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Fort Smith National Historic Site
Biography of Judge Parker
 
I am the most misunderstood and misrepresented of men. Misrepresented because misunderstood. '"
-Judge Isaac C. Parker, 1896

Remembered today simply as 'the Hanging Judge,' Isaac Parker grew up on an Ohio farm, became a frontier attorney, and had a thirty-five year career in public service. He served as a city attorney, state judge, two-term representative to Congress, and for twenty-one years was a federal district judge in Fort Smith.

The following links provide a brief glimpse into the details of the life of this "most misunderstood of men."

Click here to start with Parker's early years in Ohio.

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Last Updated: August 29, 2006 at 17:34 MST