Our Star Wars Lineage

My mother and George Lucas are 6th cousins. This info was shared with me by a Binkley cousin. I don't know if the Lucas side is correct. This is fun whatever the case.

No.	My Leedy Ancestors	George Lucas Leedy Ancestors
1	John Leedy [abt. 1715 - abt. 1760] spouse - Elizabeth ? [abt. 1720 - abt. 1769]	John Leedy [abt. 1715 - abt. 1760] spouse - Elizabeth ? [abt. 1720 - abt. 1769]
2	Johanna Jacobina Leedy [1744-after 1801] spouse - John Binkley [1743 - abt. 1801]	Abraham Leedy [1751 - 1834] spouse - Catherine Long [1754 - 1838]
3	Frederick Binkley [1774 - 1857] spouse - Adeline Shackleford [1789 - 1868]	John Leedy [1779 - 1851] spouse - Elizabeth Keith [ 1789 - 1870
4	Joseph Shackelford Binkley [1810-1887] spouse - Martha Buchanan Steele [1811-1859]	Samuel Keith Leedy [1816 - 1853] spouse - Margaret Whitnah [1821 - 1903]
5	Mary Binkley [1834 - 1881] spouse - Samuel Summerfield Steele [1821 - 1903]	Henry C. Leedy [1852 - 1936] spouse - Phoebe C. Boston [ 1851 - 1926]
6	Alexander Martin Steele [1853 - 1933] spouse - Lola Matley Dickson[1862 - 1934]	Maud Esther Leedy [1878 - 1948] spouse - Walton H. Lucas [1880 -1929]
7	Wilmoth Alexander Steele [1892 - 1966] spouse - Minnie Mai Hunt [1899 - 1936]	George Walton Lucas, Sr. [1913 - 1991] spouse - Dorothy E. Bomberger [ 1913 - 1989]
8	Lola Mae Steele [1919 - 1983] spouse - Ernest G. Oeser, Jr. [1917 - 1983]	George Walton Lucas, Jr. [b. 1944]
9	Deborah Oeser Cox (me)	Children of George Walton Lucas [b. 1944]

Wilmoth "Pat" Alexander Steele

My Pawpaw, Pat Steele, had 12 children and 36 grandchildren. Our grandmother Minnie passed away when the youngest child was five weeks old. Pawpaw and the older girls, Lola Mae and Neva, raised them the best they could with an abundance of love. The great-grandchildren, the great great's and great great great's are too numerous to count in a hurry. They have lived all across the US. Some have spouses from different parts of the world. The family represents many cultures and ethnic groups. They now live in many different states and some in other countries. Together we all share a kinship and a loving family connection. Some of us have never met in person. We have had in-laws and outlaws (maybe one or two lol), divorces, deaths, and great distances to separate us. And yet we are all together, the family of Pat and Minnie Steele. We all share in the love that those 12 children of Pat and Minnie had for one another.

Wilmoth "Pat" Alexander Steele

Wilmoth "Pat" Alexander Steele

Wilmoth "Pat" Alexander Steele

1017 Meridian Street. Nashville, TN. Metro Nashville Assessor

Early marriages in the Cumberland Settlements.

Civil law was put in place in the Cumberland Settlements very soon after the first settlers arrived. A constitution, the Cumberland Compact, was signed by many of the settlers.  Justices were appointed from the established stations or forts to oversee legal matters. The first marriage known to have taken place in what is now Davidson County was the union of James Lieper and Susan Drake in 1780. The ceremony was performed by James Robertson, as head of the "government of the Notables." Robertson likely issued a license to the couple. There was no regular minister in the settlement until the arrival of Thomas B. Craighead, a Presbyterian minister, in 1785.

Marriage bonds were probably issued by the court in Davidson Co., beginning with the county's formation in 1783. The earliest date of an extant bond for Davidson County is December 13, 1788.

The bond was a guarantee or promise that the couple had a legal right to be married. That is to say, the couple was of age, that neither was already married to someone else and that there was no other reason why they could not be married according to law. In the early days, the bride was required to be a resident of the county in which the marriage license was applied for.

The bond was usually signed by the groom and by another person who had obligated themselves to pay the bond if it became necessary to do so. This person, often a relative of the bride or groom, sometimes a friend, has been commonly referred to as the bondsman. There is sometimes, more than one bondsman and there are instances in which the groom did not sign the bond, only the bondsman. The bond was not to be paid unless the couple's marriage was in violation of law. There was most likely a fee for the license but the amount is unknown.

In the early marriage records for Davidson County, there is often only a bond and no license, as the person performing the marriage was not compelled by law to return the license to the court. In about 1816, the licenses began to be returned to the court with regularity. Davidson County marriage bonds and licenses do not give names of parents of the couple. There is sometimes a letter of consent attached that was signed by a parent but this is a rare find. Birthdates are not given on the records. Beginning in 1838, TN law required each County Clerk to record the issuance of a marriage license and the return of the license, in an official "marriage book." In the early 1900's the ages of the couple and a place of residence began to be recorded in the marriage books.

Below is a transcription of a marriage bond for my ancestors George Sugg Allen and Ferebe Pharaba Russell from Davidson County records from the year 1803. The bondsman, Andrew Lucas, was married to Pharaba aunt, Nancy Gower. The language sometimes varied but the substance was the same.

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Know all ye men that the I Andrew Lucas of the county of Davidson and state of Tennessee, are held and firmly bound unto the governor of the said state, for the time being, in the sum of 1250 dollars, to be paid to his said excellency, his successors in office, or assigns. To which payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators, each and every one of us and them, both jointly and severally, firmly by these presents.

Witness our hands and seals this 21 day of Nov 1803

The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas George Allen has this day prayed and obtained a License to Marry Ferebe Russell now if the said Ferebe Russell be an actual resident of the aforesaid county, and there shall not hereafter appear any lawful cause why the said Geo Allen & Ferebe Russell should not be joined together in holy Matrimony, as husband and wife, then this obligation to be void and of non effect, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.

Andrew Lucas (Seal)

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Below is a scan of a Davidson County marriage license from 1789. The original marriage bonds and licenses are in the holdings of Metro Nashville Archives. The marriage book are also in the archives collections.

Marriage bond issued to Joshua Harbin to marry Mary Smith, 1789

They Have Served Their Time In Hell.

Awhile back I found a poem about soldiers in the 25th Division serving in Korea. It was in some papers that had belonged to my parents. I googled and found that it is one of many variations of a poem that dates back to at least WWI. The original title was Our Hitch in Hell. It was published in 1916, in a book titled American Soldier Ballads. There are men who fought in later wars who sincerely believe that they wrote the poem. The poem was revised many times and used from WWI to Vietnam and likely after. Sometimes it is about Marine's, sometimes all soldiers are included. Daddy had two brothers who served in Korea. Perhaps one of them sent it to him. Corky served in the 25th Division but I don't know about Peanut.

This is the version that I came across. It is quite different from the original but follows the theme.

The_Tennessean_Wed__Jun_18__1952_oeser brothers

Herbert D. "Corky" Oeser

John Paul "Peanut" Oeser

My uncle Corky Oeser is in the back center in uniform. This was 1950.
I believe Daddy and others were delivering Corky to camp.

Ollie Cox - Robertson County

Ollie Cox was my husband's grandfather. He died in 1970, not long after we were married. The photo was made a tobacco barn in Robertson County.

Robert Davis Oeser April 28, 1919 -June 16, 1999

I think I may have dreamed about my Uncle Robert and my Daddy last night, because I woke up thinking about them. I sure miss both of them. Robert would turn 99 this year and Daddy 101.

Robert and I were phone buddies. We talked often and had long conversations. We laughed and we argued and we shared a lot of good stories. Robert was born before Daddy turned two and they were close all of their lives. All ten of the siblings were close but the two oldest brothers had a special bond. Two little growing up together with three little sisters. It was not until 1928 that another boy was born it the family.

Robert Oeser and Ernest Oeser.

Robert Davis Oeser was a self admitted Mama's boy. He spent time with his grandmother learning to crochet when the others were out playing. He was a good student and the only of one of the ten children to have graduated from high school. He was in the East Nashville High School class of 1939. He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the U. S. Army in Italy and Africa.

Robert Oeser and his little brother Ronnie Oeser.

Robert got married in 1951 to a beautiful young woman named Millie Marshall. He was a hard worker and enjoyed working outdoors. Robert built a beautiful home, from the ground up, for his family in the new Bellshire subdivision in the 1950's. He and Millie were parents to two daughters, Janice and Cheryl. He loved his family, and doted on his grandchildren.

He was a smart man, a proud man, stubborn and opinionated. I loved him and I miss him.

Papa Oeser, and nine of his ten children. Front Row, Robert, Papa and Ernest. Middle, Peanut, Ruth, Margaret and Corky. Back,  Jimmy, Orville and Ronnie. Dorothy is the child that was not present.