James Asher Parks was born near Livonia, Pennsylvania May 22, 1863. He was the son of James L. and his second wife Mary (Gilbert) Parks of Selinsgrove, PA. Half siblings were Benjamin T. Parks 1842, Neb.; Martin L. Parks 1835, Selinsgrove, PA; other siblings were William L. 1871, Brooklyn, NY; Rev Jerome L. Parks 1860, Cal.; Robert W. Parks 1875, Selinsgrove, PA; and Jessie E.(Parks)Krah 1870, Northumberland, PA. When he was seventeen he went to Chicago. There he worked for a wood finishing company by day and studied music in the evenings and on Saturday. He first came to Nebraska to visit an older brother who lived at Milford. He later supervised the Nebraska Conservatory of Music at Lincoln, NE from 1887 to 1899. He also operated a music studio at York. He married Miss Helena M. Knott of York on April 18, 1890. Quoted from the Kilgore Memorial Library,"established the J.A. Parks Music Company in York a year later. In the early years, the Music Company included a retail shop that sold music and musical instruments. He is listed as manager of the "Opera House Theater" in the Official Theatrical Guide for 1900-1901. Mr. Parks gave lessons and produced musical events in addition to composing, arranging, and publishing vocal music. He appears among York College faculty in an 1890s photo in the college archives. He also taught vocal music in the York public schools. He composed a light opera, "The Judge," which was performed by his students. Several 1890s "Christmas Cantatas" published by Lorenz & Co. of Dayton, Ohio have music composed by Mr. Parks, and he was associate editor of The Choir Leader, a Lorenz publication first issued in 1894. Several early Parks compositions were copyright by Lorenz, and some copies of the earliest books have the Lorenz imprint."
He was a prolific composer and arranger who published more than 90 books and some 1700 octavo choral pieces. Many of his songs were popular during WWI. In 1938 he was honored by a national broadcast radio program presented by the York Male Chorus.