Tuesday, January 30, 2018

The Tale of Thomas Tucker

Sometimes, while researching one character, I become interested in that of another whose story I cross along the way. Thomas Pinkney Tucker was one of those characters.

The Messenger and Intelligencer
(Wadesboro, North Carolina)
22 Apr 1909, Thu  • Page 4

 - Abandoned Wife Gv Hand For Husband. Husband....

In the article above, in two simple paragraphs, a colorful tale unfolds, of a truant man and his long-suffering wife. Who was this Tom Tucker, this fake evangelist, who stood upon a podium in the town of Wilson, NC bemoaning the death of the wife, who was alive and well, (well, maybe not well) back in Richmond County, taking care of her 8 children as best as she could, wondering of the whereabouts of their errant father?

Image result for soapbox preacher

Richmond County borders Anson County on the west, Montgomery County to the north, Moore County to the northeast, Scotland County to the southeast and South Carolina to the south. In just a brief point in her northwesternmost corner, she appears to be touching the foot of Stanly County with an upreached left hand. She appears to be touching Hoke County, just in between the Moore/Scotland border, with her right hand.


Image result for richmond county nc


Richmond is one of the counties that many of the children of Stanly County ancestors seemed to drift away to. I've touched on it in many posts. Some stayed, some returned, others drifted on down into South Carolina. The reason for this migration came during the rise of the textile industry.

Richmond County is part of the so called "Sand Hills". It  was first settled by Highland Scots, who came in through the Cape Fear River basin and settled around Cross Creek. Cross Creek would  evolve into the busy market town of Fayetteville. They then moved Westward into Moore, Scotland, Richmond and Montgomery Counties. Richmond boasts the PeeDee River on its west side, which forms its border with Anson. A smaller group of settlers of  English orgin came in through the Pee Dee River border. It was originally part of Anson, like Stanly and Montgomery, and was separated in 1779 due to the difficulty of crossing the Pee Dee River.

Pee Dee River Cotton plantations were the source of  Richmond's wealth before the Civil War. Sherman visited the County, and his infamous march, along with the general devastation of the War, led to a downdraft of prosperity in the county. Prosperity returned  with the onset of the Textile Mill era in the final quarter of that century.  Hamlet grew due to the railroad industry and  became a major  hub, making Hamlet the second largest town in Richmond,  next to Rockingham. The County Seat, Rockingham,  became synonymous with Nascar and Stock Car racing during the mid to late 1900's.

Nafta, Cafta and other trade agreements have devasted the county of Richmond. They did much the same to this part of the state, and the South in general, as the textile, furniture and other trades moved to China, Mexico and other sources of cheap labor. The infamous Rockingham Speedway, known as "The Rock"  closed in 2004.

Both of the towns that qualify as cities in Richmond County - Rockingham and Hamlet -are presently two of the top contenders in a recent "Worst Cities in North Carolina" list due to high unemployment and crime rates, which tend to go hand in hand.



Richmond was the home of Thomas Pinkney Tucker.

The story of  Thomas Pinkney Tucker beginsa in the rolling hills of the Old Uwharrie Mountains, in the Stone Lick community of Southeast Randolph County, North Carolina. I don't know the exact location of Stone Lick, but I did dig up a few sources that give us a hint.

 - Wool and Furs M anted. We with to 7 V buy all...
The Greensboro Patriot
(Greensboro, North Carolina)
18 Feb 1864, Thu  • Page 5


This Ad by the Wiley M. Smith and Brothers Company, who were buying wool and furs, lists their address as Stone Lick and stated that they were 8 miles south of Asheboro.

In the book "Civil War in the North Carolina Quaker Belt - The Confederate Campaign" by William T. Auman the author references an article called "Capture of a Noted Outlaw" in the April 28, 1864 issue of "The Fayetteville Observer". The article describes the capture of an outlaw, or deserter, named Owens who was hiding out near the residence and business of a merchant named Colonel Jesse D. Cox who lived in Stone Lick, which was described as being near Brower's Mill and being located in the Southwest corner of Randolph.


This 1850 Post Office map of Randolph County shows Browers Mill in the southern most eastern corner of Randolph near the Moore County line. That explains the families easy slipslide back and forth across the border, when the may not have moved at all.

Anderson Deric Tucker was an interesting man. He was born in Randolph County in 1838 and was a Civil War Vet. He married Dorcas Williams of the massive Moore County Williams clan and in 1864 their oldest son was born whom they promptly named Thomas Pinkney Tucker, no doubt named for his two grandfathers, Pinkney Tucker, whose family originated in Virginia and Thomas Williams of Moore County.

A section of the Uwharrie River in Randolph County, NC

On Fold3, I found the following documents: A copy of a worn and weathered certificate of pension from the US Navy for widow case Dorcas Tucker, widow of Anderson D. Tucker, who was a Landsman at Fort Jackson, for the United States Navy, dated September 13, 1892. The front was complete with a little ship icon and covered in barely legible scribbles. One of the scribbles said "Hon Wm B Umstead  Helpless child has no title. Another dated 9/9/32 says 'Anderson Tucker advised no money due'.

A little further on into the documents an explanation of the papers ragged condition and scribbled exterior becomes clear.

A typed letter from E. W. Morgan, Director of Penisons, to Mr. Anderson Tucker, Rt 2 Greensboro, North Carolina, dated July 21, 1932, is included.  The letter was a reply to Mr. Tucker Jr. on his inquiry, asking if he was entitled to the pension of his father, a Sailor during the Civil War.  His answer was, ' No', he was not, as he was over 16 years old.  A penciled scrawl also covered the face of this typed letter. " I am the old Sailor's son Anderson D Tucker  You must give me a pension are a job of work to do." It demands. He continues, in a script that reminds me of the hand writing of my grandmother who was born in 1899. " I am willing to do anything that I can. A pension as good as you did my mother 30 years ago and you know it"  The beginning of the next line is obscured by a stamp but ends with , "In the name of Jesus",  and is signed by Anderson Cooper of Greensboro, NC.

The next page in the packet is obviously the letter that Anderson Cooper wrote that E. W. Morgan had replied to. It is written in the same script and is much more a prayer than a request, with the poor man begging God, Jesus, and the US Navy, for his father's pension. He ends with asking God to grant all the Commissioners of Pension a long life.

The next page is the actual request for pension of Dorcas Williams Tucker, age 80, of which she was entitled. Dorcas Tucker of Carter's Mills, Moore County was granted $8 a month beginning September 22, 1873 and $12 a month commencing March 19, 1886. She was the widow of
                                                 
                                       Sailor: Anderson D. Tucker
                                       Rank: Landsman USS
                                       Regiment: Fort Jackson USA

Four children were listed and their dates of birth given and also the date that they were considered to be sixteen, which appears to be the dates before their sixteenth birthdays.

                           Thomas           Born  June 22, 1867        Sixteen  June 21  1883
                           John W           Born  December 4 1864  Sixteen  December 3  1884
                           Sarah F           Born  December 17  1871  Sixteen December 16 1887
                           Anderson D    Born  February 7, 1874      Sixteen  Februay 6  1890

This first request was stamped rejected, the reasoning being "Death cause (congestive chill) not shown to be due to any disability contracted in service or in line of duty". She eventually did get a claim at some venture that had increased to $20 by her death in 1925.

I found this interesting due to the fact that we get possibly a tiny glimpse into the personality of Thomas from this window into the personality of his brother Anderson.





The family seems to have escaped detection in the 1870 census or are hidden in error, so the first one to pick up on Thomas Pinkney Tucker was the 1880 census which show the family living in Sheffields Township in Moore County right next to his maternal grandparents, 86 year old Thomas Williams and his wife, 83 year old Elizabeth and his maiden Aunt, 60 year old Sarah.

Name:Darkes Tucker
Age:45
Birth Date:Abt 1835
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1880:Shuffield, Moore, North Carolina, USA
Dwelling Number:129
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Self (Head)
Marital Status:Widowed
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Occupation:Keeping House
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Darkes Tucker45
Thomas P. Tucker12
John W. Tucker10
Sarah F. Tucker8
Anderson Tucker5

At this time, I like to take a peak into the Williams family, of Tom's mother Dorcas, who were no less interesting than the Tuckers, if not more. 




A book, "The Williams Family  Descendants of Noah and Mary "Polly" Williams 1725-2000"  Compiled in 1999-2000 by Maxine William McNeil mentions the line of Dorcas's family.

Details in this book include the origin of the family as Wales. Upon their arrival in America, they spent about a century in the area of NorthWestern Virginia and SouthWestern Pennsylvania.   Their removal was due to the French and Indian War. Mrs. McNeil informs that a group of family names, very familiar to the Randolph and Moore County area traveled together, The Williams, Williamsons, Husseys, Garners, Sheilds and Manesses. They followed the Tuscarora Trail into the area of Grassy Creek in upper Moore County and there they settled after fleeing Indian attacks in Virginia.

Browers Mill area scenery

A family tree lists Elizabeth Williams born 1796, as being the daughter of Jeremiah Williams and Florence Delaney. She married Thomas Green Williams. They are the parents of Dorcas Williams Tucker. Thomas Green Williams was the son of William Williams of "Williams Plantation" in Moore County. It is believe William Williams and Jeremiah Williams were brothers, making Thomas and Elizabeth first cousins.






Sheffield Township is in the Northwestern most part of Moore County. The Brower's Mill area of Randolph County borders it to the north. We aren't talking great distances here. They are separated by the Granville Grant line, which divided old Anson from old Rowan and beyond. But the Tuckers and Williams, despite living in different counties, did not live very far from each other.



Thomas "General Green" Williams is shown as owning a total of 575 acres on Bear Creek in the 1844 tax list of Moore County. Three years later, he had added a tract on Grassy Creek as well, so that gives us a good solid idea of where Dorcas grew up, and where she returned to after she was widowed, with her children, including Thomas Pinkney Tucker, her eldest.

In 1900, Dorcas is still in Sheffield with her two youngest children. It shows she is the mother of 4 children with 3 living.


Name:Dorcas Tucker
[Darcus Tucker] 
Age:62
Birth Date:Apr 1836
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1900:Sheffield, Moore, North Carolina
House Number:9
Sheet Number:20B
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation:374
Family Number:384
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Head
Marital Status:Widowed
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother: number of living children:3
Mother: How many children:4
Occupation:Farmer
Months not employed:0
Can Read:Yes
Can Write:No
Can Speak English:Yes
House Owned or Rented:O
Home Free or Mortgaged:F
Farm or House:F
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Dorcas Tucker62
Sarah F Tucker28
Anderson D Tucker25

Thomas P and John W Tucker are the two missing. Knowing that Thomas Pinkey Tucker 'made it' to 1900, this must mean John W. had passed away.

In 1888, Thomas P Tucker married Loveday Adeline Garner, daughter of Eli Garner and Sarah E Manness Garner. Loveday was born June 1, 1867 in Richmond County, but if you remember earlier in the Williams family history, the Garner and Manness families were two of the group that had traveled from Virginia with the Williams family, and settled in Moore County, in the Grassy Creek area.



This particular Garner line begins with John Garner (b 1633) and with Susanna Keane Garner of Westmoreland County, Viginia. Their grandson John Garner, who married Susanna Johnston, was the first to arrive with the band of Virginians, who settled in the Grassy Creek area, and became the ancestor of most of the Randolph-Moore County Garners.

Their grandson, John Harrison Garner was born in 1788 and lived in the Brower's Mill area of Randolph County. He married Dolly Whittle first, who died in 1839 and Judith Ritter second. He served in the War of 1812 and is described as 5ft 10", light hair, fair complexion and blue eyes.

His son John F. Garner was born in Sheffield's Township, Moore County and married Molsey Caviness. Molsey's family lines were of the same ilk-Virginians who had came to Moore County by 1820. There location of settlement was given as "Gold Region", which also explains why they may have settled there, but a quick look into Gold Region, shows it was a community, not just a region, with a Post Office. And one  more thing.



Gold Region Post Office in Moore County, with Postmaster Bethuel Coffin, operated from 1844 to 1866. The name was changed to Carter Mill's in 1886. Therefore, the Garner, Tucker, Williams and Caviness (sometimes seen as 'Cabiness') families were all from the same general area.

John F Garner and Molsey Caviness Garner had 8 children of which Eli Garner was the fourth.

Eli Garner was born in 1842 and he served in the Civil War. Like Anderson Tucker, he made it home, and within a few years, married to Sarah E. Maness. Again, the Manness family was part of the family group of Virginians who had settled in this area, of North Moore and South Randolph, some hundred years earlier. Sarah Maness was the daughter of Robartice D "Bart" Maness and Sarah "Sallie" Garner Maness. We're dealing with a very small gene pool here. Although both descend from the same line of Garner's, Eli and Sarah were fairly distant cousins. Together, they would have 7 children, of whom Loveday Adeline Garner was the firstborn.

Like most rural families in those days, Tom Tucker and young wife Lovedy Garner Tucker began having children almost immediatley after getting married.

Solomon Arthur Tucker was born in 1889
Eli Baxter Tucker was born in 1890 and
Wiley H Tucker was born in 1893

It was also in 1893 that Tom Tucker proved to the community that he was a bit of a scoundrel.

 - Tom Tucker, a white man from Shelfielda...
The Carthage Blade
(Carthage, North Carolina)
23 May 1893, Tue  • Page 3



You thought he was a minister, right? Well, he was both saint and sinner, with a whole lot of conman wrapped in. His career was just beginning. The phrase "break up the rogues" tends to suggest he ran with a pack.

Between 1893 and 1900, three more children arrived, but one of them had passed away, as in the 1900 census, Lovedy informed that she was the mother of 6 children, but only 5 were living. The two that survived were:

Annie Frances Tucker in 1895
Flossie Adeline Tucker in 1898

In the prevailing years between his arrest in Sheffield's and the turn of the century Tom Tucker has had a reformation, enlightenment and career change. He has found Jesus, moved his family to Richmond County and became a minister, not neccessarily in that order.


Name:Thomas Tucker
[Thomas P Tucker] 
Age:31
Birth Date:Jun 1868
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1900:Beaver Dam, Richmond, North Carolina
House Number:1
Sheet Number:8B
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation:142
Family Number:151
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Head
Marital Status:Married
Spouse's Name:Loredy Tucker
Marriage Year:1888
Years Married:12
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Occupation:Minister
Months not employed:0
Can Read:Yes
Can Write:Yes
Can Speak English:Yes
House Owned or Rented:R
Farm or House:F
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Thomas Tucker31
Loredy Tucker31
Eli B Tucker14
Salloman G Tucker10
Wiley H Tucker7
Annie F Tucker5
Flosia A Tucker2

The 1900 census finds the family in Beaver Dam, Richmond County. To his benefit, his older sons show nothing in the employment columns, while neighbors show their children of the same ages with occupations as "Spooling, Spinning, Dolphing and Bobbing", indicating textile mill employment or either as "Farm Labor", including children as young as 8 and 9.

Image result for Beaver dam, richmond county, nc

Beaversdam township is northeast of Rockingham and Hamlet and southwest of Aberdeen.
Nearby towns are listed as Bensalem, which is in Moore County, Lilesville, which is in Anson County, Marks Creek, which is in Richmond County, and Biscoe, which is in Montgomery County. So again, a big leap was not made. He just kind of slid over into another county at from the far end of his home county, where he was not well-known.


For the next few years, Thomas Pinkney Tucker was an active evangelist. Below are just a few of his appearances.

 - SILVER RUN NEWS. Miss Gibson, of Red Springs;...
The Anglo-Saxon
(Rockingham, North Carolina)
10 Oct 1901, Thu  • Page 4

While the community of Silver Run and church no longer exist, their dead remain, in a pretty much abandoned cemetery, to mark the name of the place. It was located within the Beaverdam Township near McKinney Lake. I saved the entire article about the citizens of Silver Run because it mentions two other families, the Marks and the Solomons, from my own family tree, with Stanly and Montgoemry County roots.


 - Rev. T. P. Tucker preached at Pages Grove lat...
The Anglo-Saxon
(Rockingham, North Carolina)
28 Nov 1901, Thu  • Page 3


 - Maness Items. This section was visited by i...

The Carthage Blade
(Carthage, North Carolina)
26 Apr 1905, Wed  • Page 1


Rev. T P Tucker had begun expanding his territory. He was preaching back in Moore County now. While the community of Maness no longer exists, at least as shown on a map, the church of Acorn Ridge is still an active church. It's cemetery lies on a rise once known as Maness Hill. This is the epicenter of the Maness family origins in Moore. It's a beautiful area. I was there not long ago. Not far from Bear Creek, and just a few miles north of Robbins, it's an area of curvy country roads and rolling hills. The church and cemetery are on a road of the same name off of Howards Mill road. Just riding through, you feel like you have stepped back in time.

But for Tom Tucker,  was expanding his territory closer and closer to his old stomping grounds, closer and closer to Randolph County, Gold Region, Asheboro, and his old buddies with their sinning ways, a wise thing for him to do? Perhaps he thought he could convert them. Instead, it went the other way.

 - making liquor, not guilty. State v. Torn...
The Randolph Bulletin
(Asheboro, North Carolina)
26 Jul 1906, Thu  • Page 2



Tom was in trouble again.  Just one year after preaching at Acorn Ridge, he was fighting and selling illegal whiskey in Randolph County and was drug up to Asheboro and tossed in the pokey. But he quickly 'repented' and went back to preaching. During this time his family still grew.

Nella Maggie Tucker was born in 1900
Thomas Jefferson Tucker was born in 1902
Loveday Gladys Tucker was born in 1905

But when he returned to his sinning ways in 1906, the children stopped rolling in.

Which brings us to 1909 and the article which caught my eye.

 - Abandoned Wife Gv Hand For Husband. Husband....
The Messenger and Intelligencer
(Wadesboro, North Carolina)
22 Apr 1909, Thu  • Page 4

Lovedy Tucker was a woman of her era. She had to be strong, but she also had to suck up a great deal of pride. She may have loved Tom. I'm not implying that she did not. But the circumstances and opportunities available to women of her time period were very different from what modern day women experience. Basically, she came from a time where women had to be connected to and dependant on a man. If not a husband, a father, brother or son. It was extremely difficult, if not next to impossible, to survive without a man. Some did. Having 8 dependant children made it all the more difficult.




I was intrigued by her beautiful and unusual name, Lovedy or Loveday, but in an attempt to locate her in the 1880 census, from which she is missing, I found that her name was not all that unusual for her era, it was rather trendy. There were a great number of Lovedy's in the counties in which she had lived and for about a 50 mile radius around there. There were variations. It seemed to be a version of the name "Lavada" and could be seen as Lovey, Lovday, Lavadie, Lavida, or any number of spellings. I wondered if there was an original ancestor, a matriarchial Lovada or Lovedy, from whom all these great granddaughters may have sprang. Most of them shared the same small group of surnames that were prominent in the area and tied back to that long ago group of Virginians who had followed the Tuscarora Path to Piedmont, NC.



The 1910 census, one year after this article, Lovedy has been forced to make it on her own. Fortunately, the three of her older children, ages 20, 15 and 14, who were still living at home, supported the family working in the Rockingham textile mills.  Lovedy stayed home and took care of the household and the little ones.


Name:Lordy A Tusker
[Lavdy A Tusker] 
[Lovely A Tucker] 
Age in 1910:41
Birth Year:abt 1869
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1910:Rockingham, Richmond, North Carolina
House Number:42
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Head
Marital Status:Married
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Native Tongue:English
Home Owned or Rented:Rent
Farm or House:House
Able to Read:Yes
Able to Write:Yes
Years Married:22
Number of Children Born:10
Number of Children Living:8
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Lordy A Tusker41
Eli B Tucker20
Wiley H Tucker16
Annie F Tucker15
Flossie Tucker12
Lela M Tucker9
Thomas J Tucker7
Gladys Tucker5



Thomas was found where he would likely be found.

Name:Thomas E Tucker
[Thomas Tucker] 
Age in 1910:40
Birth Year:abt 1870
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1910:Carthage, Moore, North Carolina
Street:Martin & Saunders Street
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Prisoner
Marital Status:Married
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Native Tongue:English
Able to Read:Yes
Able to Write:Yes
Years Married:Wm
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
George H Muse49
Glennie Muse37
Thomas E Tucker40
Thomas Mccurin59
John GilchristUn
Joe JonesUn
Rosa WhiteUn


Tom Tucker was languishing in the Moore County jail in Carthage. The place he was caught, Wilson, the county seat of a small county just east of Wake County, was a considerable distance from his regular stomping grounds. He had significantly expanded his territory.


Image result for wilson county, nc

Oldest son Solomon Arthur Tucker, had married Bessie Irene McCrosky in Richmond County in 1908, and became the father of a son, Claud Oswell Tucker, that same year. He and his wife were found in Thomasville, in Davidson County.

:Arthur Tucker
Age in 1910:20
Birth Year:abt 1890
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1910:Thomasville, Davidson, North Carolina
Street:Armfield Roe
Race:White  Gender:Male   Relation to Head of House:Head   Marital Status:Married
Spouse's Name:Bessie Tucker
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Native Tongue:English
Occupation:Painter   Industry:House   Employer, Employee or Other:Wage Earner
Home Owned or Rented:Rent
Farm or House:House
Attended School:No     Able to Read:Yes    Able to Write:Yes
Years Married:3

Out of Work:N
Number of weeks out of work:12
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Arthur Tucker20
Bessie Tucker20
Claud O Tucker1


As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Arthur and Bessie soon divorced and both went their separate ways. In 1920, Arthur married Arizona "Zona" Lafon Higginbotham, another divorcee', former wife of  a Jefferson Bane Higginbotham and mother of a young son, John Lynn. Zona was from Giles, Virginia, her former husband was from West Virginia. She met Arthur in Halifax County, North Carolina, which is in the northeastern corner of NC, near Virginia. They immediately took off to Portsmouth, Ohio, where Zona's sister lived, and Arthur suddenly became ill and died. Zona would soon after his death, remarry again, to an H. Whitt Williams, and have a second son, Joe. She moved down to Tennessee, and then back to Giles, Viriginia, from whence she came, where she died young, of liver cancer, in 1935.

 - 7; acceptances CARD OF THANKS We wish to...



Arthur's Ex- Bessie, married a Fielder in Gaston County the same summer he remarried. She also moved around a bit, first to Georgia, then back to Richmond County and finally to Iredell County, where she had married a third time.

Name:Thomas Tucker
Age:52
Birth Year:abt 1868
[abt 1878] 
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1920:Mineral Springs, Richmond, North Carolina
Street:Marie St Buckingham and Elleclic Road
House Number:X
Residence Date:1920
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Head
Marital Status:Married
Spouse's Name:Adaline Tucker
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Able to Speak English:Yes
Occupation:Meconill
Industry:Blacksmith
Employment Field:Wage or Salary
Home Owned or Rented:Rent
Able to Read:Yes
Able to Write:Yes
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Thomas Tucker52
Adaline Tucker52
Gladis Tucker14
Maggie Sweat20

By 1920, Tom and Lovedy were back together and living with their two youngest daughters, one who had already married. Tom had switched careers and was now working as a Mechanic at a blacksmiths shop.

Name:Thomas Tucker
Age:52
Birth Year:abt 1868
[abt 1878] 
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1920:Mineral Springs, Richmond, North Carolina
Street:Marie St Buckingham and Elleclic Road
House Number:X
Residence Date:1920
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Head
Marital Status:Married
Spouse's Name:Adaline Tucker
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Able to Speak English:Yes
Occupation:Meconill
Industry:Blacksmith
Employment Field:Wage or Salary
Home Owned or Rented:Rent
Able to Read:Yes
Able to Write:Yes
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Thomas Tucker52
Adaline Tucker52
Gladis Tucker14
Maggie Sweat20

It wasn't long, and Tom, true to his ilk as a "showman" had discovered a career much more true to his heart and his talents than being a mechanic. He began traveling around showing moving pictures. It didn't aiways keep him out of trouble.

 - TOM TUCKER UNDER BOND FOR APPEARANCE AT COURT A...

The Courier
(Asheboro, North Carolina)
01 Jun 1922, Thu  • Page 1


He made a bit of an living with his motion pictures. Several ads in papers of the area mention his shows.


 - "The Passion Play," a moving picture picture of...
The Pilot
(Vass, North Carolina)
30 Jun 1922, Fri  • Page 9


Image result for 1920's traveling moving picture show


The traveling show of Tom Tucker took Lovedy and himself all the way to Virginia. There, Loveday died in 1929 at the age of 62. The cause was given as Hemophilia. Her daughter Annie was the informant.

Name:Loveday Adeline Tucker
[Loveday Adeline Garner] 
Gender:Female
Race:White
Death Age:62
Birth Date:1 Jun 1867
Death Date:13 Sep 1929
Death Place:Hopewell, Prince George, Virginia, USA
Registration Date:14 Sep 1929
Father:Eli Garner
Mother:Sara Mason
Spouse:T P Tucker
Certificate Number:1929023014

Lovedy's death did nothing to slow the persistant Tom Tucker down. Lovedy died on September 13, 1929. By August 20, 1930, he had met and married Mrs. Annie Lee McIntosh Morgan, daughter of Neil McIntosha and Martha Mashburn in Petersburg, Virginia.

Name:Thos. Pinkey Tucker
Gender:Male
Marital Status:Widowed
Race:White
Age:64
Birth Date:1866
Birth Place:Moore Co., N. C.
Marriage Date:20 Aug 1930
Marriage Place:Petersburg, Virginia
Father:A. D. Tucker
Mother:Darkest Williams
Spouse:Annie Lee Morgan
FHL Film Number:2048494
Reference ID:Item 1, Ln.No.173


In the 1930 census, which was taken in April of that year, Tom was shown in Wake County, NC, living with his son, Thomas Jefferson Tucker. By September he was up in Petersburg, Virginia getting married. So it shows a continuing trend of travel, still at age 62.

Name:Thomas P Tucker
Respondent:Yes
Age:74
Estimated birth year:abt 1866
Gender:Male
Race:White
Birthplace:North Carolina
Marital Status:Married
Relation to Head of House:Head
Home in 1940:Bensalem, Moore, North Carolina
Map of Home in 1940:View Map
Farm:No
Inferred Residence in 1935:Bensalem, Moore, North Carolina
Residence in 1935:Same House, North Carolina
Resident on farm in 1935:Yes
Sheet Number:16A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation:242
Occupation:Laborer
Industry:Farm
House Owned or Rented:Owned
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented:150
Attended School or College:No
Highest Grade Completed:Elementary school, 6th grade
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:0
Duration of Unemployment:0
Class of Worker:Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939:10
Income:120
Income Other Sources:Yes
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Thomas P Tucker74
Annie Tucker63

By 1940, Thomas and his second wife Annie, were living in Bensalem in Moore County, where it said he was also living by 1935. He was 74 years old and working for a Benjamin Green, who was originally from Montgomery County, NC.

 Thomas P Tucker

Thomas Pinkney Tucker died on September 29, 1949 of Hypertension and Heart trouble. The informant was his son Tom. His  address was given as Rockfish, in Cumberland County,NC. Both he and Lovedy were buried at Smyrna United Methodist Church Cemetery, near Robbins, in Moore County His occupation at this time was given as a Carpenter,but he was much more than that.

A quick look at a map for New Smyrna shows it lies just north of Grassy Creek, where the family's ancestors first landed after their migration from Virginia to escape the horrors of the French-Indian War. The couple was home.