Union County, SD Biographies.....Tucker, John July 13, 1835 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 12, 2022, 7:09 pm

Source: MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF Turner, Lincoln, Union and Clay Counties, South Dakota. (1897)
Author: Geo. Ogle & Co.

HON. JOHN TUCKER. Prominent among the well-known gentlemen engaged in the pursuit of
agriculture in Civil Bend township, Union county, is the subject of this sketch. His
father, Thomas Tucker, was a native of Devonshire, England, born in 1790, and his
father, William Tucker, was also born, reared and died there. Our subject’s mother,
Mary Ann (Brown) Tucker, was born in 1803, in Devonshire, a daughter of Thomas
Brown, who was also born, reared and died there. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Tucker were
members of the Congregational church, formerly of the Church of England, and were
the parents of eleven children, nine of whom grew to maturity, viz.: William,
deceased, was the father of thirteen children, twelve of whom grew to man and
womanhood; Thomas, who lives in England, has two daughters; Richard, lives in
Somerset, England, has no children; John, the subject of this sketch; Betsey, wife
of Peter Tucker, lives in Devonshire, England, and is the mother of seven children;
Mary Ann; Peter, of Devonshire, is the father of eight children; and Daniel, also of
Devonshire, is the parent of twelve children.

John, our subject, was born July 13, 1835, in Devonshire, England, and was raised to
manhood on the home farm, receiving in the common schools a practical education.
December 4, 1854, he enlisted for a term of twelve years in the famous “Royal Marine
Light Infantry.” Beginning service at Plymouth, England, he embarked, August 27,
1855, from that point on board H. M. S. “Alarm,” detailed to the Pacific station.
They visited the Madeira islands, and from there the vessel sailed for Rio Janeiro
for provisions and water, visited the Falkland islands to assist in inaugurating a
governor there, and after a tempestuous voyage around Cape Horn arrived at
Valparaiso, Chili, the trip consuming one hundred and nine days from England. He was
then assigned to the flagship “Monarch,” Admiral Bruce, commanding, called at
Callao, Peru, and was there transferred to the storeship “Naiad,” being assigned to
the duties of quartermaster, and remained thereon during the Peruvian revolution. He
was then transferred again to the “Monarch,” which made a trip to Valparaiso, thence
to Juan Fernandez isle and back to Valparaiso, leaving there in January, 1858, for
England. The ship reached home after a voyage of one hundred and eight days, and our
subject was then given a leave of absence for six weeks. At the expiration of that
time he went to Plymouth and purchased his discharge at his mother’s request, and
then joined the county police. However, he soon gave up his position on the police
force and secured employment in a sugar refinery at Plymouth, later on joining as a
volunteer H. M. S. “St. George," on which the young Duke of Edinburg was a “middy."
The vessel anchored off Osborne, England, and was there inspected by Her Majesty,
Queen Victoria, in person, and the royal family, and then proceeded to Barbadoes
islands, West Indies, where she arrived in February, 1S61, and spent the next four
months in cruising among the islands of the neighborhood. From there she sailed for
Halifax, Nova Scotia, visiting Prince Edwards island, and in November, 1861, hoisted
anchor and spread sail for Jamaica. About this time the “Trent affair" occurred; the
new government of Mexico, having repudiated the debts of the old government, the
bond-holders appealed to their respective governments, and England and France
combined to make a demonstration against Mexico, Spain having already sent a force
for that purpose. The “St. George" was among the vessels rendezvoused off Cape
Antonio, West Indies, and early in January, 1862, sailed for Vera Cruz. They found
the Spanish already in possession, and the French there agreed to pay the debts and
assume the war indemnity, and the anticipated excitement was allayed. News of the
death of the prince consort reached the ship about this time, and she at once
proceeded to England. On arrival Mr. Tucker was discharged at his own request and
took up farming in Devonshire, but on learning that land could be obtained on
favorable terms in America, he decided to come to the new world. He accordingly sold
his property in England for $750 in gold, and April 9, 1877, embarked from Liverpool
for America, arriving April 21, at Boston. He proceeded direct to Sioux City, Iowa,
thence to Dakota territory, and pre-empted a claim in Prairie township, Union
county, on which he remained two years, proved up, and then sold out. March, 1874,
he came to Civil Bend township and bought some timber land, paying $45 per acre, and
he has lived here for the last twenty-two years, carrying on farming and the wood
business. He is now the owner, of 200 acres, and all the improvements he has made
himself. He is a member of the Seventh Day Adventists, the Sunday-school of which he
has been superintendent, and has always taken an active interest in all religious
matters. He was for seven years clerk of the school district, and is now in his
thirteenth year of service as school treasurer. Politically he is a Republican,
liberal in his views, and has advanced ideas on all current topics. He has been
assessor of Civil Bend township for fourteen years, and in 1877 was elected to the
territorial legislature, serving one term.

Mr. Tucker was married in England, while a member of the county police force,
November 29, 1858, to Mary Ann Hayward, of Exeter, England. This young lady was a
daughter of William and Fannie (Shipman) Hayward, both natives of Devonshire and the
parents of four children, Mrs. Tucker being the eldest, and then in the order of
their birth: Elizabeth Jane Stevens, who now resides in Normana, Tex.; Mrs. Eliza
Smith, of England, who is the mother of five children; and Mrs. Emma Cobley, who
resides in Devonshire and has seven children. Mrs. Tucker was born May 9, 1836, and
she and her husband have had a family of ten children, seven of whom are living,
viz.: Katie, Charles, Albert, Ernest, Arthur John, Edgar and Frederick. One son,
Thomas, was drowned in the Missouri river when fourteen years old.


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