Alexander Parker was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and immigrated to the United States when he was 11 years old in 1843. Parker dedicated most of his life to military service, never marrying, serving in the United States Army and Navy for 47 years. Parker was a veteran of the Civil War and earned the Army Civil War Campaign Medal.  During the Spanish-American War he served aboard the steel protected cruiser "USS San Francisco" (C-5) which in April 1898; with the outbreak of the war against Spain, then took up patrol duties along the Florida coast and off Cuba. Parker was awarded the Navy Spanish Campaign Medal, the West Indies Naval Campaign Medal which is also known as the Sampson Medal and the Navy Good Conduct Medal. He was a naturalized citizen and when voter registration became necessary, he registered in 1867 as a Foreign-Born Voter in California. 

Alexander Parker was born August 1832. Parker joined the Navy from in New Jersey.  He served as a boatswain's mate on the USS Portsmouth in 1876. On July 25, 1876, at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California, he attempted to save a shipmate from drowning. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor two weeks later, on August 9.

Parker's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

For gallant conduct in attempting to save a shipmate from drowning at the Navy Yard, Mare Island, Calif., on 25 July 1876.

Parker left the Navy while still a boatswain's mate. He died on October 2, 1900, at age 68.

Alexander Parker Medal of Honor Headstone

ALEXANDER PARKER

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