William Moore Parkinson was a Union soldier in the Civil War, enlisted in the 11th Illinois Infantry, Company C. He served in Missouri and West Tennessee, and helped raise a company of African American troops whom he served as Captain (1863). He drilled the company in the areas of Lake Providence and Milliken's bend, Louisiana, and died July 13, 1863 of typhoid fever he contracted there.

He was born September 18, 1832 in Tennessee and was the son of  Hugh Parkinson and Janet Garner Moore. He married Sarah Ann Cunningham, daughter of Matthew Cunningham and Mary (Polly) Boggs, on November 16, 1854 in Jefferson County, Illinois. They had two children, Zettie (Zetty) Parkinson born in 1858 and Oscar Vernon Parkinson born 1861 in Centralia, Illinois.

Submitted by Cindy Parkinson