Parker, Isaac Charles

Parker, Isaac Charles, 1838–96, American frontier judge, b. Belmont co., Ohio. Self-taught in law, Parker began practice in St. Joseph, Mo., in 1859. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1870 as a Republican. Parker was appointed (1875) judge of the western district of Arkansas, an unruly area that included in its jurisdiction the Indian Territory. He became known as a “hanging judge” because of the many death sentences he meted out. However, Parker's rigorous justice helped bring law and order to the area.

See biographies by F. Harrington (1951) and H. Croy (1952); G. Shirley, Law West of Fort Smith (1957, repr. 1968).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2026, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies