THREADS OF CALHOUN THURSDAY

Our visual record of life in Port Lavaca between 1904 and 1914 survives largely through the lens of former local photographer Percy Prentice Parks. Most of his photographs are easy to identify, as he often signed them in the corner, “P.P. PARKS” or “PARKS PHOTOS”.

Percy Prentice Parks was born on October 8, 1870, in Tupelo, Mississippi, the second of five children born to John Dudley and Eugenia (Simmons) Parks. Around 1876, following the death of Percy’s older brother Wiley at just eight years old and the birth of his sister, Mabel Ross, the Parks family moved to Texas. They settled in Denton County, where John Parks found work as a saddler. Percy’s father later served Denton County as County Clerk from 1885–1886 and again from 1889–1892.

Photography began as a hobby for Percy, and records show he was taking photographs as early as 1892. By 1894, he was working professionally and wrote the following letter to his parents from Temple, Texas, where he was employed by Weatherington Bros., Photographers:

“I have made over $50.00 in views since I came and have good prospects of getting $150.00 out of one negative that I made the other day of the cotton compress. It is 11x14 in and the manager said that he wanted about $150.00 worth of the pictures and told me to figure on them and see what I could put them at per doz. He wants them for advertising purposes—will send them to England and other places. It is the largest compress in the state.”

In 1903, Percy was in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, where he found business slow and struggled to make more than expenses. By about 1904, he made his way to Calhoun County. On August 17, 1904, he married nineteen-year-old Mary Ethel Johnson in Port Lavaca. Mary was the daughter of prominent farmers Isaac and Arcadia Campbell (Booth) Johnson, who had moved their family from Sabine Pass to Port Lavaca around 1890.

Later that same year, on December 27, 1904, the Calhoun County News carried the following notice:

“Mr. P. Parks, the photographer, is here looking for a location to build a gallery. He has decided to stay here for the coming year.”

Percy did establish a gallery in Port Lavaca, but he was also known for traveling throughout the area in a two-seated buggy with a top, taking photographs. He carried all of his equipment with him—camera, camera box, plates, tripod, flash powder, and more—and used a piece of iron with a hook to tie his horse while he worked. Finished photographs were delivered in person or mailed. Postal cards sold for ten cents each, or three for a quarter.

Around 1914, Percy moved his family to Kenedy to help care for Mary’s brother, Forrest, who was suffering from tuberculosis. Tragically, Mary herself became ill and died on July 26, 1915, in Kenedy. Percy buried her in Ranger Cemetery in Port Lavaca beside her parents and their infant daughter, Sarah. While there is a marker for her parents’ grave, Mary’s grave remains unmarked.

Following Mary’s death, Percy returned briefly to Denton, then worked for a short time in Fort Worth before opening a small studio in Marlin, Texas. On November 1, 1919, he began working as an X-ray technician at Torbett’s Sanatorium in Marlin, a position he held until his death. Percy Prentice Parks died of cancer on October 26, 1935, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin.

Percy and Mary Ethel had five children. Born in Port Lavaca were Isaac Dudley (1905–1970), Sarah Frankie (1907–1908), Theodora Myrtle (1908–1988), and Percy Prentice Parks, Jr. (1911–1978). Their youngest child, Forrest Temple (1913–1964), was born in Bloomington. All of their children spent their adult lives in Bryan, Texas, about an hour south of Marlin, and are buried in Bryan City Cemetery. Mary Parks and her parents are the only members of her immediate family buried in Port Lavaca. Although Mary had eight siblings—two born in Port Lavaca—all moved away as adults.

The decade Percy Parks spent in Port Lavaca pursuing his passion for photography left behind an extraordinary visual record of early twentieth-century life in Calhoun County—one that might never have existed had he not met and fallen in love with Mary Johnson and chosen to put down roots in this coastal community, even if only for a time. Those of us who value history owe a deep debt of gratitude to Percy Prentice Parks.

Compiled by Jody Weaver

Shifting Sands of Calhoun County