Samuel Wood Tucker

As printed in 1914

SAMUEL WOOD TUCKER.

Samuel Wood Tucker, a son of Thomas and Ann S. (Sykes) Tucker, was one of the early business men of Keokuk, being connected with a wholesale and retail hardware concern at a time when there were no railroads into the city. Although the iron horse was as yet unknown here, Keokuk was one of the most thriving municipalities of the then new west and promised to develop into a great commercial center.

Our subject was born September 21, 1819, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and there received a liberal education. As a young man he went to St. Louis, where he was employed as a clerk in a hardware store. He was engaged in collecting for his firm when he made his first visit to Keokuk in the early '40s. He remembered his favorable impression of the thriving little town and in 1847 he located permanently in Keokuk and with his brother embarked in the wholesale and retail hardware business, their establishment being located at the corner of Second and Main streets. As before stated there were no railroads and journeys inland were made on horseback as far west as Des Moines, which was then little more than a frontier village. From the time of his coming Mr. Tucker became an integral part of the growth and development of Keokuk, then one of the commercial centers of this section of the country. The firm of S. W. & H. Tucker became widely known throughout the country and the name was a synonym for probity and upright dealing. Our subject continued in the business after his brother's retirement from the firm and during his later years was also employed in an official capacity by the Iowa State Insurance Company.

While in St. Louis, in 1848, Samuel W. Tucker was united in marriage to Miss Jula De Lange, by whom he had five sons, as follows: William Penn, De Lange, George Sykes, Harrison and Walter Sumner. All of these have passed away save George Sykes.

Mr. Tucker was one of the twelve founders of the local Unitarian church and remained one of its stanch supporters to the day of his death. He was a republican in politics and an outspoken advocate of the protection of American industries against the poorly paid labor of Europe which the free trade policy would admit to open competition with the American workman. He was of Quaker parentage and inherited the virtues of his forbears. He was noted for his honesty, industry and public spirit. He passed away March 22, 1905, in Keokuk, and his death was mourned by his fellow citizens, as he was one of those who helped lay the foundation upon which the prosperity and advancement of the present generation is builded. He could relate many interesting reminiscences of the early days of the city and manifested in all of life's relations that courage and firmness of resolution which gave to the pioneer strength for his arduous labors.

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.