Sarah Elizabeth Tuck

Narrative:

     Sarah Elizabeth Tuck was born on 14 Dec 1818 in Halifax Co., Virginia.^8,9,10
     She was probably the female under age 10 listed in the household of her father, Dr. Davis Green Tuck, in the 1820 Federal Census of Marseilles, Halifax Co., Virginia.¹⁹ She was probably the female age 10 to 15 listed in the household of her father in the 1830 Federal Census of Halifax Co., Virginia.²⁰
     She moved to Christian Co., Kentucky, with her parents in 1832 or early 1833.^21,22 She was probably one of the two females age 15 to 20 listed in the household of her father in the 1840 Federal Census of Christian Co., Kentucky.²³
     Sarah married Quintus C. Atkinson, son of Thomas Walton Atkinson and Elizabeth Hundley, on 24 Sep 1842 in Christian Co., Kentucky, with Rev. Sam B. White officating.^11,12,13

Quintus and Sarah in Memphis --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Sarah and Quintus appeared on the 1850 Federal Census of Memphis, Shelby Co., Tennessee, enumerated 4 Sep 1850, apparently living in a hotel kept by James B. Ferguson and his family. Quintus was listed as owner of one male mulatto slave, aged 25 years.^24,25
     Quintus purchased the property on Poplar St. Blvd, Memphis, that would become the family home on 16 Aug 1857, from the estate of William Lawrence. The property totaled about twenty acres, subdivided into various lots. The main house sat on about nine acres fronting on the main street, with ten smaller lots behind of one-third acre or a bit more each, and additional larger lots behind those. The Common Law Court proceeding for the Lawrence estate was later drawn into question, complicated by the papers of that proceeding being lost or mislaid. In 1872 Sarah, then his widow, obtained a quit claim deed from the Lawrence heirs to quiet the title.^26,27
     Sarah was mentioned in the will of her father, dated 25 Mar 1861, saying she was already well provided for and was to receive nothing more.²⁸
     She was named executrix and an heir in the will of her husband, dated 7 Jan 1864 in Shelby Co., Tennessee. He left her their home on State line road with 20.35 acres and all the furnishings, fixtures, carriages, etc; the brick store adjoining Madison St. and Front Row; and $10,000.²⁹

The Fatal Trip to Montreal --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     In Oct 1864 Sarah and Quintus undertook a trip to Montreal, Canada. In Louisville they encountered her sister, Martha, who was there as part of a bridal trip for their brother Richard, and persuaded her to join them. They reached Chicago, where Quintus became ill, developing into pneumonia. Three weeks later, on 7 Nov, he died. Because his remains couldn't be carried safely though military lines, they left his body in a vault at Cave Hill cemetery in Louisville while Sarah and Martha returned to Christian Co., the family home.³⁰
     After spending six weeks with their mother, Sarah and Martha returned to Sarah's home in Memphis, accompanied by their brother Paul. He stayed only a few weeks before leaving, over their objections, moving to Louisville, leaving them "without a protector." They had intended to stay in Memphis only long enough for Sarah to "dispose of her property advantageously," but with the extent of her late husband's estate, no doubt complicated by the War and subsequent occupation, settling her affairs would take years.³¹

Attracting Her Siblings to Memphis --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Martha and Matthew Lyddall Bacon had been engaged to marry before she had accompanied her sister to Memphis. They had not expected to marry until she became of age, but Sarah was anxious to have someone to manage her business affairs, and urged them to marry and live with her. He was then in business in Evansville, Indiana, and was not anxious to move to Memphis, and neither of them "desired to live south." Nevertheless, after Martha had been living in Memphis from Jan to Oct 1865, in what she later described as "a life of much sacrifice and loneliness, as we were cut off from both the city and neighbors by military lines established near the gate," they did marry and agreed to live with Sarah.³²
     On 18 Feb 1868, two weeks before he declared bankruptcy, Paul transferred title to lot #1 in Turley subdivision, on Linden St. in Memphis, to his sister Sarah. According to the deed this was in accordance with an agreement signed 24 Nov 1866, and that she had provided the purchase money, $3,000, when he originally purchased the property, and that he had held it in trust for her.³³ One might be forgiven for suspecting the motivation was otherwise, however. It appears that she returned the east half of the lot to him in a transaction that has not been found, because when she gave him the west half of the lot in Jul 1882, it was described as west of the lot on which he lived. He and his wife were actually living there by 1872, and continued to live there until his death. His wife later testified that Paul had paid $600 or $800 for that lot and Sarah had given him the rest.^34,35

Managing Her Husband's Estate --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Sarah, acting as executrix for her husband, Quintus C. Atkinson, together with Edgar McDavitt and R. W. Clements, continued to manage his real estate interests for some years. For example, on 10 Apr 1868 they took a mortgage from George Weidt on a lot in South Memphis to secure his note for $3,180. On 4 May 1968 they took a mortgage from Michael Larkin on a lot on Vance and Orleans St. along with 16 mules used in his stables on 2nd St. in Memphis to secure a note for $3,100. On 4 Apr 1866 they obtained a judgment from the Law Court of Memphis for $5,307.20 in favor of the estate, and another on 9 Nov 1866 for $7,218.72. In settlement of those judgments they and others received a lot and brick tenement house in Memphis near the Memphis and Charleston Rail Road depot at Adams & High Sts.³⁶ On 6 Apr 1870 they offered a store house on Front St., or Mississippi Row, in Memphis, at public sale. It was purchased by Matthew Lyddall Bacon, husband of Sarah's sister, for $20,000.³⁷
     Sarah appeared on the 1870 Federal Census of Memphis, Shelby Co., Tennessee, enumerated 20 Aug 1870, with her sister, Martha, and her husband, Matthew Lyddall Bacon, and her brother Paul listed as living with her. Frank Benton, who was a trusted employee until her death, and three Black servants, a man and two women, were also listed.³⁸

Disbursing Parts of Her Property --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     In mid 1872, having resolved her title to the home place, Sarah began selling or giving away the lots behind the main house. Some recipients were apparently servants or others close to her. On 6 Jun she sold three larger lots, #12, 13, and 14, totaling about 5 acres, to Angila Bacigalupo in trust for herself and her children John, Charles, Lewis & Rosa, to go to them after her death. The sale price was $3000, with $1000 in cash and the remainder to be paid in three annual installments. On 10 June she sold lot #1 (one-third acre) to John W. Waynesburg for $350, taking back a mortgage on it for $336. On 19 Jan 1874 she sold lot #5 (¾ acre) to Ann Ruschhampt for $1130, with $20 in cash and the balance at $20 monthly at 10% interest. On 7 Oct 1875 she sold lot #11 (one-third acre) to Margaret Kline for $500, with $20 in cash and $20 per month with 10% interest. This lot was returned to Sarah 4 Oct 1880, but the terms are unknown as the deed is now unreadable. On 16 Feb 1882 she gave the same lot to Leah Simpson, wife of Frank Simpson, both colored. The gift was in consideration of Sarah having raised Leah "from a child."³⁹
     Sarah appeared on the 1880 Federal Census of Shelby Co., Tennessee, enumerated 16 Jun 1880. Listed as living with her were her sister, Martha, her husband, Matthew Lyddall Bacon, and their daughter, Elizabeth. Also in the household were her loyal employee John F. Benton, two Black female servants, and the Black child Lee, to whom she would later give a lot.³
     Sarah transferred a part of her home place property to her sister, Martha Washington Tuck. The transfer was made in three parts, with Martha eventually owning a parcel next to and about one quarter the size of the one on which Sarah's home stood. On 1 Nov 1881, Sarah gave Martha a parcel of about 1.4 acres, fronting on Poplar St. Boulevard, for "love and affection" and a nominal $10. On 6 Mar 1882 Sarah sold Martha a parcel to the rear of the previous gift, of just under one acre, for $350. Finally, on 28 Aug 1882, Sarah gave Martha a thirteen-foot wide strip of land lying between the parcel originally given and Sarah's home, which Martha had wanted so she could place some shade trees there.^40,41
     In Dec 1881, when Sarah's brother Richard was about to lose his homestead in Lafayette, Christian Co., Kentucky, she sent money to purchase the property at the foreclosure sale, and gave it to his wife and daughter.⁴²

The Fateful Will --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Sarah left a will dated 22 Jul 1882, in which she directed that she is to be buried next to her late husband in their lot in Elmwood Cemetery, then made a series of bequests. She left $500 to Sallie, daughter of her brother Henry. She left $1,000 to Lulie, daughter of her brother Richard, to be held in trust by her brother-in-law, Thomas Herbert Elliott, until the girl married or reached age 21. She left $2,000 each to Narcissa and Elizabeth, daughters of her brother Adam Paul, to be held in trust until they married or reached age 21. Narcissa was also to be given all her silverware which she had not given to others, as indicated by engraving their name or initials on the piece. She left $500 to John F. Benton "in remembrance of his kindness and attention to me in health and sickness," and $1,000 each to the Leath Orphan Asylum, the Womans Christian Association of Memphis, and the Womans Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. All the rest of her estate, except clothing and furniture, was to go to the College of Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church South for the benefit of the Theological department of Vanderbilt University. This included her residence near Memphis, two storehouses on Front Row in Memphis, and various stocks and securities that remained after paying the preceding bequests. She named her lawyer, J. C. Mills of Memphis, and Rev. Robert A. Young of Nashville, as executors.^43,44
     The following day Sarah transferred to her brother Paul the lot adjacent to the one on which he lived on Linden St., Memphis, for the nominal price of $5.⁴⁵ In the first week of Sep 1882, Sarah gave her siblings Paul and Martha ten shares each Bank of Commerce stock.⁴⁶

Fading Away --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Sarah had became ill with cancer in Oct 1881, although not enough to prevent her going about most of her normal activities until Aug 1882. At that point her sister-in-law, Emma Tuck, moved in with her to nurse her full time. Her doctor visited her daily beginning 5 Sep, and occasionally twice a day, through the month of Oct. There several visits including night visits on 1 Nov, the day before she died.^47,48
     Several weeks before her death, the doctors had thought she might live only a day or two, and the news was telegraphed to the family. Her sister Virginia arrived from Little Rock with her two children, the youngest just six months old. The children evidently disturbed Sarah, despite the fact that she was occupying the room on the northeast corner of the first floor, and they and their mother were staying in the southwest corner of the upper floor. She ordered them to leave, but the baby had become sick, so his mother asked Sarah's doctor if it was safe to go. He said it was not, and tried to convince Sarah to change her mind, but she did not, so Virginia and her children left that evening. We might speculate that they went next door to stay with her sister Martha.⁴⁹
     Sarah died on 2 Nov 1882, at her residence near Memphis in Shelby Co., Tennessee, at age 63.^14,15,16 She was buried, following services at the First Methodist Church, on 3 Nov 1882 in Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby Co., Tennessee, in her husband's lot in Chapel Hill section, one of the oldest in the cemetery.^17,18

Probating Her Will --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Her will was probated on 8 Nov 1882 in Shelby Co., Tennessee, Probate Court.⁴³ An Inventory of Personality (personal, as opposed to real, property) filed 15 Dec 1882 lists $558 in cash, bank notes for payment of rent on her two buildings on Front Row through 1 Sep 1883 for $1,400, two bonds of the Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church South totaling $200, and four shares in West Tennessee Oil and Mineral Company. There were also nearly 100 notes from individuals dating from as early as 1871, many from her sale of lots behind her home on terms of $25 per month. They had a face value of over $3,000, but many were well past due. However the real estate, consisting of the two buildings downtown, her large home and surrounding lots, seems to have been quite valuable. The total value of the estate was estimated at about $65,000.^50,51
     With insufficient cash on hand to satisfy the specific bequests of her will, on 28 Apr 1883 her executors and all the "surviving bishops" of the church sold her home to Lizzie A. Hunt. On 13 May the same year they sold the six remaining small lots to the rear of her home to Matthew Lyddall Bacon, the husband of her sister Martha. When Mrs. Hunt and Matthew tried to sell their purchases two years later quit-claim deeds were obtained from all her surviving siblings and their spouses, and the children of her deceased siblings, in order to clear the title because of the contest to the will that had been filed in the meantime.⁵²

The Will Contested --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     On 20 Oct 1883 a petition was filed in Probate Court, Shelby Co., Tennessee, contesting Sarah's will. The contest was filed by Malcom M. McNeill, Flora Rivers McNeill, John P. Caruthers, Thomas Henry McNeill, Benjamin Franklin McNeill, Rivers McNeill, Ellen Meshew McNeill and John Boddie Crudup, the surviving sons, daughters, and their husbands of her deceased sister Rebecca; her brother Richard and sister Elizabeth, and her husband Thomas Herbert Elliott. The contest was based on the grounds that she was "of weak mind" when she made the will, and was "unduly influenced," a standard basis for such claims. After the executors made the customary responses, the case was sent to Circuit Court 9 Feb 1884 to determine the validity of the will.⁵³
     While the contest of the will was working its way through the courts, the executors continued to manage the estate. On 27 Nov 1883 they filed their annual statement. They had collected $16,000 for sale of the Sarah's main home, including two notes from the buyer for $5,333.33 each, and $1000 from M. L. Bacon for the six small lots he had purchased. They had reclaimed and sold the lot purchased by Anna Rushaupt to collect her unpaid notes, since she had been dead for several years and left no estate to pay the notes. They collected $325 of the $617 due from Angelo Bacigalups, and collected $1,880 in rent for the buildings on Front Row. They reported $4,260 in expenses, taxes, and claims, leaving a balance on hand in cash and notes of $16,768. They declared a number of claims worthless, including 45 notes totaling $1,125 because the contract for which they had been written had been cancelled and abandoned, a note from 1871 for $118 because the issuer had moved to Chicago and then died, an 1874 note for $100 and five notes totaling $125 all bared from collection by the statute of limitations, and the four share of stock in the West Tennessee Oil and Mining Company.⁵⁴
     In their 28 Nov 1884 annual statement the executors report collecting over $22,000 dollars, including over $1,600 by sale of land belonging to her husband's estate which had been overlooked until then, payment of one of the notes by the purchasers of Sarah Elizabeth Tuck's home, and $3,360 in rent for the buildings on Front Row. After about $1,600 in expenses, there was a balance in cash and notes of nearly $20,500.⁵⁵ The 20 Nov 1885 statement of the executors reported receipts including interest on the remaining note from the sale of the home and rent on the downtown building, and $2,950 in expenses, leaving a balance on hand of just under $21,500 in cash and notes.⁵⁶
     The contest to the will was tried before a jury in Shelby County Circuit Court in early 1885. There was extensive testimony from over 40 witnesses, including several of her siblings, neighbors, servants, doctors, lawyers, and others. The contestants' witnesses portrayed her as very sickly in her final year, unable to remember details, and influenced by Bishop McTyiere to leave her assets to the Church after long promising them to her relatives. Apparently in an effort to show her diminished mental state, they made much of her treating Leah, daughter of a one-time Black cook and described as disobedient and "a bad girl," as a member of the family. In the same vein, they discussed at length her support of her long-time employee, Frank Benson, and especially her "improperly" having him sleep in her room during her final illness. He testified he was there to keep the fire and break the ice for her medicine. The executors' witnesses portrayed a woman in possession of her facilities until her final days, who had long expressed the intent to carry out the wishes of her late husband, the source of her assets, to leave the bulk of it to the Church, and who did so after making gifts to of those of her siblings who were in need. The jury evidently agreed with them, rendering a verdict on 7 Feb 1885 that upheld the will.^57,58

The Contest Resolved --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     The contestants appealed the decision of the Circuit Court, and the case was heard in the Apr 1886 term of Tennessee Supreme Court. The record of the lower court proceedings forwarded to the appeal court was 1,302 handwritten pages, bound into a volume some five inches thick. It alone cost the contestants $195 to produce. The total record before the Supreme Court amounted to over 1500 pages (in the days before photocopiers). The decision of the Supreme Court has not been found, but it appears it confirmed lower court's decision, as the beneficiaries specified in the will eventually received their legacies.^59,58
     The individual beneficiaries finally received their legacies in Jul 1886. The 22 Dec 1886 annual statement of the executors shows that the second note from the sale of the residence was paid, with $1,003 in interest, an additional $92 was collected from Angelo Bacigalups, $1,990 was received in rent on the Front Row building, $147 was recovered from the 20-year old estate of Q. C. Atkinson, and $816 was received in interest on a $14,000 note that was liquidated on 1 Jul. Nearly $4,000 in expenses were paid, and each specified beneficiary received the amount stated in the will, plus 16% interest, and $6,500 was paid for the benefit of the Vanderbilt University Theological Department as the residual beneficiary. Just over $5,750 remained in the estate.⁶⁰
     The executors filed a petition 29 Dec 1886 asking for $5,000 in compensation for their services, which was approved by the Court. After paying a few minor expenses, there was $539 left, which was paid to Vanderbilt University. Presumably the University also received the two valuable buildings on Front Row in Memphis and any stocks remaining, but no record of those transfers has been found. The estate was formally closed 8 Mar 1887.⁶¹