He left his home in White County, Tennessee and moved his family to various areas in Illinois where lead mining was booming.
After serving in the 1827 Winnebago War, Parkinson moved to New Diggings, then on to Mineral Point, in what was then Michigan Territory, where he ran an inn with his wife Rebecca "...a most excellent and popular landlady...." When the Black Hawk War broke out, Daniel and his son Peter Parkinson served as officers of the territorial militia under Henry Dodge, including in the decisive Battle of Wisconsin Heights.
[1] Six foot six inches in height "with bone, muscle and flesh to correspond", he was accounted an expert Indian fighter.
In 1832 Daniel bought 80 acres of land in Willow Springs, Wisconsin in Lafayette County, a half mile from the fort, on the Military Road from Mineral Point to Galena.
He died on October 1, 1868, at his Willow Springs home, accompanied by his son, Peter Parkinson, who had by that time himself served in the Assembly.