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Finding Aid

William H. Tucker Papers, 1855 to 1898

UM-96

Size: 1.5 linear feet

Provenance: Transfer from Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, February 23rd, 1998

Access: Open

Related Collections:  

Processing Note:

Condition: Fair to Poor

Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns.  Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code.  The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.

Completed by: Barbara Floyd, February 25th, 1998

Historical/Biographical Sketch

William H. Tucker was born in Laporte, Ohio, in Lorain County on October 6th, 1849, to Dr. John A. and Elizabeth (Brush) Tuckers. He attended school in Huron County, the Normal School in Milan (Ohio), and Yale and Cornell Universities. He completed his college education at Baldwin University in Berea, Ohio.

In 1874, he moved to Toledo where he took a job with the law firm of Haynes and Potter and was admitted to the bar two years later. He became a law partner of J.T. Green, and the two men developed a large practice over ten years. Tucker practiced on his own after the partnership dissolved, and specialized in real estate and probate matters.

In 1899, Tucker was appointed postmaster for Toledo by President William McKinley in appreciation for his service to the Republican Party in Ohio. Tucker had served on both the Congressional and County executive committees of the Ohio Republican Party, and had been a delegate to several state and national conventions.

Tucker was also active in community affairs. He was a member of several fraternal organizations, including the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, Toledo Maennerchor and the Teutonia Maennerchor. He served as president of the William McKinley Club, the Toledo Settlement Association, the Toledo Philharmonic Club, and the Euclid Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church.

Tucker served on the board of Directors of the University of Toledo from 1908 to 1920. He became involved with university affairs in February 1900, when he appeared before the directors on behalf of an anonymous donor who wished to give a substantial gift of the university (then known as the Toledo University Manual Training School). Tucker would not reveal the name of the donor, but said the donor wanted to give money to convert the training school into a full-fledged technical university. The Board of Directors declines the donation because they felt the offer had too many strings attached. It was only after the gift was declined that the directors learned the anonymous philanthropist was Andrew Carnegie.

Tucker married Harriet Van Gordon in 1884, and the couple had six children. Tucker died on January 15th, 1921, in Florida. Several members of the UT student body asked that a university building be named in Tucker’s honor in recognition of his years of service to the university and the community. In 1935, a new apartment building for faculty was named in Tucker’s honor. The building was later converted to offices and today serves as offices for the University of Toledo History Department.

Scope and Content Note

Collection contains personal and professional papers of William H. Tucker. The collection is arranged in chronological order, with a folder of undated materials filed last. Most of the correspondence concerns Tucker’s legal practice.

Included are letters from clients, many pertaining to real estate sales and purchases. Some letters of 1891 and 1892 deal with Tucker’s activities in the Ohio Republican Party.

Also included is some correspondence with family members, including personal letters written by his future wife, Harriet Van Gordon, in 1883 and 1884.

Materials dated from 1896 to 1898 consist largely of bills and receipts for goods purchased by Tucker. No correspondence in the collection related directly to Tucker’s work on the University of Toledo Board of Directors. However, the folder dating 1855-1877 (box 1, folder 1) does contain a deed for land in the Oakwood Addition of Toledo’s signed by Jesup Scott and his sons, Frank and Maurice Scott, in 1866. Jesup Scott founded the University of Toledo in 1872 when he donated 160 acres of land as an endowment for the university. It is unclear how this document relates to Tucker since it predated his entry into the law profession.

This collection was transferred to the University of Toledo Archives by the Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.

Folder List