John Parkinson, Esq., descends from a Scots-Irish Family from Northern Ireland. John was born around 1750, possibly in Ballymagowan, County Armagh, and immigrated to South Carolina around 1765. John Parkinson lived on a plantation named Richmount – which he may have named after Richmount Manor, Oneilland West Barony, Ballymagowan, County Armagh. John lived in the region of South Carolina that was first in Orangeburgh District, later separated as Winton District, and finally became Barnwell County.
In November 1778, John Parkinson served as a commissioner of election for the District Between the North Fork of the Edisto River and the Savannah River. John Parkinson married Katharine Nicholson, the daughter of the late Francis Nicholson, on 11 July 1781 in South Carolina, and they had two children: Mary Parkinson and Sarah Parkinson (born in 1789). On 27 September 1781, with the British in control of Charlestown, South Carolina, Governor John Rutledge, Esq. issued a proclamation to call a General Assembly for the colony of South Carolina – those who received British protection during the occupation were ineligible to vote.