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

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

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

Biography

Tucker was born on Mattoax Plantation in

Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County is a County (United States), county located just south of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The county's borders are primarily defined by the James River to the north an ...

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 Vi ...

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

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

; he graduated in 1798. Tucker stayed in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...

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 northwesternmost Administrative divisions of Virginia#Independent cities, independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, Virginia, Frederi ...

. 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 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. He was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

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 The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized Second Report on Public Credit, Hamiltonian national bank in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the bank was chartered from February 1816 to January ...

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 se ...

. In 1823 he had a son, John Randolph Tucker. From 1824 to 1831 he operated the

Winchester Law School Winchester Law School was a privately run institution for legal education in Winchester, Virginia. Operated by Chancellor Henry St. George Tucker Sr., it operated from 1824 to 1831. Tucker closed it after being elected to the state Court of Appea ...

. He went on to be judge and president of the

Court of Appeals An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

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

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

(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 Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

. 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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1974. *

Tucker County, West Virginia Tucker County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,762, making it West Virginia's fourth-least populous county. Its county seat is Parsons. The county was created in 1856 from a part of ...

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 United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Bland family (Virginia) American people of Bermudian descent 19th-century Virginia politicians People from Leetown, West Virginia 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly