Parker, Isaac Charles (1838–1896)

US judge and public official. In 1875 President Ulysses S Grant appointed him to a judgeship in Arkansas with jurisdiction over the Indian Territory to the west, then a haven for renegades and fugitives from justice. He approached his task with such energy that he became known as the ‘hanging judge’. He is said to have issued more than 160 death sentences in 21 years on the bench; some 80 were actually carried out.

Parker was born in Belmont County, Ohio. He attended country schools, taught himself law, and opened a practice in St Joseph, Missouri, where he held various local offices and served in the US House of Representatives (Republican, Missouri; 1871–75). Not so fierce off the bench, he supported charitable causes and was president of the Fort Smith, Arkansas, school board for several years.