By Mirabel Tucker
EDITOR'S NOTE: Mirabel Tucker has
written the following account of her family's history from its
Massachusetts beginnings through the family pioneers who settled
in Kosciusko County.
The Tucker family is of Anglo-Saxon
origin. The original name was probably "Torker" or "Tuker."
This was an occupational name and was referred to as one "torked"
or "tucked" in a wool weaving operation. The name later
came to indicate a manufacturer.
Morris Tucker, first of the line in America, was a Massachusetts
Colony householder at Salisbury, Mass. as early as 1659.
When he was a young man, still unmarried, a property list shows
that he had two cows, four yearlings, one horse, one swine, five
sheep, three acres broke upland, three acres pasture, one head
and two commonages. Morris was married Oct. 14, 1661 to Elizabeth
Stevens, born Nov. 2, 1639. They had one child, Benoni, born Oct
16, 1662. Elizabeth died in childbirth. Morris then married Elizabeth
Gill, and they had eight children.
In June 1685 Benoni was united in marriage to Abenezer Nichols.
They were the parents of eight children. Their youngest child,
Ezra, was born March 26, 1709 at Amesbury, Mass. He married Bathsheba
Sargent and she died in 1743. He then married Lydia Hobbs Jan.
24, 1745. By his two wives he had 18 children.
American Revolution
Erza II, born in 1733, married Hepsibeth Prissey on May 3, 1759.
He served in the American Revolution from Henniker, New Hampshire,
enlisting March 15, 1776 for one year. The first enlistments were
for six weeks, then the term was extended to three months, then
the government authorized the states to enlist men for one year.
Ezra II was commissioned a second lieutenant and served in Captain
Emery's company, Col. Baldwin's regiment, at the battle of White
Plains. He was a man of considerable property, owning land in
various parts of the town of Henniler. He was prominent in the
organization of the new town and held many minor offices besides
serving as selectman in 1770. From 1777 to 1782 he was one of
the three members of the "war committee" to hire soldiers
for the town.
John Tucker, son of Ezra II and Hepsibeth Prissey, was born in
Kingston, N.H. on Jan. 10. 1760. He married Elizabeth Lucas, March
1, 1792, They had seven children, and he was a farmer and lieutenant
in the State Militia.
John Tucker Jr., son of John and Elizabeth (Lucas) Tucker, was
born Dec. 20, 1792. He was married May 6, 1821 to Mary Ward and
served as a soldier from Henniker in the War of 1812.
When he was 26 years old he had decided to walk 800 miles out
west from Henniker to find some suitable land for farming. He
came to Pleasant Valley, Richland County, Ohio, where the hills
and rocks were enough to keep him from feeling homesick for New
Hampshire. There he was joined by his brother, David, in 1819.
They cleared a small patch and planted potatoes and lived together
until 1821 when John walked back to New Hampshire and married
Mary Ward.
Return to New Home
With a bride, a land deed signed by President Monroe, and a one-horse
cart. He returned to his new home. John and Mary were the parents
of six children. In 1846 John Tucker and his eldest son, Horace,
came to Kosciusko County to inspect the land. Satisfied with what
he found, he bought 160 acres in Franklin Township and built a
log cabin.
John went back to Ohio, leaving Horace to clear away some woods
and brush. This work completed, he walked the 200 miles back to
his Ohio home. After selling his Ohio farm to his son. Aurelius,
John bought land in Kosciusko County, near Sevastapol, for his
children, Horace, Albert, Reguleus and Livonia, and for Solomon
Ernsberger, whom he had reared for infancy.
Among the outstanding farmers of Kosciusko County, Horace and
Albert Tucker were no doubt the leading farmers and stock buyers
of their day. They paid taxes on as much land as anyone in the
county. Albert was the founder of Mentone, and the town of Sevastapol
was surveyed and named by John Tucker. John and Mary are buried
in the Palestine cemetery. Albert's grave is in the Mentone cemetery.
Horace worked on his father's farm in Ohio until 1848 when he
married Eliza Johnson. They were the parents of three children,
Albert, Rosella and Hollis.
On his Kosciusko county land, Horace was the type of pioneer who
was not merely a good manager, but was ready to put in the heaviest
and most arduous toil himself. Many acres of the dense forest
that covered his farm were cleared by the steady blows of his
axe. He was also efficient in the skill and judgment he showed
in managing the men who worked for him.
Corn Among the Stumps
The first spring he planted about six acres of corn among the
stumps, breaking the ground with a stray yoke of oxen that had
come to the barn for something to eat.
In 1871 Horace began erecting a brick house which is still standing.
It is presently owned by the Ralston's, who are restoring it.
This house is located on the old Indian Trail between Logansport
and Warsaw, then called the Anglin Road and more recently known
as the Beaver Dam Road. It was the first house of that construction
in the township, and the first to be supplied with a hot air furnace.
In addition to his own labor, Horace invested $4,000 in the house.
He also put up the first windmill in the township and was the
first to have a cookstove. Much of his money was make handling
and marketing cattle. He was in that business for about half a
century. When the railroads came, he was the first to ship a carload
of livestock from Warsaw in 1856.
He attributed an accident as the cause that forced him into stock
buying. While dynamiting stumps, a large piece struck him and
broke his leg, making it necessary thereafter for him to walk
with a cane. During those early years he donated the ground for
the Tucker School and probably the Dunkard Church nearby. This
ground was to be returned to the estate when they were no longer
in use.
One of Horace's cows had triplet calves on Feb. 4, 1868, and he
immediately bought another cow to help feed them. When the three
calves were sold as steers they weighed more than 9,000 pounds.
They were named Tom, Dick, and Harry, and he showed them around
the county until they were sold. No one could tell them apart
but Mrs. Eliza Tucker.
After they were sold they were shown
in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial. When Horace and Eliza
went to the Centennial and saw them on exhibition there, they
thought the steers recognized them. One of them had a mark on
him that the others did not have, and that is how Eliza Tucker
is said to have proved that they were the steers they had raise.
Money was not made as easily in Horace Tucker's day as it is today
but he was not lacking in great liberality in its use. He contributed
generously to churches and many other worthy undertakings.
Whig, Then Republican
Horace Tucker began voting as a Whig and subsequently became an
equally staunch Republican. Always an influence in county politics,
Horace served as treasurer and trustee in his township.
Besides his farm, Horace accumulated extensive tracts of land
in Kosciusko and other counties. He always used livestock as a
means of making his land profitable. In 1900 he sold from his
farm $8,000 worth of fat graded cattle, that being one of the
largest single stock sales ever recorded in the county.
Albert Tucker, the third son of John and Mary (Ward) Tucker, a
younger brother of Horace, born in Richland County, Ohio, married
Mary Frame in 1858. They had one daughter, Alta, and Mary died
in 1860. In 1861 he married Katie McNeal, and they were the parents
of six children. Katie died in 1889. Albert married again Dec.
28, 1897 to Mary Odell Baker, who was born March 17, 1859.
Albert founded the town of Mentone, located halfway between Warsaw
and Rochester. The town was laid out in May, 1882 by Amos Kist
and Caleb Hughes. Albert built the first elevator there and made
loans of money to people to finish their houses in the new town.
Iron Horse
He donated the ground for the Mentone cemetery and was influential
in causing the Nickel Plate Railroad to come through Mentone.
This caused other communities, such as Burket, Claypool and Sidney
to spring up in 1882 at the expense of Kinsey, Palestine, Dodgertown,
Beaver Dam and Sevastapol, all of which had been lively trading
places for a long time.
After buying the land which became the site of Mentone, he offered
lots for sale at $75 to $100 per lot. This venture brought him
considerable money. He named the town Mentone after a city in
France.
This younger brother of Horace Tucker became one of the ablest
financiers in the state. He had received an unusually good education
and his methods from earliest childhood were to make the most
of his opportunities. He excelled in mathematics. Educated at
an old log schoolhouse during the winters, his summers were spent
at hard work on his father's farm. His last winter of schooling
was passed in Richland County, Ohio, when he was 19 years old.
When he was 20 years old, in January, 1850, he started out for
himself. He and Abe Huston came on foot to Kosciusko county. On
the way the trail became so bad the two men had to stop their
journey. They contracted to clear seven acres of land to 18-inch
stumps in seven days. By that time the trail had become frozen
and they continued their journey. They found a home with Horace
until they could get their bearings.
$20 And Land
Upon his arrival here he had $20 in his pocket and the 160
acres in Franklin Township that his father had given him. This
gave him a fine start but it required a vast amount of time and
labor. At first he took jobs clearing other people's land. When
he was not thus employed he worked on his own land. In this way
he made his first clearing of the dense forest that covered his
land.
His object in working for others was to get money with which to
stock his farm and pay his running expenses. Putting his money
into land as fast as he made it, at one time he owned 2,700 acres
worth about $60 an acre.
Better Grade Stock
He began to raise stock of a better grade and to ship some when
it was ready for market. At one time he was one of the heaviest
dealers in Durham stock in the northern part of the state. His
farming operations were also very large. At one time he had planted
400 acres in wheat which yielded him 10,000 bushels to sell. He
also had as high as 300 acres in corn and grazed 425 head of fattening
cattle on his own pasture.
Although money was not as easily made in his day as in the present
generation, he was not lacking in generosity, contributing liberally
of his means to churches and other worthy undertakings. He began
voting as a Whig and subsequently became an equally staunch Republican.
He served as treasurer and trustee of his township and was always
an influence in county politics. Horace and Eliza are buried in
the Palestine cemetery.
Besides his farm, he accumulated extensive tracts of land in Kosciusko
and other counties. Always using livestock as a means of making
his land profitable. In 1900 he sold from his farms $8,000 worth
of fat graded cattle, that being one of the largest single stock
sales ever recorded in the county at that time. Horace and Eliza
are buried in the Palestine cemetery.
Horace's younger brother, John, the third son of John and Mary
(Ward) Tucker, was born in Richland County, Ohio, and also came
to reside in Indiana. He married Mary Frame in 1858 and they had
one daughter, Alta. Mary died in 1860. In 1861 he was married
to Katie McNeal and they were the parents of six children. Katie
died in 1889.
His third wife, the former Mary Odell Baker, to whom he was married
Dec. 28, 1897, was born March 17, 1859.
Founder of Mentone
Albert was a farmer and the founder of the town of Mentone, which
was laid out by Amos Kist and Cahl Hughes in May, 1882. It was
"halfway" between Warsaw and Rochester.
Tucker built the first elevator there and made loans of money
to people to finish their houses in the new town. He was influential
in getting the Nickel Plate Railroad to come through Mentone.
This caused the villages of Burket, Claypool and Sidney to spring
up in 1882 at the expense of Kinsey, Palestine, Dodgertown, Beaver
Dam and Sevastapol, all of which had been lively trading places
for a long time prior to the coming of the railroad.
After he bought the land where the town of Mentone now stands,
he offered the lots for sale at $75 to $100 per lot, making considerable
money at this venture. He named the town Mentone after a city
in France.
Albert was one of the ablest financiers in this section of the
state. He had received an unusually good education. He excelled
in mathematics. His methods, from earliest childhood, were to
make the most of his opportunities.
Educated in an old log schoolhouse in Richland County, Ohio during
the winters, his summers were spent at hard work on his father's
farm. His last winter of schooling was passed when he was 19 years
old.
At the age of 20, in January 1850, he started out for himself.
He and Abe Huston came on foot to Kosciusko County, Indiana. On
the way the trail became so bad that the two men had to stop their
journey. They made a contract to clear seven acres of land to
eighteen inch stumps in seven days. By the time they had completed
their contract the trail had become frozen and they continued
their journey. Horace Tucker had preceded them and when they arrived
at their designation they found a home with him until they could
get their bearings.
$20 in His Pocket
With $20 in his pocket upon his arrival, he received a fine
start with the 160 acres in Franklin Twp. previously bought for
him by his father. The cost of the land had been $572. It took,
however, a vast amount of time and labor to prepare it for productivity.
Albert Tucker built his house and barn on Road 19, south of Mentone,
and west of Sevastapol. His son, Charley Tucker, lived there,
then his son , Edison Tucker. Now Edison's son, Charles, lives
there, farms and raises stock.
Many of the descendants of Horace and Albert Tucker reside in
Kosciusko County. Two of Horace's great-great-grandsons live in
Warsaw. They are Warsaw Mayor H. Dale Tucker, and Miles Igo, son
of Lena Tucker Igo, who is proprietor of C & I Manufacturing
Co.
A namesake and grandson of Albert Tucker, Albert Tucker, the son
of Ora Tucker, also resides in Warsaw.
Tucker descendants, and they are legion, are proud of the heritage
left them by those sturdy ancestors whose hard work and determination
conquered the wilderness and helped to make our country great.
They continue to admonish the younger generations to remember
those trials and sacrifice as they carry on the good name Tucker.
Warsaw Times-Union Spotlight, September 11-18, 1974
Transcription by Jane Leedy.
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