Thomas Parker (deacon)

Parker sailed on the Susan and Ellen (1st trip) from London on March 11, 1635, for Massachusetts.

[7] It was first known as Lynn Village, but was incorporated in 1644 as Reading, with a total of seven families living in seven houses.

[11] He owned 200 acres of land on the north side of the Ipswich River, but his homestead bordered the east side of the Wakefield (then part of Reading) Common, just northeast of today's Wakefield Town Hall.

[12] Parker's tombstone is in the cemetery just west of the First Parish Congregational Church in Wakefield.

The tombstones that were recoverable were relocated to their present positions west of the church, but the graves themselves were not.

Wakefield Common
The Parker Tavern , built by Abraham Bryant in 1694, is the oldest surviving building in Reading. It was later owned and operated by Ephraim Parker, who was the great-grandson of Thomas Parker. The tavern is now a museum.