Paul Victor Parker, Night Watchman
Glendale Mills, Glendale, SC
Furnished by Clarence Crocker
Paul V. Parker married Mary Lou Bradley, daughter of John and Mammie Bradley who had moved from North Carolina to Glendale, S. C. Paul and his family lived on Broadway Street in the Glendale mill village for a number of years. He and his family were members of the Glendale Baptist Church with his children attending both Sunday school and Baptist Training Union classes.
Paul worked as a night watchman for Glendale Mills for a number of years and was on duty the night of the office robbery. During the night of February 26, 1948, a thief or thieves broke into the mill office and took eighteen thousand dollars from the large company safe. Paul had made his normal rounds, punching the time clocks at the regular hours throughout the night but had not noticed anything unusual. (To read more about this click Robbery of Mill Office.)
When the plant Superintendent came early the morning of the 27th to get the money to pay the workers, he found the safe open and the money gone. A suspect was arrested and charged with the robbery. He was tried and convicted but the State Supreme Court overturned the conviction on grounds of legal technicalities. Paul resigned shortly after the robbery and moved to a farm just outside of Clifton, S. C.
The 1940 Glendale Census listed the household as;
Paul Parker 38, husband. Wife; Mary Lou 33.
Children; Emmin Gelda 12. Victor 10. Judith 8. Mary 6.
Paul Parker died at the age of 64 in August of 1966.
Mary Lou Parker died at the age of 67 in September of 1974.
Federal Census and Obituary records, courtesy of the Spartanburg County Library.
Clarence E. Crocker, June 2012
This web site has been started as a public service to share the story of Glendale. See more information about Mary and her Glendale connection at Mary McKinney Teaster.