Tilghman Mayfield Tucker (February 5, 1802 – April 3, 1859) was Governor of Mississippi from 1842 to 1844. He was a Democrat.

Tilghman Mayfield Tucker
13th Governor of Mississippi
In office
January 10, 1842 – January 10, 1844
Preceded byAlexander G. McNutt
Succeeded byAlbert G. Brown
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's at-large congressional district
In office
March 4, 1843 – March 4, 1845
Preceded bySeat established
Succeeded byJefferson Davis
Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
In office
1831–1835
Member of the Mississippi State Senate
In office
1838–1841
Personal details
Born(1802-02-05)February 5, 1802
Lime Stone Springs, North Carolina
DiedApril 3, 1859(1859-04-03) (aged 57)
Bexar, Alabama

Early life edit

Tucker was born in North Carolina near Lime Stone Springs, and lived in Alabama for a time before moving to Mississippi. He left his career of blacksmithing in Wise Gap, Mississippi and studied law under Judge Daniel W. Wright in Hamilton, Mississippi. office in Columbus, Mississippi.[1][2]

Career edit

Tucker was elected in 1831 to the Mississippi House of Representatives as a Democrat and was the first representative from Lowndes County, serving until 1835. From 1838 to 1841 he served in the state senate.[3]

In 1837 he had 3 male slaves and 4 female slaves according to the state census.[4]

By 1841, the aftermath of the Panic of 1837 had caused a division among Mississippi Democrats. The issue was whether the state would honor the bonds of the Planters Bank and Union Bank, both of which had failed in the panic. Some Democrats stated that they would support the Whig gubernatorial candidate David Shattuck who wanted the redemption of the bonds in the 1841 Mississippi gubernatorial election. Though Tucker was at first reluctant to accept the Democratic nomination in the election, he accepted and won with a narrow victory.

During Tucker's two-year term (1842–1844), the Democratic Party remained divided over the bond issue. Also, Tucker's political opponents accused him of not acting fast enough in matter of state treasurer Richard S. Graves, who had embezzled $44,000 of state funding and fled to Canada.[2]

Tucker was not nominated for reelection in the 1843 Mississippi gubernatorial election, but he did win one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1845.[3] He then retired from public life and moved to his Louisiana plantation home named Cottonwood. While visiting his father near Bexar in Marion County, Alabama, Tucker died on April 3, 1859.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ "Wise's Gap 1816". hmdb.org. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Mississippi Governor Tilghman Mayfield Tucker". National Governors Association. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Tucker, Tilghman Mayfield, (1802–1859)". United States Congress. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  4. ^ "Ancestry.com. Mississippi, U.S., State and Territorial Census Collection, 1792-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Mississippi State and Territorial Censuses, 1792-1866. Microfilm V229. 3 rolls. Heritage Quest". Ancestry.com.
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Mississippi
1841
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Mississippi
1842–1844
Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Seat established
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Mississippi's at-large congressional district

1843 – 1845
Succeeded by