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Joseph Tucker may have been born in Ameila County, Virginia circa 1744. However, what we know of his origins is slim compared to our knowledge of his importance in the early history of Perry County, Missouri.

Much of the information contained here was gleaned directly from the book ​​​Maryland Catholics on the Frontier, the Texas and Missouri Settlements, written in 1973 by Timothy J. O'Rourke. A substantial portion of the tomes' 952 pages are dedicated to the Tuckers and their descendants in Perry County. Although there are errors in any book of this kind, O'Rourke​'s work can be considered the gold-standard by which other research of the settlers in southeast Missouri can be measured.   

Joseph Tucker's first wife, Frances Drury, was the daughter of John Drury and Susannah Hayden, probably from St. Mary's County, Maryland. The "Monica" Drury mentioned below may be an error on O'Rourke's part, as Monica was the sister of Joseph's wife, Frances Drury. Frances (and sisters Monica and Mary) were daughters of John Drury and Susannah Hayden.

Joseph Tucker's first wife, Frances, was included in the 1768 census of St. Inigoes Parish at Newtown Manor in St. Mary's County, Maryland alongside the Tucker family.

Joseph Tucker's 2nd wife was named Jane and was possibly Jane Pearce, widow of John Layton, Sr. He was married to her by 1813. On August 1, 1813, Joseph and his wife, Jane, conveyed 20 arpents of land each to sons Nicholas, John, William and Francis Tucker. The Catholic burial records of Perry County, Missoui, begain in 1822 and she is not mentioned in them. Joseph Tucker's will, written in 1816, mentions his "beloved wife, Jane," indicating she is still alive at that time.​

Joseph Tucker was instrumental in helping to bring Catholicism to the area. From O'Rourke's ​Maryland Catholics on the Frontier we learn that:

We have the testimony of Isidore Moore as to the succession of clergy who visited The Barrens:

The graveyard referred to above is located in a field in Perryville near St. Mary's Seminary on the corner of Sycamore and Five Mile Drive. All that is visible from the road is a large stone marker upon which are two brass plaques with the following inscriptions:

Joseph Tucker's involvement in the early church in Perry County was further documented in the ​"Diary of the Reverend Father Marie Joseph Dunand," Records of the American Catholic Historical Society, XXVII, Flick, Ella, ed., p. 46​

In his Will, Joseph Tucker left $100.00, as well as a silver chalice, to the Catholic congregation of the Barrens. His will, dated March 30, 1816, was recorded in court in Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri Territory on July 12, 1816. In 1801, Joseph Tucker, along with his son, Joseph, Jr., constructed a grist mill on an stream running from Silver Lake to a creek branch labeled in official records as Nations Creek but known locally as part of the Saline Creek.

The documents above not only serve to establish Joseph Tucker's residence in territorys, but also anecdotally substantiates the claim that he was a supporter of the Revolution as he complains of mistreatments of the board to him as a "poor old superanuated Revolutioner."

On October 14, 1807, Joseph Tucker was elected as Justice of the Peace of the Sainte Genevieve District of St. Geneveive County, Missouri.

Joseph Tucker died in 1816 in Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri Territory. We do not know the location of the burial. However, a logical location would be among the first pioneers of Perry County in Saint Mary's of the Barrens Cemetery sited above.