John Milliken Parker, Jr.

John M. Parker was born to a wealthy family with large land holdings in Mississippi. The family moved to New Orleans in 1871. Parker attended private schools in Mississippi, Virginia, and New York before returning to Louisiana to become a successful planter, businessman, and spokesman for agricultural interests.

Parker joined the Louisiana Lodge No. 102 in New Orleans, where he was initiated, passed, and raised to the sublime degree of Maser Mason between March 28, 1889, and April 11, 1889. He also served as the youngest president of both the New Orleans Cotton Exchange and the New Orleans Board of Trade. Politically, Parker became an outspoken opponent of the Louisiana Lottery and the New Orleans political machine and in 1910, became the leader of the Good Government League.

Parker was an outdoorsman at heart and great friends with Theodore Roosevelt early in his political career, who was known to join Parker on hunting and fishing trips in Louisiana on numerous occasions. As governor, Parker fought to eliminate political corruption. He also advocated for flood control in the Mississippi Valley, conservation, women's suffrage, expanded civil services, and increased funding for state institutions and mental health facilities in particular.

Parker remained active in politics after his term as governor, and was particularly active in the Anti-Long movement. He also devoted much of his time to experimental farming at his farm near St. Francisville. Parker died in Pass Christian, Mississippi, in 1939.