The Tuck Family

The Tuck family are Nancy's ancestors, her mother's paternal grandmother's people. The family appears in Halifax Co., Virginia, in the late 18^th century, but their ancestry beyond that is only partly known. Our record starts with Dr. Davis Green Tuck and his wife, Elizabeth Toot. Elizabeth was descended from the Dutt/Toot family, which is explored in depth in our Dutt/Toot section.

The Origins of the Tuck Family

It seems likely that Davis Tuck was descended from the Tucks that settled in Halifax Co., Virginia, in the mid-eighteenth century. Thomas Tuck has been proposed as his ancestor. He came to Halifax Co. before 1749, when his name is found on a list of tithables. In 1756 he opened a road known as Cowford Road near the Bannister River. In 1764 he was an official in the election for members of the House of Burgesses.¹ 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 1051.²

Alethea Jane Macon, in her book John and Edward Tuck of Halifax County, suggests that Davis descended from Thomas based on the observation that the plantation on which Davis lived was in the section in which Thomas took up land in the 1750's, and was bisected by Thomas' Cowford Rd.³ However an analysis of deeds and land tax records shows his only property was a 280-acre parcel given him and his wife by her father, and a 33½-acre parcel he purchased from Sarah Tuck (relationship unknown) he owned briefly.^4,5 He apparently did not inherit property.

Thomas had three sons, but if Davis was his grandson, no evidence has been found to establish which of them might have been the father of Davis.

The Family Migrated West

Davis established himself as a successful planter, and even an inventor, in Halifax Co. But in 1830 he sold the property given him and his wife by her father and moved his young family to Christian Co., Kentucky. He prospered there as well. When he died in 1862 his estate included $55,000 in investments and substantial amounts of land, a very considerable sum at the time. Several of his children moved on to Memphis, Tennessee, attracted there by his eldest daughter, Sarah, who married a similarly successful businessman. The others remained in south central Kentucky or near-by Nashville. The map below traces this migration.

Reading More About Them

Davis and Elizabeth (Toot) Tuck moved to Christian Co. Kentucky, where the family prospered. 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:

• Dr. Davis Green Tuck, patriarch of our branch of the Tuck line in Virginia and Kentucky.
• His adopted son, Dr. William J. Edmondson Tuck, who became prominent in public health in Memphis.
• His eldest daughter, Sarah, and her enterprising husband, Quintus C. Atkinson.
• His next to youngest daughter, Martha, who struggled to meet the demands of her elder sister.
• His youngest daughter, who was Nancy's ancestor, Virginia, and her husband, Civil War hero Capt. Robert Linah Cobb.

Or look at some more distantly related people with very colorful stories:

• Thomas Elliott, the husband of his fifth daughter, who became trustee for the assets of many family members, and who "eloped" at age 75 to marry his second wife.
• William Tidwell, the husband of his granddaughter Emma, a Treasury agent who made a name for himself pursuing opium dealers and high profile fraud case involving coal monopolies and World War I shipyards.
• Malcolm McNeill, the father-in-law of his daughter Rebecca Ann, who established huge plantations in Kentucky and Mississippi, and acquired rich real estate holdings in downtown Chicago, leaving a complex will that was engaged in lawsuits for decades.
• Col. Beverly Dickerson Williams, the father-in-law of his son Adam Paul, a planter who established a stage line to Denver, was an aide-de-camp to a general in the Civil war, engaged in railroading, and died insolvent.

If you prefer, you can look for specific people in the index on the left.

Maps, Charts and Military Service Index

The family is outlined in the Tuck Descendants Chart, which offer links to each person's narrative.

Many of the places mentioned in the narratives about each person contain this icon, which is a link to display that place in Google Maps. For more information about these links see the Map Links section on our main page.

Many members of the Tuck family served in the military in various wars. Those included in this site are listed in the Index of Military Service