The Parker history has been published in Pioneers West of Appalachia, by Jane Parker McManus, 1976, revised 1984. Benjamin Parker, earliest proven ancestor, was born about 1770-1780 in North Carolina. Like so many people of the post-Revolutionary period, the Parkers followed the land westward, stopping for short periods of time in Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, and back to Louisiana. Joyce is descended from Benjamin's son Isaiah Parker, who settled finally in North-Central Louisiana, in Vernon Parish. Some people who have researched the Parkers believe that Benjamin's father may have been Robert Parker, born about 1750, and that Benjamin's wife, Nancy, may have been an Anderson; however, these relations are yet to be proven.