The Seduction of Duncan T. Tucker: Chapter One- Planting Season, the Early Years.

 

* This is a story that does not want to be told. Twice I've come close to completion and everything disappears. Whether computer glitch, accidental deletion or a ghost in the machine, I don't know. Usually, when this has happened twice before with the stories of William Washington Russell and Julius Murray, I've thrown the subject matter down and didn't look back. Not this time. Instead, I will try telling the story in chapters, so they won't become so burdonsome and lenthy. Have the ghosts of these men remained on earth and not want their stories known?

Some folks lives are like a whisper on the wind, a divet in the grains of life, barely discernible. Others come in like a parade, obtreperous, ebullant, clamourous. That was Duncan T. Tucker. He had an interesting life. 

I first came across Duncan T. Tucker while perusing old Stanly County Court records on C.D. In the Spring Term of 1891, Duncan had been charged with the crime of 'Seduction'. This was a charge of the Victorian Era, rarely to never heard in the halls of a Courthouse during this day and time. It usually meant that some furious and outraged father had taken out charges on a lusty young man that he had found in improper circumstance in the company of his young daughter. 

Duncan T Tucker was fortunate in this instance, as his case was suspended on costs, as he had "married the woman", and with the stipulations that he treat his wife well.

This was not the only case of Duncan T Tuckers' that had been making its way through the courts in those last waning decades of the 19th century. He had also been charged with Retailing, in conjunction with one Oma Jane Almond. As luck would have it, his case would again be suspended on payment of costs and a $50.00 fine, which he paid in conjunction with E. R. Herrin. 

Oma Jane would receive the same sentence, her fine paid in conjunction with Robert Almond. 

The subject of Duncan T Tuckers' seduction was not his first dalliance; not would she be his last. It's clearer to tell his story in a timeline.

1860

Name	Duncan Tucker
Age	2
Birth Year	abt 1858
Gender	Male
Race	White
Home in 1860	Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office	Albemarle
Dwelling Number	753
Family Number	764
Inferred Father	Lewis Tucker
Inferred Mother	Martha Tucker

Household members

Name	Age
Lewis Tucker	54
Martha Tucker	42
James Tucker	21
Monroe Tucker	19
Sarah Tucker	16
Elvira Tucker	14
Leonard Tucker	13
George Tucker	12
Martha Tucker	10
Levi Tucker	8
John Tucker	6
Ellen Tucker	4
Duncan Tucker	2

Duncan T Tucker's first appearance in records was as a two-year-old in the home of his parents in the 1860 census. Duncan was the 12th of the 15 children of Lewis Rowell Tucker and wife, Martha Jane "Patsy" Whitley Tucker, and the youngest son. Only one of the children who had been born by 1860 is missing from the above list, and that was second child, and only daughter, Mary Ann Tucker, born in 1839, who had married Aaron Titus Springer in 1859. Mary Ann was much of a spitfire as Duncan. She has her own tale to tell. 

1870

Name	Duncan Tucker
Age in 1870	10
Birth Date	abt 1860
Birthplace	North Carolina
Dwelling Number	8
Home in 1870	Big Lick, Stanly, North Carolina
Race	White
Gender	Male
Post Office	Albemarle
Cannot Read	Yes
Cannot Write	Yes
Inferred Father	Lewis Tucker
Inferred Mother	Martha Tucker

Household members

Name	Age
Lewis Tucker	66
Martha Tucker	52
George Tucker	21
Martha Tucker	18
Levi R Tucker	16
Jno R Tucker	14
Ellen Tucker	12
Duncan Tucker	10
Sophronia Tucker	8
Marianna Tucker	6
Bethany C Tucker	2
James F Tucker	29
William R Whittey	24
Charlotte Whittey	2

By 1870, Duncan is showing up as a 10-year-old and a few more of the older children had married. Three little girls had joined the family, Sophronia, Marianna and Bethany C. Tucker. The more I delve in to the rest of the Tucker clan, the more I wonder if Marianna and Bethany were not grandchildren, and not children. I will get to the bottom of it. Sophronia was most definably a daughter. 

James F. Tucker was actually oldest son, John Thomas Tucker, returned to the home. William R Whitley was a son-in-law. Third daughter, Sarah "Sallie" Tucker had married William Rufus Whitley on August 15, 1867. Two-year-old Charlotte was their daughter. William Rufus was the son of Joshua Christian Burris, a local man with multiple families, and Susannah Whitley, a woman he had several children with, but never married, as he was already married to someone else. I can name him a bit of a scoundrel, and he is one of my 3rd Great Grandfathers. One of W. R. Whitley's brothers, Alexander or "Alec" Whitley was a criminal and murderer known as the only man ever hanged in Stanly County, (that was recorded as such). I believe I know of a couple more. So, he did not come from the best of families, but he was not natured like his brothers. 

Name	Sarah J Whitley
Gender	Female
Race	White
Marital Status	Married
Estimated Birth Year	abt 1847
Birth Place	North Carolina, USA
Age	22
Death Date	Oct 1869
Cause of Death	Puerperal childbed fever
Census year	1870
Census Place	Big Lick, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Line	1

Sadly, Sarah died young, in October of 1869, of Puerperal childbed fever, with her second child, as was recorded in the 1870 Mortality Schedule of the 1870 census. She was buried in the George Tucker Cemetery near Red Cross. Her daughter Charlotte, born on September 7, 1867, would join her in the George Tucker Cemetery on September 13, 1879. The 12-year was recorded in the 1880 Mortality Schedule as having died of Typhoid Fever.

1873

Tragedy was not finished with the Tucker Family. Lewis R. Tucker died about 1873 and oldest son, James Thomas Tucker was named administrator. The family was so large, and Lewis was so in debt, there was not much left to sustain them. Only Ellen, Duncan and Sophronia were named as "infants" in the estate file, which meant under the age of 21. Marianna and Bethany C. Tucker were not mentioned. however, Charlotte Whitley was, being the only heir of her mother, Sarah. This meant that either they had passed away as children, or that they were grandchildren, (or another relative or ward), children of a living child, perhaps Mary Ann. 

1879

After years of death and tragedy, in 1879, it appeared that life may be looking up for Duncan T. Tucker, now a 20-year-old adult. He was in love. 

Duncan married "Teny" Hahn, daughter of Absolum and Barbara Hahn. Both bride and groom were listed as 21 years old and residents of Big Lick. The license was applied for by William Smith on December 28, 1878 and the wedding took place on January 12, 1879 by Rev. M R. Clark, a Baptist Minister, at his residence in Big Lick. After the printed words, "according to law", he had written, "and the ordinary good'. The sun had come out, but it would not stay out long. 

1880

Duncan T. Tucker would appear in the 1880 census twice. 

Name	Duncan Tucker
Age	22
Birth Date	Abt 1858
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1880	Big Lick, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Dwelling Number	98
Race	White
Gender	Male
Relation to Head of House	Brother
Marital Status	Widower
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Name	Martha Tucker
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina
Cannot Read	Y
Cannot Write	Y
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
John R. Tucker	24
Sarah Tucker	22
Elisabeth Tucker	3
Amanda J. Tucker	2
Rosana Tucker	1
Martha Tucker	48
Duncan Tucker	22

On June the 4th, 1880, he appears in the home of his brother, John Riley Tucker, who has married with three little girls, along with his mother, Martha. He's helping his brother on the farm. On June 26th, just a few weeks later, he appears to have been working a farm labor in the home of Milly Honeycutt, an older lady with a few children and grandchildren in her home. His mother is listed right next door in her own home. The sad thing about this is his marital status. He is listed as a widower at 22. 

Teena Hahn was buried in the Henklelite Cemetery in Cabarrus County, near Mount Pleasant, where her family was originally from. There are no dates on her tombstone, and she was buried under her maiden name. She was likely born there, appearing in the 1860 census in Cabarrus County under the name "Regina".

So, what did Duncan T Tucker do after his lost his wife? He went wild sowing his oats, and not the edible kind, either. He became proliferate and jumped from flower to flower, like a bee. 

1884

Sometime around 1883, Duncan T. Tucker entered a relationship with Mary Araminta Hatley. Minty, as she was known, was a different kind of woman. Born in 1863, she was not a shrinking violet, like most of the women of her day, she just took the bull by the horns and did what must be done. The strong, independent type, when Minty met Duncan, she was the mother of a two-year-old son, Paul. The daughter of William Hardy Hatley and Sylvia Springer, Minty was left without a father at three years old because of the Civil War. Her mother would marry, then divorce, John Dick, but her stepfather took a liking to Minty. He had deeded her property, "for love and affection", so the lady had her own and seems to have had no use for a husband. 

Albert Lawson Hatley-Tucker was born on August 25, 1884. Called Lawson, he would alternatively switch back and forth between surnames. He married as a Tucker. He died as a Hatley. The couple did not marry, and it wasn't long before Duncan was seeking his next flower, or victim, however one might want to look at his operose affairs. 

1886

The next object of Duncan's affections would place him squarely in my family tree. Allow me to elucidate. Matilda Amelia "Millie" Lambert, born in 1867, was the daughter of William "Buck" Lambert and Matilda Talitha Herrin Lambert. They also happen to have been my 3rd Great Grandparents. Milly was a sister of my second Great Grandfather, Rufus Alexander Lambert. Milly had at least a romantic excursion with Duncan, if not more, in early 1886. The relationship did not end in marriage, either. Duncan's second son, Adolph Berry or Barry Tucker aka "Dolph" was born on December 15, 1886. Milly was only 17 years old. The relationship was again brief, and Milly would marry, two years later, on November 1st, 1888, to Franklin Lafayette Dunn. They would have three or four children together:

1889 - Dorothy Jennie Dunn, who would marry Bright Ezell Bass. 

1891- Elizabeth Dunn, who would marry Daniel C. Page.

1892- Grover Madison Dunn, who married Telia Josephine Mason.

1894- Russell Dunn, who is living in Franks home with the rest of the children in the 1900 census, would not have been Millie's child. Millie died on October 24, 1892, a month after the birth of Grover. 

1889

Duncan had left Millie before the Bastardy bond hit and was off to his next conquest. This was the one that ended up in Court with him in the above charges of Retailing. Retailing meant the sale of untaxed alcohol in those days. Duncan had been running a business of it with help of a widow he had taken up with, Naomi Jane "Oma or Omie" Almond. Omie Jane was a Double-Almond. She had been born on May 15, 1866, to John and Margaret Blackwelder Almond. On April 2, 1885, she married, at 18, another Almond, Alphonse Allen Almond, son of Melchor and Naomi Jane Herrin Almond. They started a family, having five children: Lillie Jane, Hettie, Lemuel Ransom, Samuel Burton and Adam Alphonzo Almond. Alphonse passed away in, while she was pregnant with Adam. Oma Jane was in dire consequences. 

We found her guilty of retailing, along with Duncan in one of the court records presented near the beginning of this post. Selling illicit alcohol was not the only thing Oma Jane was doing with Duncan. Conley Jurant "Con" Tucker was born on September 13, 1889. Duncan was now the father of three sons.

Name	Conly Tucker
Gender	Male
Race	White
Age	19
Birth Year	abt 1888
Marriage Date	15 Dec 1907
Marriage Place	Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Father	Duncan Tucker
Mother	Jane Tucker
Spouse	Alice Lambert
Spouse Gender	Female
Spouse Race	White
Spouse Age	21
Spouse Father	Junor Lambert
Spouse Mother	Annie Lambert
Event Type	Marriage

 Duncan T. Tucker would again move on to the next flower. Oma Jane would move on to the next Duncan, and this is the one that placed her in my family tree. 

Duncan Burris was the brother of my Great Grandmother, Rowena Burris, who married Elias Lambert, son of Rufus Alexander Lambert. Milly, mentioned in paragraphs above was Elias's Aunt. I have blogged about the horrific divorce of Oma Jane and Duncan in a post called "Drunkin Duncan". 

Oma Jane and Duncan Burris would have a son, Carl Gordon, and a daughter, who was born and died in 1905, and was mentioned in the divorce papers. Duncan Burris abandoned Oma Jane as savagely as Duncan T. Tucker. There was another thing about Duncan. He wasn't just my Great Great Uncle. Duncan liked to go out drinking. Lottie Hill Lemmons was a married woman who liked to go out dancing while her husband was at work. She was also another of my Great Grandmothers, and she was beautiful. She caught the attention of Duncan Burris. This was in Concord, when all involved were working there in the Cotton Mills. Lottie's husband, Harvey Lafayette Lemmons, my Great Grandfather, found out about the affair between Duncan Burris and Lottie, and killed himself by drinking carbolic acid. Duncan and Lottie would marry after she became a widow, but there was one more complication, Lottie was expecting. About five months later my Paternal Grandmother would come along. Before anyone suggests she's not Harvey's, she looked just like him, red hair and all. So Duncan Burris became my Grandmothers stepfather. He raised her, she never met her father, but she did meet Duncan's nephew, and he became my Grandfather.

1891

So, this brings us back to 1891, where we started, when Duncan T Tucker was charged with Seduction. The object of Duncan's attention at that point in time was Miss Hargett Viviane Furr. 

Hargett was born on July 16, 1867, in Almond Township, Stanly County, NC. The angry father who had marched down to the Magistrate in Albemarle to have Duncan dragged to jail for Seduction was one Ephraim Ransom Furr. Her mother was Melinda Catherine Smith. 

Name	H V Furr
Gender	Female
Race	White
Age	24
Birth Year	abt 1867
Marriage Date	26 Apr 1891
Marriage Place	Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Father	Ranson Furr
Mother	Catharine Furr
Spouse	D T Tucker
Spouse Gender	Male
Spouse Race	White
Spouse Age	30
Spouse Father	Lewis Tucker
Spouse Mother	Martha Tucker
Event Type	Marriage

Duncan and Hargett would marry on April 6, 1891. The groom was 30 and the bride was 24. Duncan had applied for the license himself. The ceremony was officiated by William E. Furr, Justice of the Peace. A relative? It took place at Bear Creek Church in Almond Township. Witnesses were George Tucker of Mission and R. M. Hathcock of Big Lick. Duncan's fourth son, Tolley Cline Tucker, came eight months later on December 11, 1891. 

Would this relationship last? With Duncan's track record? The question should be,' What calamity would befall Duncan next?

The Concord Times

Concord, North Carolina • Thu, Jul 13, 1893Page 3

On July 13, 1893, The Concord Times reported that Duncan T Tucker was among a trio of men, including Iremus Efird and Henry Ross, who had escaped from jail. They were on the second floor and when Jailer S. H. Milton opened the door, Duncan T. Tucker knocked down with a wooden board. the men escaped the rather unsecure jail. Sherrif I. W. Snuggs didn't seem to desire their return too badly, offering up only a $10 reward each.

Daily Concord Standard

Concord, North Carolina • Fri, Sep 29, 1893Page 1

Duncan had taken refuge in Furr Township, same county, among friends. I don't know the disposition of the other two escapees. Someone ratted him out, perhaps a Furr, as he had married a Furr, and had been thrown in jail on a charge of abandoning his wife. A posse set out after him, (another, more lengthy article described the group as a posse, giving the same basic information otherwise), finding him, one of them shot him in the back and the wound was life-threatening. The papers reported that the shooting was condemned by the community. Duncan was a lover, not a fighter. He was well-liked in his circle, and not considered dangerous. The shooting was uncalled for. 

The Concord Times

Concord, North Carolina • Thu, Oct 12, 1893Page 2

In October, we discover the names of the men in the posse. Marshall Furr, who may have been a relative of the abandoned wife, Loney Morton and Caleb Green, were all charged with shooting Duncan in the back and bound over to court.

c

The Weekly Star

Wilmington, North Carolina • Fri, Oct 13, 1893Page 2

The Wilmington Weekly Star reported what happened to Duncan after the shooting. He was returned to the jail in Albemarle on the backof a wagon. He was so beloved his friends collected up the bond, $300, in pure gold, and plopped it down before the judge for his release. The three men who pursued him and shot him were now the ones in trouble.

Stay tuned for the next round of adventures in Duncan Tuckers life with my next post, "The Seduction of Duncan T. Tucker Chapter Two: Finding Himself"