Henry Holcombe Tucker


Henry Holcombe Tucker was the chancellor of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia from 1874 until his resignation in 1878. Note that the head of the University was referred to as chancellor instead of president from 1860 until 1932. Tucker was president of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia from 1866 to 1871.

Early life

Tucker was born on May 10, 1819 near Camak, Georgia and died on September 9, 1889 in Athens, the son of Germain Tucker and his wife Frances Henrietta. After the early death of Germain Tucker, his widow married a Mr. Hoff and spent many years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before returning to Georgia. Henry Holcombe Tucker's paternal grandfather, Isaiah Tucker, had been born in Amherst, Virginia, and was himself the grandson of Francis Tucker of St. George's, Bermuda, who had emigrated to, and married in, Virginia. The Tucker's of Bermuda are a prominent family in the British Overseas Territory, that date back to the 1616 appointment of Daniel Tucker as Governor of Bermuda, and the family included many other prominent Henry Tuckers. Henry Holcombe Tucker's maternal grandfather was the Reverend Henry Holcombe, D.D.
Henry Holcombe Tucker received a B.A. from the Columbian College at the George Washington University in 1838.
The community of Tucker, Georgia is named for him.