Tucker, George, 1775-1861

George Tucker (August 20, 1775 – April 10, 1861) was an American writer, educator and historian in Virginia, following early years as an attorney and politician. His literary works include The Valley of Shenandoah (1824), the first fiction of colonial life in Virginia, and A Voyage to the Moon (1827), which is among the nation's earliest science fiction novels. He also published the first comprehensive biography of Thomas Jefferson in 1837, as well as his History of the United States (1856). Tucker's authorship, and his work as a teacher, served to redeem an earlier life of unprincipled habits which had brought him some disrepute. Tucker was a son of the first mayor of Hamilton, Bermuda, Daniel Tucker. He immigrated to Virginia at age 20, was educated at the College of William and Mary, and was admitted to the bar. His first marriage to Mary Farley ended childless with her death in 1799; he remarried and had six children with wife Maria Carter, who died at age 38 in 1823. His third wife of 30 years was Louisa Thompson, who died in 1858. Aside from his law practice, Tucker began to write compositions for various publications. His topics ranged widely from the conceptual to the technical from slavery, suffrage, and morality to intracoastal navigation, wages, and banking. He was elected in 1816 to the Virginia House of Delegates for one term, and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1819 to 1825. From his youth until early middle age, Tucker's lofty social lifestyle was often profligate, and occasionally scandalous. Nevertheless, upon completion of his congressional term, his eloquent publications led Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to offer him an appointment as Professor of Moral Philosophy at the newly founded University of Virginia; he accepted and held that post until 1845. After retiring, Tucker relocated to Philadelphia, where he continued his research, and expounding upon a variety of subjects, including monetary policy and socioeconomics, until his death in Virginia at the age of 85.