 1868 by an engineer working for him, who feared Parker was preventing his advancement in the company. Parker was buried, with full honors, in the Foreign Cemetery in Panama.
An extended sketch of Parker's history is provided by his widow, Lucy C. Whitwell Parker, who late in life, penned a letter to her children, dated Brookline, Mass., October 1890. ("The Diary of Lucy C. Whitwell Parker.")
At the age of 15, his widow reported, young William was sent to Capt. Partridge's Military Academy at Norwich, VT where he studied Civil Engineering and Surveying. After about two years, he left for work in Pennsylvania. While engaged on work on a railroad near Germantown, he made the acquaintance of a young Boston civil engineer, William Scollay Whitwell (1809-1899), just two years younger than Parker (and who in 1836 would become his brother-in-law). "They soon became intimate friends," his widow told her children, "and, when the Boston & Worcester R.R. was to be built, your uncle obtained for him the appointment of First Assistant, under Colonel Fessenden." The two engineers continued a close association and were engaged in 1835 to survey a route for the East Florida Railroad.
An extended sketch of Parker's history is provided by his widow, Lucy C. Whitwell Parker, who late in life, penned a letter to her children, dated Brookline, Mass., October 1890. ("The Diary of Lucy C. Whitwell Parker.")
At the age of 15, his widow reported, young William was sent to Capt. Partridge's Military Academy at Norwich, VT where he studied Civil Engineering and Surveying. After about two years, he left for work in Pennsylvania. While engaged on work on a railroad near Germantown, he made the acquaintance of a young Boston civil engineer, William Scollay Whitwell (1809-1899), just two years younger than Parker (and who in 1836 would become his brother-in-law). "They soon became intimate friends," his widow told her children, "and, when the Boston & Worcester R.R. was to be built, your uncle obtained for him the appointment of First Assistant, under Colonel Fessenden." The two engineers continued a close association and were engaged in 1835 to survey a route for the East Florida Railroad.
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