Nahum Parker (March 4, 1760 – November 12, 1839) was a United States senator from New Hampshire and a long-serving state and local official whose public career spanned the Revolutionary era through the early decades of the nineteenth century. He was born in Shrewsbury, Worcester County, Massachusetts, on March 4, 1760, into a New England community that would soon be deeply affected by the American struggle for independence.
As a young man, Parker served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. In 1777 he took part in the pivotal Battle of Saratoga, a major American victory that helped secure French support for the revolutionary cause. His wartime service placed him among the generation of veterans who would later help shape the political institutions of the new nation at the town, state, and federal levels.
After the war, Parker moved north and settled in Fitzwilliam, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, in 1786. He quickly became active in local affairs and was elected to the Fitzwilliam board of selectmen, serving from 1790 to 1794. At the same time, he held key administrative posts in the town government, serving as clerk and town treasurer from 1792 to 1815. In these roles he was responsible for maintaining town records, overseeing local finances, and helping manage the civic and economic life of a small but growing New England community.
Parker’s local prominence led to election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, where he served from 1794 to 1804 and again from 1806 to 1807. During this decade-long tenure in the lower house of the state legislature, he participated in shaping state policy in the formative years of New Hampshire’s post-Revolutionary development. In addition, he was a member of the New Hampshire Governor’s Council in 1804 and 1805, advising the governor and participating in executive decisions at the state level. These legislative and executive positions established him as a leading Democratic-Republican figure in New Hampshire politics.
On the strength of his state-level service, Parker was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate. He took his seat on March 4, 1807, representing New Hampshire in the Tenth and part of the Eleventh Congress during the administration of President Thomas Jefferson and the early months of President James Madison’s term. His service in the Senate coincided with a period of rising tensions between the United States and Great Britain and France, including debates over trade restrictions and national preparedness. Parker served in the Senate until June 1, 1810, when he resigned his seat and returned to New Hampshire.
Following his resignation from the Senate, Parker embarked on a lengthy judicial career within the New Hampshire court system. From 1807 to 1813 he was a justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Cheshire and Sullivan Counties, presiding over civil and lesser criminal matters in those jurisdictions. He then served as associate justice of the western circuit from 1813 to 1816, extending his judicial responsibilities over a broader regional circuit. In 1821 he was appointed a judge of the court of sessions of Cheshire County, and in 1822 he served as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Hillsborough County, continuing his involvement in the administration of justice across multiple counties in the state.
Parker remained active in public life into his later years. He returned to legislative service as a member of the New Hampshire Senate and, in 1828, was chosen president of that body, reflecting the continued confidence of his colleagues in his experience and leadership. His career thus encompassed nearly every level of governance available in his time—town offices, the state house of representatives, the governor’s council, the state senate, the federal Senate, and multiple judicial posts.
Nahum Parker died in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, on November 12, 1839, at the age of 79. He was interred in the Town Cemetery in Fitzwilliam. His long record of military service, local leadership, legislative activity, and judicial responsibility made him a representative figure of the Revolutionary generation who helped build and sustain the political and legal institutions of New England and the early United States.
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