Isaac Charles Parker was an American politician and jurist. He served as the United States Congressman for Missouri's 7th congressional district for two terms and presided over the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas for 21 years.
He became known as the "Hanging Judge" of the American Old West due to the large number of convicts whom he sentenced to death. In 21 years on the federal bench, Judge Parker tried 13,490 cases. In more than 8,500 of these cases, the defendant either pleaded guilty or was convicted at trial. Parker sentenced 160 people to death; 79 of them were executed.Parker's health deteriorated in the 1890s and the jurisdiction and power of his court were reduced by Congress. In September 1896, Congress effectively closed the District Court for the Western District of Arkansas by removing its jurisdiction. Shortly after, on November 17, 1896, Parker died of complications due to Bright's disease. He is buried in Fort Smith.
Letter to U.S. Attorney General Augustus Hill Garland (May 27, 1885).
September 1, 1896, reported in Homer Croy, He Hanged Them High (1952), p. 218.
“I am the most misunderstood and misrepresented of men. Misrepresented because misunderstood.”
September 1, 1896; reported in Alton Pryor, The Lawmen (2006), p. 103.
