The Lease Surname

 

George Weber Lease, Charles Austin Lease, Asher Washington Lease, Newton Tobias Lease, Mortimer Newton Lease, James Allen Lease, Mary Jane Powe, & Harriet M Lease 

[there is some debate between the siblings some switching George and Asher or Austin and George]

The Recent Leases 

George Weber Lease, son of Tobias Stickney Lease and Mary Jane Powe, was born on 13 September 1872 in Holt County, Missouri. In 1880, George age 7 lived in Forest City, Holt County, Missouri with his parents Tobias Stickney Lease age 51 and Mary Jane Lease age 46 as well as his siblings Asher Washington Lease age 21, James Allen Lease age 18, Newton Tobias Lease age 14, Mortimer Newton Lease age 11, Mattie May Lease age 11, and Rice Almer Lease age 5. George Weber Lease married Maria Jane Wilson on 6 June 1894 in Holt County, Missouri. In 1910, George Weber age 37 and his wife Maria age 34 lived in Forest City, Holt County, Missouri with their children Ethel Maria Lease age 12, George Floyd Lease age 6, and Bernice F Lease age 3. George Weber Lease died at age 54 on 13 April 1927 in Forest City, Holt County, Missouri. He is buried in Union Cemetery. His family name lives on through his son's line.

  

 

photo from Find a Grave by Jayme Morgan 

The Meaning of the Lease Surname 

There are several possible origins including: 

1. Shortened form of the Scottish and Irish name McLeish, which is an Anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic Mac Gille Iosa 
2. Patronymic personal name meaning "servant [or devotee] of Jesus" 
3. English variant of Lees, which is a topographical name that means "fields arable land" 
4. Middle English lese meaning "pasture meadow" 
5. English habitational name Leece in Lancashire or Chesire from Old English leas meaning "woodland clearings"   

I traced the Lease family through Missouri, West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The line goes back to Germany in the early 1700s. 

With love, 

Autumn Rose Surratt 

The Ancestor Witch 

 

Sources 

•  "Find a Grave Index", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLJ-Q583: 19 November 2025), George Weber Lease, death 13 April 1927, memorial ID # 95448067. 
• "United States Census, 1880", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6XW-1V4: 19 November 2025), T. S. Lease and Mary J. Lease, 1880. 
• "Missouri County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZBP-857Y: 9 December 2025), George W Lease and Maria J Wilson, 6 June 1894. 
• "United States Census, 1910", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2YW-5M9: 9 December 2025), George W Lease and Maria J Lease, 1910. 
• surname search on Ancestry app