Tilghman Mayfield Tucker (February 5, 1802 – April 3, 1859) was

Governor of Mississippi The governor of Mississippi is the head of government of Mississippi and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Mississippi National Guard, military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either appro ...

from 1842 to 1844. He was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Early life

Tucker was born in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

near Lime Stone Springs, and lived in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

for a time before moving to

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. 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 Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi, Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the ...

Career

Tucker was elected in 1831 to the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected for ...

as a Democrat and was the first representative from Lowndes County, serving until 1835. From 1838 to 1841 he served in the state senate. In 1837 he had 3 male slaves and 4 female slaves according to the state census. By 1841, the aftermath of the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression (economics), depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pes ...

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 Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trus ...

$44,000 of state funding and fled to Canada. Tucker was not nominated for reelection in the

1843 Mississippi gubernatorial election The 1843 Mississippi gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1843, to elect the governor of Mississippi. Albert G. Brown, an anti-bond Democrat won against Whig George R. Clayton and "bond-paying Democrat" and former U.S. Senator Thom ...

, but he did win one term in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1845. 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 Marion County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the population was 29,341. The county seat is Hamilton. The county was created by an act of the Alabama Territorial General Assembly on February 13, 1818. The coun ...

, Tucker died on April 3, 1859.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Tilghman 1802 births 1859 deaths Democratic Party governors of Mississippi Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Mississippi Legislature