In 1878, William Newlin acquired 160 acres east of Pine Grove (now Parker), from John Tallman. Newlin created the Newlin Cemetery Trust in 1898 and appointed his son, William Jr., and his daughter, Mary as trustees. The trust specified that the cemetery was for the burial of Newlin family members only. The quarter-acre cemetery so designated was located in the southeast corner of the NE ¼ Section 24, T6S R66W. That same year, a warranty deed was executed giving Mary Newlin title to this 160-acre plot as well as the cemetery portion, and made a provision for the future care and maintenance of the cemetery. Mary’s will gave the property, except for the cemetery portion, to her brother William. Thereafter deeds transferring the property excepted the cemetery. When the Town of Parker annexed and zoned the property, the cemetery was not included. The cemetery was eventually deeded to the Parker Area Historical Society in 1996 by Black Creek Capital, the developers of the adjacent area.

 

When the Society inherited the cemetery, William and Elizabeth Newlin were buried within an iron fence and their daughter, Mary E. Newlin, was just outside the fence to the north. In 2013, President Mike Mulligan engaged in restoration work with help from local Eagle Scouts and a grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution. During the process, additional iron fencing was added to enclose Mary Newlin's grave in with those of her parents, as well as three undocumented graves, which were previously outside the fence and just to the west of the Newlin burials.

 

According to the accounts of local residents and descendants of the Parker family, three unmarked graves adjacent to those of the Newlin family are said to be the resting place of their close neighbors Moses Parker, his wife, Hattie Parker (nee Harriet Tobler), and a stillborn daughter, Edith Belle. According to newspaper reports, Hattie died after a long illness in early April, 1892. Although there is no birth record for Edith Belle, family records suggest that she had been born on March 16. Since stillbirths were not recorded in Colorado until 1928, the lack of documentary evidence for the life of this little girl is not unusual. Sadly, two months after Hattie’s passing, Moses, distraught from grief, committed suicide. There are newspaper accounts of his untimely death.

 

The only surviving member of the family was Moses and Hattie’s 16-year-old daughter, Mary Elizabeth Parker. She went on to live a full life and became a schoolteacher. She married Homer Benton Tyler in Douglas County. Mary’s husband was a prolific rock collector, which may explain how some rocks not native to this area came to be placed around the graves.

 

The Newly family maintained ties to the property until 1961.

 

This property has been landmarked by the Town of Parker.

 

Information for this brief was obtained from A Guide to Historic Sites in Parker by F. B. McLaughlin, Parker, Colorado by Ruth Miller, F.B. McLaughlin, Larry T. Smith and Loyd Glaiser, materials from the Douglas County History Resource Center, family records from Leslie Baker, and various articles from Record Journal.

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