Dio Balaam Parker and Nannie Belle Parker were both born and raised in Edmonson County, Kentucky, in the late 1800's. Edmonson County is a small, very rural area. The northern part of the county has some coal resources, and the southeastern part of the county contains the great Mammoth Cave, the longest known cave in the world. Nonetheless, the great majority of people still earned their living by farming. The small town of Brownsville is the county seat. Other communities, even smaller than the tiny Brownsville, were Midway, Kyrock, Bee Springs, Sweeden, Sunfish, Rhoda, Chalybeate, Elko, Cade, Lincoln, Roundhill, and Huff, among others.

Dio was born in February, 1887 in the Cade community, not too far from the main entrance of Mammoth Cave. He was the sixth child born to Balaam C. Parker, a farmer and school teacher. Several years before Balaam had moved to Edmonson County from the Helenwood and Oneida area of northeastern Tennessee. Shortly after arriving he married Margaret Meridith, the young daughter of Lewis Meridith.

Shortly after his birth, Dio's father died from a farming accident, and he was raised by his mother, Margaret.

Nannie Belle Slaughter was also born in 1887, in August. She was the daughter of George W. Slaughter and Elizabeth Creek. One of a number of children, Nannie Belle was also part of a farming family.

It was destined for Nannie Belle to be part of the Parker family. She married Alvin J. Parker, the oldest brother of Dio, in the early 1900's. They had an infant son, and then both Alvin and the son tragically died in 1909. Two years later, on June 3, 1911 Nannie Belle wed Dio wed.

They began keeping house in the Good Springs area, in the Cade community. In 1912 their first child, Cleo May, was born. Thereafter the continued to bear children on a regular basis until the tenth and final child was born in the 1930's. After Cleo they had Delbert Braxton (1914), Auldon Bernal (1916), Vollie Borden (1918), Estelyne (1920), Rayburn Holbert (1922), Cora Willodean (1924), Dio Balaam, Jr. (1927), Mendell Orbin (1929), and Carmaledia (1934). In the late 1920's they moved out of the Cade area, and resided in a number of residences, mostly in Edmonson County, but also including a stint in Louisville, and one in Cave City.

In addition to farming, the Parker's were a business family, and Dio helped to fulfill this heritage. Throughout most of his life he either owned or operated one of the numerous general stores of the area. He had or helped with stores in the Cade, Elko, Cedar Sink, and Brownsville areas, and in Cave City in neighboring Barren County. While living in Louisville in the 1940's, he worked at the Seagram's Distillery.

Their first grandchild, Kathy Priddy, was born to Cleo in the same year as their own last child, Carmaledia, was born, in 1934. Their last, and 31st, grandchild, Rebecca Wingfield, was born to Carmaledia in 1970.

In 1953, at the age of 65, Dio died of a stroke while living on the Mohawk road in Edmonson County. Nannie lived another 27 years, first in Chalybeate, and in Rhoda. She died in August, 1980 at the age of 93.

Dio and Nannie raised a family which brought them much pride. All six of the boys served in the U.S. Army. Five of them are World War II veterans, and the sixth is a Korean War veteran. There are three Baptist ministers and a Baptist deacon among the boys, and after their military careers one of them farmed, one worked for the government, three of them carried on the family tradition of owning their own businesses, and one worked a long manufacturing career for a well known company.

The four girls all married and raised good families. Two moved to Louisville and prospered with their families, one remained in Edmonson County where she was active in church, and the last married an Army veteran from New Jersey who later became the treasurer for Atlantic City.

As of the writing of this introduction, five of the six boys still live and three of the four girls are alive. The family has held regular reunions since the 1950's, beginning shortly after the death of Dio. Though the date has varied over the years, the Memorial Day weekend has become the accepted time for the Parkers of Mammoth Cave to meet. Even though the descendants are scattered throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky and in many other states, a signficant number of them will come together to share fellowship with their family and their common roots.

Dennis Dio Parker
Son of Rayburn Holbert Parker
Grandson of Dio Balaam Parker and Nannie Belle Slaughter
June 6, 2000