Henry St. George Tucker Family Collection

1477 WFCHS/THL

Inventory created by Archives Staff 11/1989. Last revised 02/2021.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright.

EXTENT: 0.42 linear feet

DATE: 1824-1978

SCOPE AND CONTENT: This Henry St. George Tucker Collection contains copies of speeches given, articles written by and about Henry St. George Tucker I, John Randolph Tucker, and Henry St. George Tucker III.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL:  Henry St. George Tucker I was born in December 1780 in Chesterfield County, VA.  Received his undergraduate degree at the College of William & Mary, graduating in 1798, and then went on to study law, also at William & Mary.  He obtained his law degree in 1801 and set up practice in Winchester, Va.

From 1815-1819, Tucker served as a Democratic-Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He later operated the Winchester Law School from 1824 to 1831, was the judge and president of the Virginia Court of Appeals from 1831 to 1841, and taught law at the University of Virginia (UVA) from 1841-1845.  Tucker’s written work focused on natural law and the formation of the Constitution of the United States. At UVA,  he developed a student honor code, leading to a mandatory pledge of honesty for all examinations.  This pledge has been adopted by many other institutions.  Henry St. George Tucker I died in Winchester in 1848. 

On December 24, 1823, in Winchester, VA, John Randolph Tucker was born to Henry St. George Tucker and his wife Anna Evelina Hunter Tucker.  John Randolph received his law degree in 1845 and began practicing law in Winchester.  In 1852 and 1856, he served as a presidential elector for the Democratic party.  From 1857 to 1865, John Randolph served as the Attorney General to the Commonwealth of Virginia.  He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1875 to 1887.  John Randolph taught Constitutional Law at Washington & Lee University from 1893 to 1897, was the president of the Virginia Bar Association from 1891 to 1892, and president of the American Bar Association in 1894.  He died in Lexington, VA in 1897 and is buried in the Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester. 

Henry St. George Tucker III was born in Winchester, VA on April 5, 1853, to John Randolph Tucker and Laura Holmes Powell. He attended school in Richmond and Middleburg, VA. He graduated from Washington & Lee Law School in 1876 and started his law practice in Staunton, VA. In 1889, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1889-1897). From 1897 to 1902, he was a professor of constitutional law at Washington & Lee and then became dean of the law school at Columbia University, now George Washington University. Tucker returned as a Member of the House of Representatives and remained there until his death on July 23, 1932. He is buried in the Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Lexington, VA. Tucker married Henrietta Preston Johnston on Oct. 25, 1877 and had seven children.

RELATED MATERIAL: Conrad & Tucker Law Firm Records, 401 WFCHS.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Coleman, Mary Haldane.  St. George Tucker: Citizen of No Mean City.  Richmond, VA: The Dietz Press, 1938 [B Tucker]; Quarles, Garland R. Some Worthy Lives. Winchester, VA: Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, 1988 [920.0755 Qua]; Tarter, Brent.  The Campaign for Woman Suffrage in Virginia.  Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2020 [324.6 Tar]; Tucker, Henry St. George III.  Woman’s Suffrage by Constitutional Amendment.  New Haven CT: Yale University Press, 1916 [324 T79]; Tucker, John Randolph.  The Constitution of the United States: A Critical Discussion of its Genesis, Development, and Interpretation.  Chicago: Callaghan & Co., 1899 [342.73 T791].

CITE AS: Henry St. George Tucker Family Collection, 1477 WFCHS/THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA.

ACQUISITION INFORMATION: Acquired as a gift

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1

"Henry St. George Tucker, Legal Educator," by Alta E. Cassady, master's thesis, 1978, College of William and Mary, 1 item, 77 leaves, typescript

Honor System, University of Virginia—founded by Henry St. George Tucker I, 4 items typescript/printed

Tucker, Henry St. George, News Articles, unnumbered pages

Tucker, Henry St. George I (1780-1848) – Letter to John Lisle, March 28, 1824, 2 pages, manuscript

Tucker, Henry St. George III - address, "When the powers of the government can be used to settle the question of competition in commercial life the act becomes tyrrany," delivered before the House of Representatives, 1922, 1 item, 14 pages, printed

Tucker, H. St. George III article – "First Permanent English Settlement in America," Journal of American History, 1907, 12 pages, printed

Tucker, Henry St. George III—The President's Address, American Bar Association, reviewed highlights of legislation in the past year, 1905, booklet, 91 pages, printed

Tucker, Henry St. George, Jr.—Lines suggested by the death of my friend, n.d., 1 leaf, manuscript

Tucker, John Randolph–address delivered before the Society of Alumni of the University of Virginia, June 28, 1851, 1 item, printed, 64 pages, 2 copies

Tucker, John Randolph--address delivered before the Phoenix and Philomathean Societies of William and Mary College, 1854, Charles Wynne, Printer, Richmond, booklet, 27 pages, printed

Tucker, John Randolph–address delivered before the graduating class of the Law Department of the University of Maryland, June 1, 1877, 1 item, printed, 23 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–address “History of the Federal Convention of 1787 and Some of Its Work,” delivered to the graduating class of Yale Law School, June 28, 1887, 1 item, printed, 54 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–address “Influence of Presbyterian Policy on Civil and Religious Liberty in Virginia,” delivered before the Centennial Meeting of the Synod of Virginia at New Providence Church, Rockbridge Co., VA, Oct. 24, 1888, 2 copies, printed, 40 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–address delivered to Virginia Bar Association, July 12-14, 1892, 1 item, printed, 23 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–annual address before the American Bar Association, Aug. 25, 1892, 1 item, printed, 24 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–address delivered to the American Bar Association, 16^th Annual Meeting, Aug. 30, 1893, 1 item, printed, 53 pages

Tucker, John Randolph--address, "Reminiscences of Virginia's Judges and Jurists," delivered to the Richmond Bar Association, 1895, 2 items, printed, 47 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–address “The Constitution of the United States–the Best Product of Political Science for the Security of Freedom to Man,” delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Ohio State Bar Association, July 16, 1896, 1 item, printed, 37 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–article, “The Public Services of St. George Tucker, a Judge, and of Henry St. George Tucker, a President of the Court of Appeals of Virginia for the Virginia Law Register,” n.d., 1 item, printed, 24 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–lecture before the Young Men’s Christian Association of Alexandria, VA, Feb. 14, 1856, 1 item, printed, 31 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–lecture “The Southern Church Justified in its Support of the South in the Present War,” delivered to the Young Men’s Christian Association, 1 item, printed, 35 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–memorial presented and read to the Virginia State Bar Association, Aug. 3-5, 1897, by Alexander Hamilton, 1 item, printed, 23 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–memorials published in the “Southern Collegian,” v.29 #4, Washington and Lee University, Feb. 1897, 1 item, printed, 200 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–oration delivered at the Celebration of the Centennial of the Founding of the Northwest at Marietta, OH, April 7, 1888

Tucker, John Randolph--personal papers, 1861, 1 leaf, manuscript

Tucker, John Randolph–speech “Centennial Celebration of American Independence,” delivered to the House of Representatives, Jan. 19, 1876, 1 item, printed, 18 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–speech “Contested Election Case of Platt vs. Goode,” delivered to the House of Representatives, July 26, 1876, 1 item, printed, 19 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–speech “Counting the Electoral Votes,” delivered to the House of Representatives, Jan. 23, 1877, 1 item, printed, 51 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–speech “Revision of the Tariff,” delivered to the House of Representatives, May 8, 1878, 1 item, printed, 48 pages

Tucker, John Randolph–speech “Polygamy,” delivered to the House of Representatives, March 14, 1882, 1 item, printed, 7 pages

“John Randolph Tucker” by Susan P. Lee, The Green Bag, Vol. IX, No. 12 (December, 1897), 6 leaves, printed (photocopy)