Richard Tucker (American politician)

Richard Tucker (c. 1818 – August 12, 1881)[1] was a carpenter, undertaker, and state legislator in North Carolina. He represented Craven County in the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1870[2] and in the North Carolina Senate in 1874 during the Reconstruction era.[3] In 1874 he was one of four African Americans in the North Carolina Senate, all Republicans. The North Carolina House had 13 African Americans. Both bodies had strong Democratic Party majorities during the session.[4]

He was born around 1818.[5] He and his children were enslaved and had been owned by John D. Flanner.[6] He helped build Flanner's Italianate home.[6] He lived in New Bern. He worked as a carpenter and undertaker including at Greenwood Cemetery.[5] He had a close affiliation with judge William Gaston (1778-1844).[5]

He was part of the 1866 Freedmen Convention in Raleigh and the 1868 North Carolina Constitutional Convention.[5] He was one of the organizers of the New Bern Education Association established January 1872.[7] In 1873 he was certified as a justice of the peace.[8]

He, George B. Willis and Edward R. Dudley were part of Craven County's "all black, all artisan" legislative representatives.[6]

He married Emeline Tucker in December 1865. He owned a farm and two of his daughters became school teachers.[5] He married Annie Smith Tucker in May 1880. He was interred at Greenwood Cemetery.[5] He active in the Andrews Chapel.[6]

  1. ^ "Craven Co, New Bern, NC: 13 Aug 1881, Died, Richard Tucker". Daily Commercial News. August 13, 1881. p. 4 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "The General Assembly". The Daily Standard. 15 November 1870. p. 4. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  3. ^ Work, Monroe N.; Staples, Thomas S.; Wallace, H. A.; Miller, Kelly; McKinlay, Whitefield; Lacy, Samuel E.; Smith, R. L.; McIlwaine, H. R. (1920). "Some Negro Members of Reconstruction Conventions and Legislatures and of Congress". The Journal of Negro History. 5 (1): 63–119. doi:10.2307/2713503. JSTOR 2713503. S2CID 149610698. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Reconstruction in North Carolina". 1914.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Tucker, Richard (ca. 1818-1881)". ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu.
  6. ^ a b c d Bishir, Catherine W. (November 1, 2013). Crafting Lives: African American Artisans in New Bern, North Carolina, 1770-1900. UNC Press Books. ISBN 9781469608761 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "An Act to Incorporate the Newbern Educational Association". www.carolana.com.
  8. ^ State, North Carolina Secretary of (December 10, 1874). "The Legislative Manual and Political Register of the State of North Carolina: For the Year 1874 ..." J. Turner, jr., state printer – via Google Books.