The Toot and Tuck Families

The Toot and Tuck families are Nancy's ancestors, her's mother's paternal grandmother's people.

Both families appear in Halifax Co., Virginia, in the late 18^th century, but their ancestry beyond that is only partly known.

The Toot Family

Adam Toot, the earliest proven ancestor in the Toot line, was according to family lore descended from a Toot family in Pennsylvania. There was a David Toot in York Co., Pennsylania, who supposedly immigrated from Wuerttberg around 1745.¹ He was born about 1732² and died 15 Feb 1792 in Middletown, Lancaster (now Daulphin) Co., Pennsylvania.³ He did have a son named Adam,⁴ but he was born 15 Sep 1757⁵ while the Adam in Halifax Co. was born 05 Nov 1770.⁶ The two cannot be the same man, as some have claimed. The children, if any, of the York Co. Adam have not been identified, and his brothers' known sons do not include any named Adam. It appears that if the Halifax Co. Toots did descend from those in Pennsylvania, there is at least one unknown generation.

Adam of Halifax Co. married Sarah King, supposedly the daugher of Edmund King. He was prominent in Halifax Co., then moved to Georgia. He was supposedly married three times. Elizabeth Woodson Thomas, who he married in 1773,⁷ has been claimed to be Sarah's mother. We have not done research to verify any of the facts of Sarah's ancestry.

Adam and Sarah had many descendants, most of whom remain in Virginia today. Some of them are included in this site, but our focus is on those of their daughter Elizabeth, who married Dr. Davis Green Tuck.

The Tuck Family

It seems likely that Davis Tuck was descended from Thomas Tuck, who came to Halifax Co., Virginia, before 1749, when his name is found on a list of tithables. In 1756 he opened a road known as Cowford Road near Bannister River and also sold a tract of land on the riverfront. In 1764 he was an official in the election for members of the House of Burgesses.⁸ The plantation on which Davis lived in Halifax Co. was in the section in which Thomas took up land in the 1750's, and was bisected by Thomas' Cowford Rd.⁹ Thomas had three sons, but no evidence has been found to establish which of them might have been the father of Davis. Thomas is believed to be descended from the Tucks who settled in the tide-water counties of Virginia in the middle of the 17^th century, who in turn are believed to have descended from the Tucks of England, chiefly of county Kent, where the name is found as early as 1051.¹⁰ However, no evidence has been found that would permit constructing a reliable genealogy.

Reading More About Them

Davis and Elizabeth (Toot) Tuck moved to Christian Co. Kentucky, where the family propered. Their known children, save two sons, married and had descendants, who disbursed over a number of states.

To read this family's stories you may choose to begin with those about whom we have the most interesting information. They include:

• Adam Toot, apparently the founder of the Toot line in Virginia
• Dr. Davis Green Tuck, patriarch of our branch of the Tuck line in Virginia and Kentucky
• His eldest daughter, Sarah, and her enterprising husband, Quintus C. Atkinson
• His daughter who was Nancy's ancestor, Virginia, and her husband, Civil War hero Capt. Robert Linah Cobb

If you prefer, you can look for specific people in the index on the left or explore the families in the Toot Descendants Chart or Tuck Descendants Chart, which offer links to each person's narrative. There is also a Map showing the principal locations where the family lived.