The Parker family of Utah was founded by Thomas Bryant Parker (1797-1850). He married Catherine Hammet Parker (1806-1820) on October 27, 1820, and they had three children. He married his second wife, Martha Ann Nelson (1818-1889) on October 25, 1835, and they had nine children. Joseph Faulkner Parker (1841-1936), son of Thomas and Martha, married his first wife, Mary Elizabeth Ross (1845-1909), on June 30, 1861, and they had ten children. He married his second wife, Adelia Cooley (1874-1908), polygamously on June 11, 1889, and they had six children. Joseph served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Adelia was a midwife trained in Salt Lake City, Utah. After Adelia's death, Mary Elizabeth reared her children as well. Joseph and Adelia's daughter, Frances Marie Parker (1897-1983), married Ervin Henry Larson (1892-1986) on March 28, 1917.

Adelia C. Parker was born Adelia Cooley 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.

Joseph Faulkner Parker was born on April 7, 1841, in Palmyra, Missouri to Martha Ann Nelson and Thomas Bryant Parker. He was the fourth of eight children. His family was baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1844. They were forced out of Missouri with the other members of the Church and arrived in Winter Quarters in July 1848. He father died when Joseph was nine years old, and his dying wish was that his family go to the Rocky Mountains. In the spring of 1852, the family continued west with a company of gold-seekers headed to California. They took the turn in northern Utah toward Salt Lake. They found home and safety in Spring City, then Manti, and later Provo. While attending school in Provo, Joseph met his future wife Mary Elizabeth Ross. He married Mary on June 30, 1861, at her father's home in Center Creek. They settled in Heber City, Utah and together had eleven children. In the winter of 1864, the Black Hawk War broke out near Gunnison, Utah. Joseph was a scout and helped protect Heber during the war. Joseph moved his family to Kanosh, Utah where they lived for eight years. Joseph set up ranches and cattle in each place they moved. His farming and ranching efforts comfortably cared for his family. From Kanosh the family moved to Joseph City, Utah in Sevier County. Joseph was among the first settlers to plant an orchard in Joseph. In March 1887, he received a call to serve a mission for the Church to the Northwestern States mission. After his return he was advised to take a plural wife. Joseph and Mary prayerfully decided to enter a polygamous marriage by having a second wife. Joseph married Adelia Cooley on June 11, 1889, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The families maintained separate houses, in part to avoid authorities. Authorities arrested Joseph on polygamy charges and sentenced him on December 5, 1893, to four months imprisonment. Joseph had many hobbies including blacksmithing, horseshoeing, dancing, and reading. After the death of his wives, Joseph remarried on September 4, 1929, to Louise Katrine Jorgensen. Joseph died on January 14, 1936, in Joseph City, Utah.