George Collingwood Tucker

As printed in 1914

GEORGE COLLINGWOOD TUCKER.

George Collingwood Tucker, secretary of the Iowa State Insurance Company, is a native of Keokuk, his birth occurring in the house which is still his place of residence. His parents were Howard and Mary Collingwood (Dixon) Tucker, who were numbered among the pioneers of Lee county. The father was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 3, 1828, a son of Thomas and Ann (Sykes) Tucker. The family is of English extraction.

Howard Tucker was reared and educated in Cincinnati, but came to Keokuk in 185 1 as a young man of about twenty-three years. He became connected with a wholesale importing hardware store and so continued until he was elected director in the Iowa State Insurance Company in 1858. On the 7th of January, 1865, he was elected secretary of the company. In October, 1906, he retired from active business cares and passed the remainder of his life in well merited leisure. His death occurred on the ist of August, 1909. He was a member of the Episcopal church and always manifested a deep interest in its work. He was elected vestryman for fifty-one consecutive years in the same parish, a record unparalleled in the United States, and he served as senior warden of the church for many years. He was also interested in the erection of the church building. He was a republican in politics and was quite prominent fraternally. He was a Knight Templar Mason, also took the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite and was a member of the Shrine. Although he was of a social nature, he spent many of his leisure hours at home, enjoying the companionship of his family and the contentment to be found in domestic life. His marriage occurred in Keokuk, July 12, 1854, when Miss Mary Collingwood Dixon became his bride. She was a daughter of George C. and Henrietta Dixon. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Tucker as follows: Mary Cooper, who married George Edward Rix; George Collingwood; Arthur Howard, who passed away in infancy; and Willia Dixon, also deceased.

George Collingwood Tucker was reared and educated in Keokuk and has always made this city his home. He has been a forceful factor in insurance circles of Iowa and at present is serving as secretary of the Iowa State Insurance Company, one of the most reliable and most progressive companies doing business in the state. His exact and detailed knowledge of the business and his natural farsightedness and business acumen have been of untold value in the development of the company, and his associates agree that his place would be hard to fill satisfactorily.

Mr. Tucker was married to Miss Katharine Mackv Dickinson, a daughter of Laurence T. and Nanny (Tidball) Dickinson. The ceremony took place at St. Paul's Episcopal church afChattanooga, Tennessee, the Rev. Thomas A. Tidball officiating. To Mr. and Mr;. Tucker two children have been born, Mary Collingwood and Katharine. Mr. Tucker is a republican in politics and is an earnest student of the many forces which are affecting our modern life. The welfare of the city is a matter of great concern to him, and he is always to be found in the front rank of any movement for the betterment of the community. He is a member of the Episcopal church and is quite prominent in the official life of his parish. He is junior warden, vestryman and treasurer and discharges the duties pertaining to these offices with efficiency and fidelity. As was his father before him, he is a successful business man, a public-spirited citizen and a loyal friend.

The Iowa State Insurance Company, with which the Tuckers, father and son. have been identified for so many years, was originated in 1855, the preliminary meeting being held in Januarv in the office of Judge George Collingwood Dixon. Dr. Freeman Knowles presided as chairman and William Turner was secretary. A short time afterward the company was incorporated and began business. The first policy was dated July 25, 1855, and was underwritten for eight hundred dollars, the holder being John Rankin. During the first year about eight thousand, two hundred and eighteen dollars worth of business was written and the growth of the company can be gauged by a comparison of that amount with the volume of business done in 1913. In the last named year in Iowa and Missouri, the premiums on policies brought in six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. A report of the business of the company issued in that year shows that since the organization of the company losses totaling three million, six hundred and sixty-four thousand, seven hundred and twenty-six dollars and twenty-three cents have been paid and that the participative policies issued by the company have saved policy holders nine hundred and forty-seven thousand, four hundred and ninety-nine dollars and thirty-eight cents on the amount of their premiums. The company is conservatively managed and because of this the general public is assured of its ability to fully meet all obligations. To this confidence is due its steady growth and its present prosperity.

The first officers were: C. H. Perry, president, and William Turner, secretary. The incorporators were E. H. Harrison, J. W. Rankin, A. Bridgman, William F. Turner, George B. Smyth, E. R. Ford, A. B. Chittenden, R. P. Creel, John McCune, C. Garber, and C. H. Perry. The present officers are William Logan, president; W. N. Sage, assistant to the president; Alexander E.Johnstone, vice president; G. C. Tucker, secretary; J. L Annable, assistant secretary; Wells M. Irwin, treasurer; and James C. Davis, counsel. The presence of such men as these at the head of affairs is sufficient guarantee that the company will be conducted upon the same sound basis as in the past and that its prosperity will continue.

As printed in Story of Lee County, Iowa; (1914). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.