Amos Tuck (August 2, 1810 – December 11, 1879) was an American attorney and politician in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

and a founder of the Republican Party.

Early life and education

Born in

Parsonsfield, Maine Parsonsfield is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was just 1,791 at the 2020 census. Parsonsfield includes the villages of Kezar Falls, Parsonsfield, and North, East and South Parsonsfield. It is part of the Portland& ...

, August 2, 1810, the son of John Tuck, a sixth-generation descendant of Robert Tuck, a founder of

Hampton, New Hampshire Hampton is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 census. On the Atlantic Ocean coast, Hampton is home to Hampton Beach, a summer tourist destination. The densely populated central part ...

, in 1638. Tuck attended Effingham Academy and Hampton Academy and graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 1835. He studied law and passed the bar.

Career

Tuck was an early supporter and donor to the

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal est ...

's Parsonfield Seminary. He is the namesake of the

Tuck School of Business The Tuck School of Business (also known as Tuck, and formally known as the Amos Tuck School of Administration and Finance) is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Founded ...

at Dartmouth. He was a leading citizen of Exeter, New Hampshire, for 40 years and played an important part in Exeter's history between 1838 - 1879. In his youth, Tuck came to Hampton and from 1836 to 1838 was Headmaster of the Hampton Academy founded by his ancestors. He was admitted to the bar in 1838 and commenced practice in Exeter. He later became a trustee of

. After leaving politics, Tuck was commissioned as a Naval officer of the port of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

from 1861 to 1865. Following the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, he resumed the practice of law and also engaged in railroad building, at which he gained significant success and wealth.

Political career

Tuck was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1842 as a member of the Democratic Party but broke with pro-slavery Democratic leaders in 1844 and was formally cast out of the party. He ran for Congress, anyway, and was elected as an Independent to the

Thirtieth Congress The 30th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1847 ...

. In 1845 he called a convention to form an independent movement in favor of anti-slavery Congressional Candidate John P. Hale. This convention would later be identified as "the nucleus of the Republican Party."''Birth of the Republican Party'' During the months following the convention (which was described by Tuck as "respectable in numbers and unparalleled in spirit") Tuck worked tenaciously to grow his young party. His hard work and enthusiasm resulted in the successful election of Hale in 1846. Tuck himself ran as a

Free-Soil The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...

candidate to the

Thirty-first Congress The 31st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1849, ...

, and as a Whig to the

Thirty-second Congress The 32nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1851, ...

(March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1853). After three consecutive terms he returned to Exeter in 1853 and began a movement to unite the many minor political factions that existed in the state of New Hampshire.

Founder of the Republican Party in New Hampshire

Tuck organized a secret meeting, on October 12, 1853, at Major Blake's Hotel in Exeter of a group of anti-slavery men.''Abraham Lincoln in New Hampshire'' Tuck suggested they form a party to be called "Republicans." The term "Republican party" had been widely used in New Hampshire politics in the 1830s. The dinner is commemorated by the tablet now affixed to the Squamscott House in Exeter. The participants campaigned for several parties in 1854 state elections, but the Republican party did not run a ticket that year in the state. He helped form the state Republican party in 1856 and was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1856 and 1860. Tuck was appointed a delegate to the peace convention held in Washington, D.C., in 1861 in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war. He was a personal friend of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, John Greenleaf Whittier and many other men prominent in his time, and is said to be responsible for putting Lincoln in office. "Lincoln...would never have realized his goals," according to Dartmouth historian Professor Frank Smallwood, "if his old friend, Amos Tuck of Exeter, New Hampshire...had not played such an influential role in helping him to secure the Republican party's presidential nomination in 1860."

Personal life

Tuck married Davida Nudd and had a son,

Edward Tuck Edward Tuck (August 24, 1842 – April 30, 1938) was an American banker, diplomat, and philanthropist. He is known for funding the establishment of the Tuck School of Business at his alma mater, Dartmouth College. The son of Amos Tuck, a found ...

, on August 25, 1842, and a daughter, Ellen Tuck French, who married Francis Ormond French, President of the Manhattan Trust Company. Tuck died in Exeter, New Hampshire, on December 11, 1879. He was interred in Exeter Cemetery. His son,

, financed and founded at

the

Amos Tuck School of Business Administration The Tuck School of Business (also known as Tuck, and formally known as the Amos Tuck School of Administration and Finance) is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Founded i ...

, and funded the

New Hampshire Historical Society The New Hampshire Historical Society is an independent nonprofit in Concord that saves, preserves, and shares New Hampshire history. Introduction The New Hampshire Historical Society was founded in 1823. The society has an extensive collection o ...

building, a "beautiful" granite structure in Concord, New Hampshire. Family and political descendants founded the Amos Tuck Society to promote and spread the history of Tuck's contributions and founding of the Republican Party.

also graduate from, and become a major donor to, Dartmouth College. He made his fortune in banking, railroads and international trade, becoming vice-consul to France.

References

External links

*
Accession of the Amos Tuck Society to the Political Library

October 28, 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, Amos 1810 births 1879 deaths American railway entrepreneurs Dartmouth College alumni Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire American abolitionists New Hampshire Free Soilers New Hampshire lawyers New Hampshire Republicans New Hampshire Whigs American people of English descent People from Exeter, New Hampshire Tuck School of Business people New Hampshire Democrats New Hampshire Independents Independent members of the United States House of Representatives Free Soil Party members of the United States House of Representatives Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians People from Parsonsfield, Maine Activists from New Hampshire 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American businesspeople