In my story of Duncan T Tucker, I had told of his tumultous young years in Chapter One, which can be found here: The Seduction of Duncan T. Tucker Chapter One .
Then we discover that he found his calling during his middle years, and eventually returned home. This post can be found here:
The Seduction of Duncan T. Tucker Chapter Two .
In this post, we will examine the mysteries of his Will, his last days, and his heirs.
Duncan T Tucker would buy himself a nice tombstone, a very nice one indeed. In fact, as I am writing this, I'm looking out across the cemetery of Liberty Hill Primitive Baptist Church, I have just taken a picture of it, and I must say it just might be the finest tombstone in the whole cemetery. Dark marble, it's wide enough to beat four names, but it bears only his. Most of the other tombstones are a light gray color, a few chalky white ones, and in the oldest corner, a few fieldstone markers survive. Duncan's looks nearly brand new and nowhere near the 95 years old that it is. His executor, Ellis, sure followed his last wishes to a "T". Good job Ellis.
When we last saw Duncan T Tucker the year was 1925, and he was 67 years old. After much trouble and heartbreak, and heartbreaking in his twenties, he left Stanly County unawares of the vicissitude to come. He struck out for greener pastures and a disparate life. He found his calling, traveled a great deal and had returned to Stanly County a different man.
But time and toil takes its toll on all humankind and Duncan T Tucker could not escape inevitability. The local papers began telling of his increasing regular maladies, trips in and out of the hospital, and his recoveries. There were many, so I've chosen only a few of the main ones. The three clippings below are form The Stanly News and Press.
1928
On November 15, 1928, it was reported that Duncan was in the hospital for gall stone surgery.
1930
On October 3, 1930, Elder Jason Eudy, from Liberty Hill Primative Baptist Church, held a special service at the home of Duncan's son, Conley Tucker, just for Duncan. He was staying with his son after an amputation of his leg, and could not get around very well.
On December 13. 1930, Duncan suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed.
Duncan T Tucker appeared in the 1930 census. He was 73, owned his own home worth $1300, in Big Lick, never attended school and couldn't read or write. He was 21 when married first and declared himself a widower despite the fact that his last wife was still very much alive and would be for over two more decades. This would be Duncan's last census.
Duncan T Tucker died on Christmas Eve, 1930 of Pneumonia, followed by Paralysis. The Service was held at Liberty Hill Primitive Baptist Church, with Rev. Eudy officiating. He was, of course, buried at Liberty Hill.
Liberty Hill Primitive Baptist Church holds a special place in my heart. It was founded by my fifth Great Grandfather, Rev. Elder John Lambert and built on property owned by my fourth Great Grandfather, John Huneycutt.
As his executor, Duncan named Ellis A . Huneycutt, of Big Lick.
His estate consisted of two tracts of land along the Charlotte - Albemarle Road, which we now refer to as Hwy 24/27, now a wider variation of this old road. These tracts were mentioned in the deeds from purchases he made in the 1920's, after his return to Stanly County.
The Will
The Will of Duncan T. Tuckr was not to be found online, but with credit to the Executor's notice, I knew he had one. I found the Will the old-fashioned way, in the Courthouse basement, in a fragile leather binder, written on browning ephemera. It was only one page long, direct, precise and standard. The Will of Duncan Tucker left me with more questions than answers.
North Carolina
Stanly County
I, Duncan T. Tucker, of the aforesaid County and State being of sound mind but considering the uncertainty of my earthly existance do make and declare this my last Will and Testament:
First: I give and bequeath to the son Tarl Tucker, the amount he is indebted to me.
Second: I give and bequeath to my son Con Tucker the amount he is indebted to me and also enough more to equal my son Tarl's indebtedness to me.
Third: I give and bequeath to Roena Hatley the sum of One Hundred Dollars.
Fourth: I give and bequeath to my wife's grave, Margaret Christina Tucker, which is buried at Harkey Church in Cabarrus County the sum of Four Hundred Dollars to be used to erect a monument.
Fifth: I hereby empower and authorize my executor hereinafter named to give my body a decent burial no matter what it costs and also sell all my real estate and personal property and apply the remainder of all of my money to erect a monument for my grave.
Sixth: I hereby nominate and appoint my trusted friend Ellis A Huneycutt my lawful executor to all intent and purposes to execute this my last Will and Testament according to the true intent and meaning of the same in every part and clause. I hereby revoke and declaring utterly void all the other wills and testaments by me hereinforeto made.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this the 14th day of September 1929.
Duncan T Tucker (SEAL) (his mark)
Witnesses were H L Burris and Paul E Huneycutt.
What a conudrum! I knew that Lawson Hatley-Tucker had predeceased his father, but why no mention of Dolph, who seemed to be the favorite son, following in his fathers' footsteps, to Oklahoma, and even the same career?
Who was Roena Hatley and what was her relationship to Duncan?
Most of all, who was Margaret Christina Tucker? Had Duncan remarried after his return to Big Lick, to a lady who had died before the 1930 census, when he decared himself a widower?
First things first. Having grown up listening to an older generation with a more distinct Country/Appalachian accent than we do now, I knew they liked to toss in letters to a word or name, that wasn't there. Not so much my biological grandparents, but my stepgrandfather, who was from Montgomery County, a much more rural setting, was the culprit. He pronounced Nancy as 'Naintcy', tossing in a 't' that wasn't there, and anything that ended in an 'a' was now ended with an 'er' sound. Beautiful ladies names were twisted into farm tractors. So, it was not hard to deduce, aware that Duncan was illiterate, that with the translation of Duncan's dictation through amanuensis, that "Toll", short for Tolley became Tarl. Or that Conley was shortened to Con.
Then came the search for Margaret. With assiduous care, I fastidiously searched for a Margaret Christina who would have married Duncan sometime after his return to Stanly County in 1917-1919, but who passed away before April of 1930, the date of the 1930 census. Despite my due diligence, noone appeared who fit those parameters.
Having failed in those efforts, I then turned my attention to the next clue. She was buried at Harkey Church in Cabarrus County, a church I had neve heard of. I didn't find anything on Harkey Church, specifically, but one word kept coming up, "Henkelite".
I am familiar with the Henkelite Cemetery, although I've never visited. Piety Lambert Page, a 4th Great Grand Aunt is buried there. Located east of Mount Pleasant, it's off of Hahn-Scott Road, and very close to the Cabarrus/Stanly County line. It's also close to where the Lambert family first planted roots in Stanly County. Someone else mentioned in the early part of this Duncan trilogy is buried there, Tenna Hahn Tucker.
Then it hit me! Could Duncan having been referring to his first wife, who passed away 8 months after he married her? Could Tenna or Teney have been Margaret Christina? Let's look at the evidence.
Tenna's life was brief. In the 1860 census, she was seen as Regina.
On her marriage license, she was called 'Teney'. The daughter of Absalom Hahn and wife, Barbara, Tenna had been born into a solidly German, Lutheran, Cabarrus County family. Still a young man, Absalom Hahn had the prescience of mind to devise a Will before the ineluctable precariousness of War.
Absolum Hahn, 40, enisted on September 10, 1863 in Company D, 14th Infantry North Carolina Confederate Army. His foresight was true, as he died a little over a year later of disease in the hospital in Roanoke, Virginia. His body was returned home for burial. He left a widow, Barbara, and six children, Matthew, Lodocus, Catherine Lobela, Mary Susan, Tenna, and Elizabeth Penina Hahn.
Absolum had willed that his property be split between his two sons, Matthew and Lodocus. He granted wife Barbara lifetime rights as dower to the half he willed to Lodocus, as long as she did not marry. If she did, it was to be split between the two sons. He made provisions of livestock and furniture to each of his daughters, but did not name them. He charged that his estate not be probated until his youngest child reach the age of majority, 21, and he named her, Elizabeth Penina Hahn. Tenna wan't named in her father's will, excepting just as one of his unnamed daughters.
The Hahns had lived in Cabarrus County in 1850, before Tenna was born. In 1860, she had appeared as "Regina", a two year old, and they had relocated about 12 miles southwest to Big Lick by then. The Hahns had not been found in the 1870 census, not yet anyway, and not as Hahns. Knowing from property records that they lived near Daniel Reap, I looked for him in the paperbound 1870 cenus book that had been published years ago by the Stanly County Genealogical Society. There is an advantage local folks have in transcribing old records, in that they are familiar with the family names common to the area, and therefore, can read the names correctly.
That knowledge in hand, I found Barbara and her children online in 1870, listed above Daniel Reap and Hahn transcribed incorrectly as "Hohon". To their credit, the census taker had written the name with an extra 'o' at the end that did not exist. There was Barbara, Farmer, aged 43; with Matthew, 21; "Idicus" for Lodocus, 18; Mary S., 12; Margaret, 10; and Elizabeth, 6.
There it was, proof that Teena was Margaret Christina Hahn Tucker. She must have been the love of Duncan's life. Knowing that, it all opened up when I searched for her. Teena had an estate.
Duncan was named the administer of her estate. She had passed away in August of the same year they married. The marriage was indeed brief.
Teena was entitled to a share of her father's estate, so was Duncan, as her legal spouse. And to correct another error in records, Duncan sued the administrator of the estate of her brother Matthew, as he had died about a year before her. Like his father and his sister before him, Matthew Hahn was buried in the Henkelite Cemetery. His Find-a-Grave profile, along with family trees, give his dates of birth and death as 1848-1862. His tombstone, which is partially destroyed, names him as "Matthey" Hahn, and is otherwise nearly illegible, so the mistake understood. As soon as I found the family in the 1870 census, I knew that information to be incorrect, as Matthew was a very much alive 21-year-old man. Now we know that Matthew died on January 24, 1877, as stated below.
Green Alexander Whitley had married the oldest Hahn daughter, Catherine Lobela. He had been named the executor of Matthew's estate. Matthew, unmarried, had recieved 50 percent of Absolums land. In Duncan T. Tucker's statement, above, he was representing himself and the other living siblings, Lodocus, Mary Susan, and Elizabeth Penina, against the husband of Catherine, who was Matthew's Executor. It amused me that one of the items in the original Petition that Duncan disagreed with, was that Mary Susan Hahn, had been referred to as "Louisa" and he took the time to correct it, I assume, to ensure she got her part.There was something special, or different , about Mary Susan.
Above is another page from the lawsuit of Duncan Tucker and the living siblings of Matthew Hahn against his executor. Green Alexander, claiming unfair distribution of the estate.
While Mathew and Margaret Christina Hahn died without heirs, three siblings carried on the bloodline of Absolum Hahn.
Lodocus H. Hahn married Mary Elizabeth Huneycutt and had 8 offspring between 1874 and 1896: William Albert, Martin Luther, Davis Cager, Charles Crowell Cleveland, Vallius Ranzo, Grover Lemon, Chloe Elizabeth and Titus Fred Hahn.
Catherine Lobela Hahn married Green Alexander Whitley and had 12 Whitleys between 1868 and 1888: Matthew, Absolum Deberry, Elizabeth Eve, Mary Christina, Martin Cager, Julia R , Albert A , Eunice Eugenia, William Covington, Walter Alonzo, Paul Lodocus, and Maude.
Elizabeth Penina Hahn aka "Bettie" married George M. Tucker, a cousin of Duncans and brought six Tuckers into the fold: Absolum Ezekiel, Matthew McDaniel, Lottie Malinda, Nellie R , Sarah, and Sophronia Bertha Tucker.
The Death Certificate of Mary Susan Hahn, who never married, corroborates the fact that the Henkelite Cemetery was once called the Harkey Cemetery, as in 1923, it stated that she was buried in the "Harkey Graveyard".
Duncan T Tucker was known as a Ladies Man, a Seducer, a Rake, a regular Casanova. He was married thrice and fathered four sons, three by women he did not marry. He was widowed once, divorced twice, jailed at least three times, shot in the back after escaping to have his friends and community come to his defense.
He left Stanly County for 30 years, fought in the Spanish American War, began a career as a Boilermaker, traveled a great deal nationally, living in both Carolinas, Oklahoma, Texas, and California. He eventually returned home to Big Lick, about a dozen years before his death.
His descendants were:
1) Albert Lawson Hatley- Tucker, with Minty Hatley. Born August, 1884.
It started with a card game and alcohol. After a battle of words, George Coley pulled out a revolver and shot three shots, two of them hitting Lawson and killing him. Eli R. Hatley was a witness.
At the time he was shot, Lawson was facing criminal charges himself for blockading. His father had faced charges of Retailing at his age. Alcohol was the evil behind a lot of stories of tragic events in family trees.
By the time his children were born, Dolph had moved to Bannock County, Idaho. They would later move to Boise, Idaho.
In 1930, Dolph is listed in a group of men boarders, but his martial status was married. He and Mary Ann must have divorced sometime shortly after that. She lived until 1990, and Dolph married a second time on July 9, 1936 to Vera Comps, in Clark County, Nevada. They would later move to California.
Dolph passed away on July 3, 1945, in Alhambra, Los Angeles County, California, at the age of 58. Find-a-Grave has his place of birth erroneously as "Mission, Cherokee County, North Carolina". They have his first wife, Mary Ann Bradbury Tucker, under the name of her second husband.
C) Conley Jurant Tucker was born September 13, 1889, son of Naomi Jane Almond.
Conley was the son who took Duncan in when he was ailing in old age, so he fully knew who his father was.
Conley married at age 18 to Alice Penina Lambert, daughter of Irenus Lambert and Annie Amanda Burris Lambert, on December 15, 1907, in Big Lick. Conley and Alice would raise a large family in Big Lick Township.
A) Lela Cleona Tucker (1909-1979)
B) Curtis Dewey Tucker (1910-1944)
C) Ernest Gerome Tucker (1911-1954)
D) Gaddis Irenus Tucker (1914-1967)
E) Homer Lee Tucker (1917-1920)
F) Marintha Tucker (1919-2007)
G) Rachel Annis Tucker (1920-1977)
H) Mary Jewel Tucker ( 1922- 2002)
I) Hoyle Duncan Tucker (1926 -1989)
So Duncan did have a grandson named for him, but it wasn't the first choice, or the second or third or ..
Conley seems to have had one of the more sedate lives among the sons of Duncan Tucker, but he was Duncan's son after all.
So a brush with the law was inevitable. Con was a moonshiner, at least for awhile. He may also have been the 'John' Tucker who lived with Duncan in Oklahoma briefly.
Conley, like most of the sons of Duncan, would not live to be an old man. As was reported in The Charlotte Observer on April 11, 1934, Conley died of a heart attack at age 47. He was buried at Running Creek Baptist Church in Locust, Stanly County, North Carolina.
D) Tolley Cline Tucker was born on December 11, 1891. He was the son of Hargett Viviane Furr Tucker. Tolley was the youngest of Duncan's four sons, and the only one born into a marriage, despite that marriage being brief. His conception had ended Duncan up in jail on charges of Seduction.
Tolley grew up in Almond Township, with his mother and stepfather, James William Thomasson aka "Will". His parents had divorced before his second birthday.
At 20, Tolley married Minnie Huneycutt on December 10, 1910. They would relocate to the Bethel Church area of Cabarrus County, and farm. Tolley lived the most sedate life of the four, or possibly, the most law-abiding. He and Minnie would have five sons of their own.
Tolley's sons were injured in the accident, the car driven by his young son, Grover, but only Tollie lost his life.
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