Leticia Tucker Biography

Janiece Kratzmeyer Gasewicz
Jan 6, 2016
2 min read

Updated: Apr 15, 2021

Stephen Walker Tucker's mother was Leticia Tucker. She was born about 1832 in Kentucky and was the oldest known child of Rial Tucker and Elizabeth Beavin. She spent most of her early life living in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, near the Ohio River--where it serves as a boundary between Kentucky and Indiana.

Leticia married Bannister Tucker in Breckinridge County sometime between 1850 and 1852. They had at least one child while living in Kentucky. Her name was Mary and she was born about 1852. Most likely, Leticia had more children in the next few years but Mary was the only one that lived beyond eight years old. Smallpox, typhoid and measles made the rounds throughout Breckinridge County in the 1850s. In fact, I know that Leticia lost several extended relatives to Typhoid in 1852.

Sometime before 1856, Leticia and Banister decided to move to Pope County, Arkansas along with her parents and siblings. A straight shot between the two areas would have been about 500 miles but was probably longer, given the trails of the time. Traveling by wagon, I'd say they took at least a month to make the move but I am not familiar enough with the territory or wagon travel to say for sure.

Over the next seven years, Leticia had three more children: William, Nancy Ann and Stephen Walker. Stephen was born while Banister was serving in the Confederate Army, but Banister died about eight months afterwards, leaving Leticia a young widow in care of several young children. Sadly, it appears that Leticia's mother and young son, William, died within those years, as well.

By 1869, Leticia had remarried. Her new husband was Thomas W. Bernard. He had lived in the area for some time and had served in the same regiment as Banister. She and Thomas had one daughter in 1869. Her name was Luella.

Little is known about Leticia after 1870. She likely died in Atkins, Arkansas around 1882. She was about 50 years old.

Note: Leticia was most likely pronounced La-ti-sha. I have found her name spelled a half dozen different ways. The most common ones are Latitia, Letitia, Lutitia.

Documents

1850 Census: See line 26

1860 Census:

The household begins on page 11. The home listed beneath

belongs to Stephen Tucker, Letitia's brother.

1870 Census:

See line 28

She is listed as Lutitia Bernard.

1880 Census:

See line 3

She is listed as Lutetia Bernard.

Galley Rock (Galla Rock) Cemetery

This the site of the Galley Rock (Galla Rock) Cemetery. The town of Galley Rock was about four to five miles west of Banister's land. It sat near the cemetery, but no longer exists. Most of the graves were marked with large stones and there are no records to indicate who all is buried there. Some of the later tombstones are still legible, but they do not show any Tuckers. Still, it is very possible that Leticia and her son, William Tucker, are buried there, marked by a stone. The pvc piping indicates unmarked graves. The crumbled rock in the middle picture on the right is a grave.