The Tuckers

By Dr. Krystyn R. Moon

The legacy of slavery combined with the emotional burden Jim Crow segregation made returning home difficult for African Americans who left the South to find opportunities in other parts of the country. For these newly mobile citizens, experiencing other places where racial politics operated differently highlighted the injustices of the South’s color line. Northern and western states, however, were no raceless utopia. The same practices that were central to Jim Crow segregation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had originated in states such as Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Despite the pervasiveness of racism throughout the country, African Americans sometimes generated familial wealth through employment opportunities elsewhere. And sometimes, these monies were passed down to future generations.1

The Tuckers were one such family. Isaac Tucker and Dolly (Scott) Tucker were born just before the Civil War and first appear in the historical record in the 1870 U.S. Census.2 Dolly lived with her parents, Norman and Sallie Scott, in Fredericksburg where she and her older siblings, Lizzie (also known as Bettie) and Archibald, attended school. Dolly’s school was most likely in a local church run by the Freedmen’s Bureau that, an 1868 report noted, was “supported partially by the parents and partially by a northern Baptist Church.”3 Virginia did not institute public schools until 1870, and Fredericksburg’s white leaders did little to support the state’s new education mandate, especially for African American children. The same report noted that missionaries needed to continue to maintain Fredericksburg’s schools “[u]ntil the State is loyally reconstructed” [underline in the original].4

Isaac, however, was not in Fredericksburg in 1870 but was among the unknown number of African Americans who attached themselves to Union military units during the Civil War and migrated northward. Post-Civil War Maine had a small number of African American residents, a handful of whom were born in Virginia.5 The specifics as to how Isaac ended up in a white household just outside Maine’s capital, Augusta, is unknown. His 1914 obituary noted that a member of the Tucker family had brought him to Maine sometime during the war.6 Another person named Isaac Tucker served in Maine’s 16th Infantry as the regiment’s quartermaster, which was stationed in Stafford County, Virginia during the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862. When this Isaac resigned his position in the summer of 1864 and returned home, it is possible that he brought the younger Isaac with him.7 There was, however, another possible person. In 1870, Isaac lived with the Sawyer family, where he helped them on the family farm in Litchfield, Maine while attending school.8 Joseph Sawyer, who supervised Litchfield’s public schools before the war, also served in Maine’s 7th Infantry, and this regiment participated in the second Battle of Fredericksburg in the spring of 1863. Before his regiment traveled to Gettysburg that summer, Sawyer was sent home because of a disability. It is possible that he returned to Maine with the younger Isaac too.9

The 1870s was a tumultuous decade for the younger Isaac Tucker. During this period, Isaac left Sawyer’s farm, perhaps after Joseph Sawyer’s father, James, had fallen off a wagon and struggled to recover from his injuries. By the 1880 U.S. Census, James Sawyer had sold his farm and moved into his daughter’s home.10 No record of Isaac’s marriage to Nancy E. Tucker was documented in Maine, but the local newspaper reported that he accused her of adultery in 1879. Later that year, she deserted him.11 Nancy’s desertion might have upset Isaac, who did not appear in the 1880 U.S. Census, to such an extent that he left Maine. His life trajectory, however, changed again by the end of the year. On Christmas Eve, he married Dolly Scott of Fredericksburg at Augusta’s First Baptist Church. Social networks, either through fellow Baptists or friends and family, must have brought them together. In the summer of 1880, Dolly was living in Fredericksburg with her family. She, along with her brother and mother, had moved into her newly married sister’s home, probably after the death of their father. Bettie had married Arthur Taliaferro, and they would have three children together: Sadie (also known as Sarah), Dolly Thea, and Ramsey.12

Isaac and Dolly Tucker lived together in Augusta, Maine for over thirty years. During that time, he became the foreman at the Augusta Furniture Company where he learned woodworking and furniture making. By 1885, Isaac advertised in the newspaper that he also took custom furniture orders through a local hardware store.13 By 1895, the Daily Kennebec Journal reported that Isaac and Dolly bought land to “build a new house” and had hired “several contractors” who were “figuring out the plans.”14 That home, located at 14 Cushman Street (today known as 47 Lincoln Street), still stands (see Figure #1). 

Figure 1: Photograph of Isaac and Dolly Tucker’s House, 1991. Courtesy, Kennebec Historical Society, Augusta ME.

Meanwhile, Dolly became active in the local Baptist Church. In 1883, she hosted a “sociable” at her home for female members of her congregation.15 In 1901, the newspaper reported that Dolly visited with the Colemans from Richmond, Virginia, who had decided to summer at a nearby lake. J. D. Coleman taught at Virginia Union University (VUU), a seminary recently established through the merger of two Baptist institutions. Amanda Miller Coleman, a graduate of VUU women’s-only affiliate, was a schoolteacher. This article also provided a small window into Maine’s racial politics. The unnamed reporter described Coleman as “a white man in every respect, although a little off color perhaps on complexion.”16

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Tuckers’ economic circumstances began to change. In 1902, Isaac retired from the Augusta Furniture Company to “take a rest for a while.” A few years later, he again advertised in the Daily Kennebec Journal about his furniture making skills. Another newspaper article noted that his work was “well known throughout the State.”17 Isaac also became one of Augusta’s lumber surveyors, assessing logs coming into Augusta from local lumber companies, one of the state’s most popular industries.18 Meanwhile, Dolly had begun a small business of her own, selling fresh and canned vegetables and baked goods. A 1909 article noted that Dolly had “picked enough green peas for supper Friday from vines which have grown in her garden… at this time of year [October] when green stuff is scarce.”19 In a phone conversation with Anthony Douin, a former archivist at the Maine State Archives, he recalled hearing stories of Dolly’s canned beans and biscuits.20 Unfortunately, the small businesses that the Tuckers started did not generate enough money to cover their expenses. They filed for bankruptcy in 1911.21

Despite this financial setback, the Tuckers remained important members of the Augusta community. When Isaac died in 1914, the local newspaper reported not only on his declining health but also provided detailed stories about his life after he died on June 27, 1914. The Tuckers never had children, but their nieces, Sadie and Dolly Thea, traveled from Fredericksburg to help with funeral arrangements. After the funeral, Dolly Thea traveled with Isaac’s remains to Fredericksburg where he was buried. Sadie stayed in Augusta for a few weeks to support their aunt.22

Instead of returning to Fredericksburg with her family, Dolly Tucker decided to stay in Augusta where she supported herself with her cooking. In 1923, the Daily Kennebec Journal noted that she was “ready to furnish bread and rolls to her customers.”23 The same newspaper also published her thank you to the community for its “generous Christmas gift” and noted when she had recovered from an unstated illness.24

Figure 2: Dolly Tucker’s Household Auction, 1939. Courtesy, The Daily Kennebec Journal.

The decision in 1939 to return to Fredericksburg so that her nieces and nephew could care for her was most likely a hard one. Anthony Douin recalled hearing that Dolly did not want to return to the Jim Crow South, even though it was the easiest way for her family to care for her.25 Dolly sold her home along with most of her household goods that she had accumulated over the fifty plus years that she had lived in Augusta (see Figure 2).26 The newspaper listed the items that she planned to sell at auction and wrote extensively about her departure, including her impact on three generations of Augusta residents.27

Figure 3: Advertisement for the Hotel Maguire, 1940. Courtesy, Afro-American (Baltimore).

The final years of Dolly Tucker’s life were spent living in her sister’s home located at 316 Wolfe Street with her niece, Sadie. Sadie had been employed as a schoolteacher for at least thirty years and had possibly retired to care for her aunt and mother. Ramsey Taliaferro lived next door with his family; he was employed at a local paper mill. Dolly’s namesake also had worked as schoolteacher but left education after she married Doctor Webster Lee Harris, one of the state’s few African American dentists. In addition to his dental practice, the Harrises managed the Hotel McGuire. No doubt, Dolly Thea was quite busy caring for guests. In 1930, the Harrises had seventeen people at their hotel, not including one servant and the Harrises themselves.28

After selling her property in Augusta and moving in with her sister’s family, Dolly did something extraordinary for an eighty-eight-year-old widow: she bought another house. Located at 1511 Charles Street, she bought the property at auction for $1,700 ($30,983.34 today). For Dolly, this house functioned as a rental property, and most likely generated a small income so that she would not be a financial burden on her family.29 A few years later, her will noted that the property was to be split equally among her nieces and nephew along with any other assets that she had.30

Dolly Tucker died on February 18, 1949, at the age of ninety-four. The Freelance Star published her obituary and noted her return to Fredericksburg a decade earlier, with little mention of her life in Maine. For Sadie, Dolly Thea, and Ramsey, the inheritance from their aunt would help them with their day-to-day expenses and potentially lead to the generation of familial wealth, especially for Dolly Thea. In 1952, Dolly Thea’s husband, Dr. Harris, bought the home on 1511 Charles Street from his wife and her siblings. The Harrises then took out a mortgage on the property for $4,000, more than double what Dolly Tucker had paid for it a decade earlier.31 This act, however, was not extraordinary for the Harrises. In response to Fredericksburg’s segregated housing market, they were part of a small group who attempted to make more properties available to Black residents.

Dolly Tucker was buried at Shiloh Baptist (Old Site) Cemetery in Fredericksburg. Isaac Tucker’s grave site has no marker, but it is hoped that Dolly was buried near him.32

*** A special thank you to the following individuals: Ryan Quint from the National Park Service who made sure that I understood the nuances of Civil War history in and around Fredericksburg and how it pertain to regiments from Maine; Amy Dobrien, archivist at the Fredericksburg Circuit Court Archives, and Bill Shorter, who volunteers innumerable hours at the courthouse archives, for helping me sort out the last years of Tucker’s life and her estate; “Sara,” a volunteer at the Kennebec Historical Society, who provided several newspaper articles on the Tuckers in Maine; Anthony Douin, retired archivist at the Maine State Archives, who agreed to chat with me on the phone about the Tuckers and their impact on Augusta; and Melanie Mohney, Reference Librarian at the Maine State Library, who connected me with Mr. Douin.              

  1. This blog post is inspired by reports on African Americans returning to the South after several generations living in other parts of the U.S. While most studies argue that this is recent phenomenon, the deep connection to place can be found in the experiences of African Americans in the late nineteenth century too. William H. Frey, Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics are Remaking America (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2018). ↩︎
  2. 1870 U.S. Census, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, 6; accessed October 15, 2024, ancestry.com.  ↩︎
  3. “Assistant Sub-Assistant Commissioner’s (or Agents) Monthly Report,” May 1868; U.S. Freedmen’s Bureau Records, 1865-1878, Inspection Reports of Inspector of Schools, January 1868-January 1869, Microfilm Roll 13, State Records of the Superintendent of Education, Virginia (M1053), National Archives, Washington, D.C.; accessed October 15, 2024, ancestry.com.  ↩︎
  4. Ibid.  ↩︎
  5. The 1870 U.S. Census for Kennebec County, where Isaac Tucker lived, listed 155 African American residents, twenty-two of whom were born in Virginia. Interestingly, the census taker wrote down that Isaac was born in Georgia, not Virginia.  ↩︎
  6. “Isaac M. Tucker,” Daily Kennebec Journal June 29, 1914, 9. ↩︎
  7. “Roster of 16th Maine Regiment,” The Union and Journal (Bangor, ME) August 29, 1862, 2; “Letter from the State Capital,” The Portland Daily Press August 22, 1864, 2. ↩︎
  8. 1870 U.S. Census, Litchfield, Kennebec County, Maine, 8, accessed October 15, 2024, ancestry.com.  ↩︎
  9. [no title], The Gardiner Home Journal July 31, 1862, 2; “Joseph Sawyer,” U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, accessed August 15, 2024, ancestry.com. ↩︎
  10. [no title], The Gardiner Home Journal, July 22, 1974, 2; 1880 U.S. Census, Gardiner, Ward 4, Kennebec County, Maine, 38; accessed October 15, 2024, ancestry.com.  ↩︎
  11. “Municipal Court,” Daily Kennebec Journal October 24, 1879, 3; “Notice,” Daily Kennebec Journal November 19, 1879, 1.  ↩︎
  12. Isaac M. Tucker and Dolly Scott, Maine Marriages, 1771-1907; 1880 U.S. Census, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, 36, accessed October 15, 2024, ancestry.com.   ↩︎
  13. The Directory of the Inhabitants, Institutions, Manufacturing Establishments, Societies, Business, Business Forms, State Census, Etc., Etc., in the Cities of Augusta, Hallowell, and Gardiner (Boston: W. A. Greenough & Co., 1882), 47 and 110; “Notice!” Daily Kennebec Journal February 13, 1885, 3; “Repairing, Glueing, Finishing,” Daily Kennebec Journal August 5, 1912, 5. ↩︎
  14. “Augusta Locals,” Daily Kennebec Journal August 6, 1895, 7. ↩︎
  15. “Local and State News,” Daily Kennebec Journal March 22, 1883, 3. ↩︎
  16. “At Cobbossee,” Daily Kennebec Journal July 17, 1901, 6. ↩︎
  17. “Repairing, Glueing, Finishing,” Daily Kennebec Journal August 5, 1912, 5.  ↩︎
  18. “Augusta Locals,” Daily Kennebec Journal June 7, 1901, 7; “Miscellaneous,” Kennebec Journal January 20, 1905, 8. ↩︎
  19. “Local Briefs,” Daily Kennebec Journal October 16, 1909, 6; “Local Notice,” Daily Kennebec Journal September 27, 1923, 10. ↩︎
  20. Phone Conversation with Anthony Douin, October 15, 2024.  ↩︎
  21. “Local Briefs,” Daily Kennebec Journal June 14, 1911, 10; “Notice of First Meeting of Creditors,” Daily Kennebec Journal June 24, 1911, 9; “Local Briefs,” Daily Kennebec Journal July 22, 1911, 10; “Local Briefs,” Daily Kennebec Journal June 11, 1912, 11. ↩︎
  22. “Local Briefs,” Daily Kennebec Journal April 4, 1914, 10; “Local Briefs,” Daily Kennebec Journal April 15, 1914, 12; “Isaac M. Tucker,” Daily Kennebec Journal June 29, 1914, 9; “Funeral of Isaac Tucker,” Daily Kennebec Journal June 30, 1914, 10. ↩︎
  23. “Local Notice,” Daily Kennebec Journal September 27, 1923, 10. ↩︎
  24. “Card of Thanks,” Daily Kennebec Journal January 9, 1922, 9; “Augusta Locals,” Daily Kennebec Journal March 31, 1922, 13. ↩︎
  25. Phone Conversation with Anthony Douin, October 15, 2024.  ↩︎
  26. “Auction Sale,” Kennebec Journal November 14, 1939, 13.  ↩︎
  27. “Aunt Dolly Tucker Leaving for South,” Kennebec Journal November 21, 1939, 8.  ↩︎
  28. “Fredericksburg, Va.,” Afro-American (Baltimore), August 7, 1926, 12; 1920 U.S. Census, Fredericksburg City, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Enumeration District 50, 9B; 1930 U.S. Census, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Enumeration District 107-3, 9A; 1930 U.S. Census, Fredericksburg City, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Enumeration District 107-3, 6A; 1940 U.S. Census, Fredericksburg, Virginia, Enumeration District 107-6, 63B; 1940 U.S. Census, Fredericksburg, Virginia, Enumeration District 107-6, 63A; accessed October 25, 2024, ancestry.com. ↩︎
  29. Deed 79-204 (1943); Fredericksburg Circuit Court Archives, Fredericksburg, VA.  ↩︎
  30. Will Book M-114 (1948); Fredericksburg Circuit Court Archives, Fredericksburg, VA.   ↩︎
  31. Deed 91-147 and 91-149 (1952); Fredericksburg Circuit Court Archives, Fredericksburg, VA. ↩︎
  32. “Colored Woman, 94, Dies in City,” Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA) February 18, 1949, 2.  ↩︎