From: www.randywillis.org Four Questions Concerning Pasty Coker and Jennie Coker Dr. Greene W. Strother wrote to me in a letter about his grandmother "Pasty" Coker that she married Alexander Strother. Greene Strother was a descendant from two different lines/children of Rev. Joseph Willis. Greene Strother's father was John Houston Strother, Sr. (1852-1926) who was the son of Alexander Strother that was killed in the Civil War on May 11, 1864. Greene Strother's mother was Caroline Willis Strother (1855-1931). She was a daughter of Lemuel Willis and Emeline Perkins and a granddaughter of Rev. Joseph Willis. Greene Strother's sister Nellie V. Strother wrote me in a letter (1983) about her mother "about Carolyn [sic] Matilda Willis Strother - a granddaughter of Joseph Willis. During the Civil War her grandfather Perkins came for her mother [Patsy] and children to live on the plantation. Following her mother's [Pasty] death the children lived there - each had a black nurse. She [Carolyn Willis] was several years younger than the others: Polk, Olive, Sryldia and Liddy. She was given the choice of where to live and she chose Polk and his wife Anna. The estate was settled and she and John [Strother], after marriage, settled on her acreage...she was known as pet, mother, mamma, ma, mom." John Houston Strother, Sr.'s mother and Greene Strother's grandmother was "Patsy" Coker according to Greene Strother and Nellie Strother. Rev. Joseph Willis' son Joseph Willis, Jr. married Jennie Coker at Bayou Chicot and later moved to Rapides Parish and settled near Tenmile Creek. Other Observations Two female Jeanie/Janie/Jane? & Pasty Cokers 1) Jennie Coker married Joseph Willis, Jr. on 5 FEB 1814. There household members listed in the 1850 Rapides Parish Census are: Joseph Willis 58 Jane 40 Sarah 27 Charles 17 Lemuel 14 Elizabeth 11 2) Pasty Coker (granddaughter of Rev. Joseph Willis) married Alexander Strother. There household members listed in the 1850 Rapides Parish Census are: Alexander Strother 21 Patsy 21 Sarah 2 William 1 Alexander Strother is buried at Ashworth/Osborne Cemetery b. 20 DEC 1829 d. 11 MAY 1864 in Civil War. Alexander Strother was the father of John Strother who was the father of Dr. Greene Strother. The Four Questions: 1) Who was Alexander Strother's father? 2) Who is the Martha Strother that is buried at the Ashworth/Osborne Cemetery (b. 12 MARCH 1830 d. 10 SEPT 1899)? 3) Is Pasty Coker the daughter of Jennie Coker that married Joseph Willis, Jr. on 5 FEB 1814 and if so why wasn't she known as Patsy Willis instead of Pasty Coker? 4) How can Jane/Jennie/Janie Coker that married Joseph Willis, Jr. on 5 FEB 1814 be age forty in 1850? This Jane must be a daughter or the age is wrong in the census? I would appreciate your comments on the above observations! Randy Willis www.randywillis.org