Dates

• Existence: 1874 - 1908

Biography

Adelia C. Parker (1874-1908) was a working midwife and graduate of the Relief Society Obstetrics School.

Adelia Cooley was born on March 11, 1874, in Kanosh, Utah to Frances Isabell Rodeback and Osborn Benjamin Cooley. She was the fifth of eleven siblings. Adelia grew up in Joseph City in Sevier County, Utah. She was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Sevier River on June 25, 1882, by Giden A. Murdich. At the age of fifteen, Adelia agreed to enter a plural marriage as the second wife of Joseph Faulkner Parker and his first wife Mary Elizabeth Ross, who had eleven children. The marriage took place in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 11, 1889. Since plural marriage was illegal, Adelia lived with her sister Emily C. Wells in Cleveland, Utah to avoid authorities. It was in this home in 1891 that Adelia had her first baby. After the birth of her second child, Joseph took her to Joseph City, Utah where he refitted the Joseph Co-op store into a home for Adelia and her children. Joseph and Adlia had six children together. In 1902, Adelia was called to take the obstetrics course in Salt Lake City, Utah. She learned from Dr. Ellis Shipp and Dr. Middleton at the Relief Society School of Obstetrics and Nursing. She graduated in 1903 and went on to assist in almost one hundred births, not losing a single patient. Adelia died on January 6, 1908, in Joseph City, Utah.

Citation:

FamilySearch, via WWW, December 19, 2024 (Adelia Cooley; b. March 11, 1874, in Kanosh, Utah; parents were Osborn Benjamin Cooley and Frances Isabell Rodeback; eleven siblings; raised in Joseph City in Sevier County, Utah; baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Sevier River on June 25, 1882 by Giden A. Murdich; entered a plural marriage as the second wife of Joseph Faulkner Parker and his first wife Mary Elizabeth Ross who had eleven children; married in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 11, 1889; to avoid authorities, she lived with her sister Emily C. Wells in Cleveland, Utah when her first baby was born in 1891; Joseph took her to a home of her own in Joseph City, Utah where they refitted the Joseph Co-op store to a home; Joseph and Adelia had six children together; in 1902, called to take the obstetrics course in Salt Lake City; taught by Dr. Ellis Shipp and Dr. Middleton; graduated in 1903; never lost a patient; d. January 6, 1908, in Joseph City, Utah)

InternetArchive, via WWW, December 19, 2024 (Relief Society School of Obstetrics and Nursing; Dr. Ellis Shipp)

UPB files, December 19, 2024 (almost one hundred births)

Found in 1 Collection or Record: