Henry St. George Tucker, Sr.

Henry St. George Tucker, Sr. ( born December 29, 1780 in Williamsburg, Virginia; † August 28, 1848 in Winchester, Virginia ) was an American politician and lawyer. Between 1815 and 1819 he represented the state of Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Henry Tucker was born into a well-known lawyer and politician family. St. George Tucker (1752-1827) His father was among other things a professor of law at the College of William & Mary, and federal judges for Virginia. His son John (1823-1897) was a lawyer and congressman. His grandson, Henry St. George Tucker III (1853-1932) was also of the state of Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives. His cousin George Tucker (1775-1861) and his nephew Thomas Tudor Tucker (1745-1828) were also members of Congress, with the latter there representing the State of South Carolina.

Tucker received an academic education and then studied until 1798 at the College of William & Mary. After a subsequent study of law with his father and his 1801 was admitted to the bar he began in Winchester to work in this profession. During the British - American War he was a captain in a cavalry unit. Politically, he joined the Democratic- Republican Party. In the congressional elections of 1814 he was in the third electoral district of Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of John Smith on March 4, 1815. After a re-election he was able to complete in Congress until March 3, 1819 two legislative sessions. Until 1817 he was Chairman of the Committee for the administration of the Federal District District of Columbia. He then headed the Committee for the control of expenditure on public buildings. In 1818 he gave up another candidacy.

Between 1819 and 1823 Tucker was a member of the Senate of Virginia. From 1824 to 1831 he was Chancellor of the fourth judicial district of his state. He also ran a private law school. In the years 1831-1841 he was a judge and head of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Then he taught until 1845 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville law. During this time he designed the oath, had to take the all students. They had to swear to have their exams without assistance or aids. This formula was adopted in modified form by many American universities and is partly used to this day. Henry Tucker also wrote several legal treatises on natural law and the Constitution of the United States. He died on August 28, 1848 in Winchester.