Stephen Walker Tucker Biography
- Janiece Kratzmeyer Gasewicz
- Nov 28, 2015
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 14, 2021
The father of the Tucker clan was Stephen Walker Tucker. He was born to Banister and Leticia Tucker during the middle of the Civil War on February 15th, 1863, in Pope County, Arkansas. He was the youngest of his father's four children, although he had a least one younger half-sister through his mother.
Stephen's father succumbed to an illness while serving in the Confederate Army, and he died on October 5th of that same year. His mother remarried by the end of the decade. In 1871, her husband, Thomas W. Bernard (T.W.) was officially made the guardian of Stephen, his siblings and their inheritance--although he probably served in that capacity for a few years prior to that.
From the few bits and pieces of oral history that I've picked up through the years, Stephen was not a fan of T.W. Some stories include the belief that T.W. was at least acquainted with the infamous Quantrill Raiders, others tell of Stephen doing his best to stay away from home during his later teen years by hiring on with cattle outfits. As for the records, I do know that something happened in 1878 in regards to the guardianship bond, as T.W. didn't show up for a court appearance (guardians had to do this at least once a year to provide evidence to the court that they were managing all the inheritance due the said heirs.) He was issued a fairly hefty citation but I have no idea of the outcome. By the following year, everything seemed to be back in order and T.W. was still the confirmed guardian. At some point in the early 1870s, Banister's land was divided up by the court, with each part being set aside for Leticia and her living children from Bannister. I don't know how much land was set aside for each but it should have been quite a bit, because Banister received a sizable land grant when he came to Arkansas in the early 1850s. By local custom, Stephen probably would not have had access to this land until he was between 20 and 25.
I do not know what he did with the land once he got it. I know that he was still living in Pope County at the time of his marriage to Martha Jane Henderson, on December 29th, 1889, but they had moved to an adjacent county by 1900. At that time, Stephen and Martha were living in Logan County with Everett, Gertie and Goldy who were 5, 3 and 1 respectively. Stephen was farming on land that he had apparently bought. Sadly, he and Martha had already lost three children.
The years carried the family back and forth throughout parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas--with Stephen mostly working at farming. By all appearances, they spent a greater portion of their time in Wood County, Texas after all of their children were born. Sadly, Stephen's life was cut short with complications of prostate cancer on June 26th of 1926. He was 63 years old. Stephen is buried at Concord Cemetery in Wood County next to Martha. Note: I have spelled his name as Stephen but he also often spelled it as Steven, Steve, and S.W.
Documents:
1870 Census:
Listed as Steven Bernard; Line 30 The family record begins at line 27. You'll see that Stephen's last name is not indicated as Tucker. It is the ONLY record I've come across where Bernard is listed as his last name.
1880 Census: See line 4
1900 Census: See line 65
1910 Census: See line 78 This tells us that the family rented a home and farmland on the Quitman to Hawkins Road, which I believe is FM 778. Martha's parents, John and Sarah, lived nearby. Stephen and Martha had been married about twenty years at this time, and Martha reported having had 10 children by 1910 but only 7 had survived. We also see that Stephen could not read or write but that the rest of the family could, with the exception of the very young children. We also see evidence of the family's tendency to move, with the varying locations of the children's places of birth. Uncle Everett, Aunt Gertie, Aunt Goldie, Uncle Edgar, Aunt Emma, and Aunt Beaulah are listed in this census record, as well.
1920 Census: See line 54
Marriage License and Certificate: See Top Left
Source: Arkansas Marriage records, 1830-1952
Probate and Guardianship Records
Guardianship Bonds for Stephen and Siblings, January 17, 1871: Right hand page (189)
This is the Guardianship Bond for T.W. Bernard. This officially allowed Bernard to be the guardian of Stephen, his older sisters, and their inheritances. Stephens's mother had married Bernard a few years earlier. I believe that Stephen's older brother, William, had died by this time.
Guardianship Record, January Term, 1871: Top Right hand page (167)
Guardianship Record, July 18, 1871: See bottom left page (178)
Petition for the Partition of Banister's Land among his Heirs, July Term, 1871:
See bottom right page (183)
Guardianship Record, January Term, 1876: Middle Right Page (445)
Guardianship, Account Settlement, April Term, 1876: Middle Right Page (477)
Guardianship Record-Annual Account, January Term, 1878: Bottom Right Page (63)
Citation against T.W. Bernard, Guardian, January Term, 1879: Top Left Page (184)
This was a citation against T.W. Bernard in January of 1879 for failure to appear before the court in regard to his guardianship of Stephen Walker Tucker and one of his older sisters.
Guardianship Record, April Term, 1879: Mid Bottom Left Page (202)
Guardianship, January Term 1880, Page 1: Bottom Right Page (285)
Guardianship Record, January Term 1880, Page 2:
Top Left Page--only a partial sentence (286)
Guardianship Record, April Term, 1880: Top Middle Right Page (311) Source: Pope County, Arkansas Probate records 1861-1877 vol H; page 311
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