- Henry St. George Tucker, Sr.
Henry St. George Tucker, Sr. (1780-1848) was a
Virginia jurist , law professor, and U.S. Congressman (1815-1819).Biography
Tucker was born in
Williamsburg, Virginia on December 29, 1780. As a young man, Tucker pursued classical studies at theCollege of William & Mary ; he graduated in 1798. Tucker stayed in Williamsburg to study law at William and Mary as well as under his father,St. George Tucker , an established Virginia lawyer. He excelled in the study of law, obtaining his law degree in 1801. After being admitted to the Virginia bar, Tucker commenced a legal practice inWinchester, Virginia .Notably, Tucker was appointed to the law faculty at the College of William & Mary (1801-1804) and later was captain of Cavalry in the
War of 1812 . He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives and served for two terms, from 1815 to 1819. In 1823 he had a son, John Randolph Tucker. He went on to be judge and president of the Court of Appeals of Virginia (1831-1841) and then became a professor of law at theUniversity of Virginia (1841 to 1845).As a law professor, Tucker authored
Tucker's Commentaries as well as several treatises on natural law and on the formation of theConstitution of the United States . He is also widely known for adding a mandatory pledge to the studenthonor code while a professor at the University of Virginia. On July 4, 1842, St. George Tucker offered the following resolution as a gesture of confidence in students: "...resolved, that in all future examinations ... each candidate shall attach to the written answers ... a certificate of the following words: I, A.B., do hereby certify on my honor that I have derived no assistance during the time of this examination from any source whatsoever." Tucker's pledge was adopted and soon became the following: "I do hereby certify on honor that I have derived no assistance during the time of this examination from any source whatever, whether oral, written or in print." [Citation |last= Smith| first= C. Alphonso | newspaper= Richmond Times Dispatch | title= 'I Certify On My Honor--' The Real Story of How the Famed 'Honor System' at University of Virginia Functions and What Matriculating Students Should Know About It| url= http://richmondthenandnow.com/Newspaper-Articles/Honor-System.html |date=November 29 1936 | ] This basic pledge has, in one form or another, been adopted at many American universities.Tucker resigned in July, 1845 due to ill health.cite book |url=http://ia350615.us.archive.org/3/items/historyofunivers03brucuoft/historyofunivers03brucuoft_djvu.txt |last=Bruce |first=Philip Alexander |authorlink=Philip Alexander Bruce |title=History of the University of Virginia: The Lengthening Shadow of One Man |volume=III |pages=68 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1921] He died in Winchester, Virginia in 1848.
ee also
Tucker County, West Virginia , named for Tucker. [ [http://www.wvculture.org/history/counties/tucker.html West Virginia Division of Culture and History - Tucker County History web page, accessed August 25, 2006] ] [ [http://members.aol.com/jeff560/places.html Origins of West Virginia Place Names web site, accessed August 25, 2006.] ]References
*External links
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7686030 Find-A-Grave biography]
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