Henry St. George Tucker Sr. (December 29, 1780 – August 28, 1848) was a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

, law professor, and U.S. Congressman (1815–1819).

Biography

Tucker was born on Mattoax Plantation in

Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County is located just south of Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county's borders are primarily defined by the James River to the north and the Appomattox River to the south. Its county seat is Chesterfield Court Ho ...

on December 29, 1780, to St. George Tucker and Frances Bland, the daughter of Theodorick Bland of Cawsons. He was thus the half-brother through his mother of U.S. Representative and Senator

John Randolph of Roanoke John Randolph (June 2, 1773May 24, 1833), commonly known as John Randolph of Roanoke,''Roanoke'' refers to Roanoke Plantation in Charlotte County, Virginia, not to the city of the same name. was an American planter, and a politician from Virg ...

. As a young man, he pursued classical studies at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

; he graduated in 1798. Tucker stayed in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...

to study law at William and Mary as well as under his father who was an established Virginia lawyer. He excelled in the study of law, obtaining his law degree in 1801. After being admitted to the Virginia bar, Tucker commenced a legal practice in

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

. Notably, Tucker was appointed to the law faculty at the

(1801–1804) and later was captain of Cavalry in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

. He was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the U.S. House of Representatives and served for two terms, from 1815 to 1819. During his tenure, Tucker was a supporter of the American System, including the establishment of the Second Bank of the United States and the passage of the

Tariff of 1816 The Tariff of 1816, also known as the Dallas Tariff, is notable as the first tariff passed by Congress with an explicit function of protecting U.S. manufactured items from overseas competition. Prior to the War of 1812, tariffs had primarily ...

. In 1823 he had a son, John Randolph Tucker. From 1824 to 1831 he operated the Winchester Law School. He went on to be judge and president of the

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

of Virginia (1831–1841) and then became a professor of law at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

(1841 to 1845). As a law professor, Tucker authored ''Commentaries on the Law of Virginia'' as well as several treatises on natural law and on the formation of the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nati ...

. He is widely known for adding a mandatory pledge to the student honor code while a professor at the University of Virginia. On July 4, 1842, St. George Tucker offered the following resolution as a gesture of confidence in students: "...resolved, that in all future examinations ... each candidate shall attach to the written answers ... a certificate of the following words: I, A.B., do hereby certify on my honor that I have derived no assistance during the time of this examination from any source whatsoever." Tucker's pledge was adopted and soon became the following: "I do hereby certify on honor that I have derived no assistance during the time of this examination from any source whatever, whether oral, written or in print." This basic pledge has, in one form or another, been adopted at many American universities. Tucker resigned in July, 1845 due to ill health. He died in Winchester, Virginia in 1848.

Electoral history

*1815; Tucker was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 71.5% of the vote, defeating Federalist Griffin Taylor and Independent Robert Bailey. *1817; Tucker was re-elected with 67.84% of the vote, defeating fellow Democratic-Republican William Carlson.

Legacy and honors

*The papers of the Tucker-Coleman family, including the papers of Henry St. George Tucker, are held by the Special Collections Research Center at the

. *His home near Leetown, West Virginia, known as Woodbury, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1974. * Tucker County, West Virginia is named in his honor

Works

*''Commentaries on the Law of Virginia'' (2 vols., Winchester, 1836–1837) *''Lectures on Constitutional Law'' (Richmond, 1843) *''Lectures on Natural Law and Government'' (Charlottesville, 1844)

Notes

References

External links

* *
Finding aid for the Tucker-Coleman Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Henry St. George 1780 births 1848 deaths American legal scholars College of William & Mary alumni College of William & Mary faculty American people of English descent William & Mary Law School alumni People from Winchester, Virginia Politicians from Williamsburg, Virginia Henry St. George Tucker Sr. University of Virginia faculty Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia Virginia lawyers Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 19th-century American politicians United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Bland family of Virginia