muck ~enenlogn. ROBERT TUCK, OF HAMPTON, N. II. AND lllS DESCENDANTS. BY JOSEPH no,v. BOSTON: PRINTED FOR PRIVATE DlSTRIBUTJON. PRESS 01" DAVID CLAPP &, SON. 1 8 7 7. PREFACE. THE lineage of all the Tuck families, whose statis­ tics arc more or less fully given in this book, may be fraeed back to ROBERT Tu01r, who settled at "\Vinna­ cm1net, now Hampton, N. H., in the Autumn of 1638. Of bis two sons, Ellwitrd only, who nppoars to have been the younger, emigrutecl with his -parents, and lived in Hampton; and it is the genealogy of his de­ scendants, only, tl1at is here given. Eel ward Tuck married and had two sons, the first dying in chil<l­ hoocl. John, born about the time of his father's death, livecl to mature age, married, and reared a family. Hence, Robert,1 Eclwnrd2 and J ohn,3 each in his own generation, was the sole male rcprcscntatiYc of the family, and a progenitor of a1l the families of goncrations succeeding his own. In consiclerntion of the last named fn:ct, it was · thought proper, in forming n plan of this work, that more space and more minuteness of detail should Le allowed in relntion to these three r<:presentative 111011 PREF.A.CE • . and their affairs, than would be judicious in regard to any in private life, from whom only a part of later g·lillPl'atiorn; had i.;p1·tmg-. 'l'hc bulk of the facts connectcc.l with those early generations has been, by careful aml patient examina­ tion, culled fi·om ancient records, wills, cleecls nml · other old writings, to which I have hnd access. Some of tho incillcnts relating to them may be regarded as trivial in themselves, but where they woul<l. scrv:e to exhibit the character, or make known the habits, of the person or persons of whom they· were related, they have not been rcjectc(l. Much of the knowledge rela.ting to the families in the nineteenth century has been gained by personal interviews, 01· by corresponclcncc by mail with well­ informed gentlemen and ladies of tJ1e 'l'uck families. 'l'o all who havo in any way afforded aid or encourage­ ment, I tender my thanks. I do not wish to conceal the fact, that the p1·epara­ tion of this work has been so much in accordance with my taste and fondness for genealogical and antiqua­ rian research, that the labor has been, in a large degree, an actual pleasure. Still, the work might not have been engaged in, had I 11ot been persuaded that the material previously collected, am1 other material still attainable, would, if I should neglect to use it, be to n g1·eat extent beyond the reach of any person who shoultl hereafter attempt such a work; and I will add, PREFACE•. V that I should not have undertaken it, had not my fricml anc.1 relative, .A.l\Ios Tumc, of Exeter, anc.1 his ,-;on JD1>wA1w '.11u<.m, of New Yo1·k, gcnerow;ly n8- snmet1 the payment of all expenses that will not be covered by the S~tle, at a price much below the actual cost, of a portion of the three hundred copies printell. JOSEPH D01V. U,Htl'TON, N. II., Sept. 2'1-, 1877. EXPLANATIONS. TrrE numbers nt the left of the pngo form n consecutive serfos, begin­ ning with Robert Tuck nncl inclu<ling his cbilclrcn, the children of his sons, nnd so on through the successive generations, each person having but one number, and if occasion is foun<l to mention a sou as the head of n family, n +, prefixed to this numbci· in the consecutive se1·ics, imli­ cntes the fact, and shows that it may be found under the same number, in larger type in the middle of a page and occupying n whole line. Any number so printed in large type indicates that the same may be fouml in it.s appropriate pince in the consecutive series. The small figure nt the end of a name denotes the generation of the person, r_eckoning from Roberti as the first in the order of generations; 111-1 .Tnhn,3 J~1lw1ml. 1 N111nht•r~ th111-1 plnct•cl nli-o i1111iealo tho ri,lntioni-liip of the persons so mnrketl when they urn in the liuc of direct tlei-ceut. 'l'hus, Robcrt,1 Edwm·<l,2 Jo!m0 <lenot.:i the rclutionshlp of father, sou nml grnnclKon; nnd John,3 Jonnlhan4 and Snmucl,1 il'in clireeL de,;cent., denote the snme relationship. · Some explanation of the methods of reckoning time in the 17th cen­ tury ancl about hulfof the 18th may be nccessnry, in order to prevent mis lakes. 'l'he civil nnd ccelcsiasticnl year, in Englund, began on the 25th of March, which wns called the first month, often written "1 mo.," nnd when the name of any month wns denoted by its number, the reckoning bc~an with March. 'l'hns, 7 mo. wus used for SeptC'mbl•t·; 1~ uw. for Fehrum·y. But the historical year, often use<l iu nurrution, began Janunry 1. Hence, dates between Jnnunry 1 and March 25 were am­ biguous, nncl to avoid any mistakes, the plnn of douule dnting was n1lopted, as January, 1728-0-thut is, 1728 by the civil year, and 172U by the historical. Dy un act of Parliament, passed in 1751, the day next following De­ cember 31-thnt is, January 1, was thereufte1· to be the first day of the year. Vlll EXPLANA'l'IONS. Another chnnge wns also made by the same net. In order to rectify nn error (which need not here be explained), and to bring the reckoning of time into conformity with the Gregorian Calenclar, so called, it was. ordered that the <lay next following the second clay of September, 1752, 11ho11l<l he reckoned the fourteenth day of September, thus dropping eleven days. This was called a change of style. Earlier dates were said to be in Old Style; later dates, in New Style. All the dates in this work l>efore September 2, 1752, are in Old Style. To change them to New Style, ten days must be added to those prior to 1700, and eleven days to those later than that time. The word Goodman occurs several times in this book, where it is usecl in accordance with an early custom in New England, as a term of civility, where ,vc should use Mr.-a term formerly allowed to only a few men. TUCI( GENEALOGY.· ltobcrt ijfud,, Tmi: pnternal ancestor of all the Tuck ( or Tucke) families that _have lived in Hampton, Rocldnghnm County, N cw Hampshire, nncl of all those that went out to other plnces, with their numerous descendants, came fi·om Gorlston, a seaboarcl town in the north­ easterly part of the County of Suffolk, England, bor­ tlcring upon the County of Norfolk, from which latter county came mnny of the enrly settlers of Hampton­ the Dows, 11Ioultons, Pages and others. Gorlston liC's nbont 125 miles from London, in n nc;rthensterly direction. Although not a lnrge town, it is n place of some note. To the descendants of Robert Tuck, it has a peculiar interest as the birth­ place of their first .. A.. merican ancestor, and the home of himself ancl his family to the time of their emigra­ tion. They naturally wish to know something more : of the town ancl its surroundings than merely its name 1 and point of location on the map of Engluncl. Some of them have, indeed, enjoyed the privilege of a per­ sonal Yisit to Gorlston. They have seen the to·wn nml it$ surroundings, and have learned something of its past history, by illquiries made upon the spot. Of 1 2 ROBERT TUCK, OF IIAl\IPTON, N, II. · this number is my friend Amos Tuck, of Exeter, N. II., from whom, in tbc summer of 1872, I received an in­ teresting letter, giving an account of his visit aml some of the impressions he received. Prci:mming that the letter will be of interest to others as well ns myself, I shall introduce it, 110nrly entire, as follows: · EXETER, N. H., JULY 25, 1872. DEAR Sm: As I know you to be deeply interested in the. antiquities of Hampton, I will give you a brief account of a recent experience of my own, which, I trust, will be of some interest to you. As you know, I trace my ancestry back to Robert Tuck, one of the original settlers of Hampton, in which town were born all my paternal ancestors since; and where _;;'lll of them, except my father, died. Mr. Samuel G. Drake, the antiquary, who also traces his ancestry, on the mother's side, to the same Robert Tuck, :1sccrtaincd, some years since, that he emigrntcd from Gorlston, in England; and :Mr. Drake visited that town some ten years ago. Being recently in England, with a few days at my disposal free from b,usiness, I concluded to gratify my own wish of looking upon the place, which our ancestor called home, and looke<l back to with interest from 'his long years of ·residence in Hampton. Gorlston is on the easterly coast of England, the northernmost town in the County of Suffo1k, and is a continuous vill:tge with Yarmouth, the southernmost town on the const in the County of Norfolk. The Yarc River runs southerly, parallel to the coast from Yarmouth, emptying into the sea at Gorlston, having Great Yannouth between the River and the Sea ; and Little Yarmouth m1<.l Gorlston on the west, the River constituting the harbor for 600 or 700 vessels owned there, with a fine bridge above the principal shipping, though the draw allows vessels to follow the navigable stream far up into the country.