GENEALOGY OF THE TUCKER FAMILY FROM VARIOUS AUTHENTIC SOURCES. •• . '" D ·.. ,.,.~~,. ~;Wlt' 01 ~O~!IT"'TU..~f ~. • _.~ Mh,_TOt". l'•O,H, 1._1!1.0, "Time conquers all, and we must Time obey." -POPE. BY 0 EPHRAIM TUCKER, Member Worcester Society of Antiquity, WORCESTER, MASS., U. 5. A. COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY EPHRAIM TCCKEH. PRESS OFF. S. BLA:".CHARD & Co. ,YORCESTER, )IAS~. - , - .:--:---,r-~._"t'(")t\ »,4!( ..U I .4 I , .. I i :'·~. I ·.-:.. : · ..:· :.,· . ~·· ~,,. •'·.•, ·, j ' .-l~! ' .-.'t< ;.-,,:·/· ,:·-·. Iff,J.-.~.' .. l No. 1031. <!oat of Brms. t William the Conqueror introduced into England the feudal system of Normandy; having dispossessed the old English of their lands and br•,,nies and piacing upon them his chief Norman followers, he made a list of them in a document calltd the "Dor.1esday Book," and established heraldic tvidences and laws of heraldry. The Tucker arms are of record for 1079 and 1080. As closely as can be ascertained, •he above representation is the arms, - that of 1079 being for Tucker of South Tav;­ stock, Devon., and of Hellam, Cornwall; that of 1080 being for Tucker of DeYonshire, the same as 1079, omitting the battle-axe, eYidencing sea leadership. BLAZOX: :!:The Shield; "Barry wavy of ten, arg. and az. on a che,·. emhattled between three sea-horses naissant nr, fiye gouttes-de-poix." Tucker, Co. De\·on. Paf7i•orth's Ordi1101y of Britis/1 Ai-morials, pa~,, 530, JS/col., I4ih line. Pu/,. Harleia,z Society of Visitatio11. Dt,•012. I620, page 352. The Crest: "A lion's gamb, erased and erect, gu., charged with three billets in pale or, holding in the foot a battle-axe ar., handle of the second.'' Berry's E,uyc!o. Jhra/,lry. Burke's Entyclo. He1·ald1:r a11d Gntei·al An1101:r, 1847. The ;\lotto: Nil Desperandum ( "NeYer Dtspair" ). t It will he seen that in the representation ot the coat ot arms herewith, the sea.horses :ire of golrl. which imping·cs upon the silYer of the field. Bouie/l's Ht·raldr_y, a standard En~lish work on heralchc science, on page 43, states: "It is a ~trict ]aw that metal be not on ITletal nor colour on colour; this rule is rnodifit<l in the case of varied fields, upon which may b; char~ed either a metal or a coloiu. 11 ~ !lipon page 1034 of Burke's hGeneral Armory," edition of 1S'S4, a blazonry is given for­ Tucktr, Tooker orTokt:r (Exeter, Co. Dcvon.),which g-iYes the sea-horses "naiant"(swimming) in~h:ad of "naissanC' (ri!:-ing up), and the che,·ron eml1attled and rou11ter-e111battltd, etc. The~e arm!- were g-rankd in 153S hy Thomas Hawley, Clarencieux; "nont· are entitled to 1t unle:-s proYing de!--cent from Robert Tucker of Exeter (:-ee p:q..:e 2<1S), the grantee, or tht: Tucker!-- nf Lamnion and Holland, to whom the ~amc arms were ad111litt:d :it tht: Yisitation. 1620. 11 Tht-re :ire many npµart'nt detect~ bt't\Yl't'n this blazonr~· and th(' original patent, says Burke, i11 1shich thc: field is .. azure and ;1rgent WaYc, without namin:{ bar~ or tht:ir number/' the chtYnm i-.:; "sernfe of goutte~.dt:.poix, lion~ g~imh couped, etc."· " TV!iat or from w/1ence I am or who mJ' sire, Replied the c/zief, can 'l)'deus' son inquire ? Like leaz•es on trees the race of man z's found, A'ow green in youth, now withering on the ground; A11ot/1er race t/ze following Spring supplies; 7hqfall successfrc, and successiz,e 1·ise: So generations in tlzeir course decay,- So .flourish these wizen those are passed awaJ'· But if t/1011 still persist to know my birth, 7 lzen hear a tale tlzat fills tlze spacious earth." -Iliad of Homer, Book vi, Line 1So, Pope's Translation. PREFACE. At the commencement of this Genealogy it was the inten­ tion to extend my investigations no farther than was neces­ sary to establish my own line of ancestry, and if possible carry the record back to the first settlers. In doing this a great amount of historical matter pertaining to the family was incidentally brought to light and the interest increasing with every step of progress, I was induced to continue the effort to bring out such data of other branches of the family as could be found. It is hoped that the work may be appre­ ciated by the present and future generations as a tribute of respect to the memory of those who have gone before us. It would have been committed to other hands had any one appeared who was willing to assume the responsibility of its publication, but considering the magnitude of the undertak­ ing and the fact that there was no apparent pecuniary com­ pensation in view, it is not surprising that the person to do so was not forthcoming. The work of collecting such wide­ ly scattered material is the result of patient and continuous investigation through a long series of years, and great care has been taken to make it a reliable account of the family. To accomplish this, the chief reliance has been upon Family, Church and Public Records, and such other matter as could be readily established by contemporaneous history. Tradi­ tion has been found available only as a means to bring out facts, which could readily be proved by concurrent testi­ mony. 6 Much valuable information has been furnished by the model history of Milton, by Rev. Albert K. Teele, published in 1887, wherein he has placed the annals of the town in a condition to be handed down to future generations, and has delineated the virtues of the inhabitants with singular :fidelity. The descendants of Robert Tucker have resided in Milton continuously from the organization of the town to the present time, and some of them still reside upon a part of the land once o-wned by him. The following extract is from the History of Milton, commemorath·e of Robert Tucker: "His numerous descendants have been among the most active and influential of our citizens through the whole history of the town. Mem­ bers of the family ha Ye graced the pulpit, the army and the representa­ tive halls of the country. From the beginning they have filled import­ ant offices of trust in the town and in the church. The following repre­ sentatives of the Tucker name have held the office of deacon, making almost a continuous line from the formation of the church to the present day: Ephraim, Manasseh, Jaazeniah, William, Ebenzer, David, Isaac, Amariah, Atherton, Jesse, Nathan, Stillman L., and John A. Tucker. Since Ephraim Tucker was ordained deacon in 1699, there has been generally a Deacon Tucker, Senior, and a Deacon Tucker, Junior, as at the present time ( 1887)." Our family being of English origin, and as our history extends back to very early times, it was thought appropriate to insert a list of the English Sovereigns in order that the events might be assigned to the particular reign in which they transpired. In like manner, and for similar reason, the list of the Presidents of the United States is given. One duty remains ,vhich I perform with pleasure: I desire to thank the custodians of the Public Libraries of Worcester for the many favors received; John \Vard Dean, A. M., and his assistants, of the N. E. Historic Genealogical Society of Boston, for the records placed at my disposal and the loan of the plate for the portrait of Commodore Tucker; Rev. 7 Albert K. Teele of Milton, for the use of plate for the picture of the Robert Tucker House, and loan of the Milton Church Record Book, containing records more than two hundred years old; and also to Miss Emma K. Chapman of the Milton Public Library. I extend my thanks to all those friends and members of the family, too numerous to mention by name, who have so generously furnished me with their family records and old documents, and those who so promptly responded to my circulars by their subscriptions. EXPLANATION.-It will be seen that commencing with Robert Tu(ker as No. 1, the numbers run in consecutive order through all his descend­ ants. An asterisk (*) before a name shows that the lineage goes no farther. Where there is no asterisk (*) the name is continued with the same number further on, where his family is given. With each uame described herein, figures have been used to show to what generation he belongs in the lineage to Robert Tucker. b.=born, m.=married, gra<l.=graduated, d.=<lied. Where no state is mentioned, Massachu­ setts is ~nderstood. EPHRAIM TUCKER. ,vorcester, Feb. I, 1895. "All human beings not utterly savage long for some information about past times. -T. B. Macaulay. OUR SURNAME. There have been numerous theories advanced in regard to the origin of our surname, and much might be said upon the subject without arriving at any very satisfactory con­ clusion. In the early ages of the world when the human race was in its infancy, those individuals of whom we know anything about, have come down to us by a single name. If Adam, Abraham, Moses or Noah, ever had more than one name, the other has been lost sight of in the mists of an­ tiquity. So long as there were but few individuals in a given locality, perhaps no great inconvenience might have arisen from it, but as the human race multiplied, and different individuals bearing the same name became numerous, some method of identification became absolutely necessary in order to transact their ordinary business affairs.