Old newspapers are filled with interesting stories, written in a much different fashion than we usually see today.
School Teacher Awarded Damages
A Chester county jury on Thursday awarded Mrs. Anna B. Tucker, wife of Alva J. Tucker, of Fulton township, this county, $600 damages in her suit against B. Franklin Reynolds, of Chester county, for slander. Mrs. Tucker taught school in Reynolds’ family, and Reynolds circulated reports that she stole sheets, pillow cases, underwear, etc.
The Inquirer (Lancaster, Pa.) 12/4/1897
Alva J. Tucker was the son of Ellis Joel Tucker and Melissa Ella Reynolds, so there appears to be a family connection involved. The question is – which family?
A second article dealing with the same lawsuit reads a bit differently, providing an entirely husband for Anna Tucker
A Chester County Slander Suit
The suit for slander of Mrs. Annie B. Tucker against B. Franklin Reynolds is on trial, before Judge Butler, at West Chester. The plaintiff is the wife of Frank E. Tucker, and resides in the southern part of Lancaster county near the Chester county line. She had at one time taught school at Waterloo, this county, and for some time previous to December 7th, 1896, was employed as teacher in the family of the defendant, in West Nottingham township, Chester county. Mrs. Tucker was arrested on a charge of larceny by Mrs. Frank Reynolds, which was settled, and which the defense claims precluded any further action. About a month later the suit for slander was begun. H. Frank Eshelman, Esq., of this city, and Hayes and Hayes, of West Chester, are counsel for plaintiff; Pierce of West Chester, for defendant. The jury found a verdict in favor of Mrs. Tucker for $600.
The Semi-Weekly New Era , 12/4/1897
Are we dealing with two different women, one who married Frank Tucker and the other who married Alva Tucker? Let’s take a look at what we know about the parties involved. An additional article provides another clue.
A Teacher Pleasantly Surprised
A pleasant birthday surprise was given Mrs. Annabelle Tucker, teacher of Waterloo school, at Cains, this county, on Wednesday evening of last week, by the the pupils, patrons and friends of the school. The party met at the home of Miss Edith Baldwin, and from there proceeded to the residence of Wallace Frankhauser, where Mrs. Tucker boards, she not having the least intimation of the affair.
The Semi-Weekly New Era, 11/28/1900
Since Mrs. Frank Tucker, of the second article, was supposedly teaching at Waterloo at some point, it would seem that Frank’s wife had a November birthday, but we don’t yet know what year she was born.
Anna who married Alva Tucker is a little easier to trace. The daughter of Peter Stewart Supplee, she was married to Alva in 1894 in Camden, NJ. Alva died, by his own hand, in 1899 and Anna remarried in 1902 to John R. Dickinson. She was born in June of either 1873 or 1874 (her headstone in the Honey Brook United Methodist cemetery says 1873, but her death certificate says 1874). Anna Supplee Tucker, shown as a widow, was living at her father’s home in 1900, along with her 4-year-old son, Parke. Her birthdate is shown on the census form as June 1873.
So, we have two different birthdates for Anna, which would seem to indicate two different people, or do we? The article below indicates that the Anna Tucker who married John Dickinson had been a school teacher in Salisbury township.
School Notes
Anna B. Tucker, who was one of last year’s teachers in Salisbury and resided at Honeybrook, changed her name a few days ago to Mrs. Anna B. Dickinson, and her residence to Glen Moore, Chester County.
The Inquirer (Lancaster, Pa.), 12/6/1902
If it weren’t for the birthday party for Anna in November of 1900, it would be easy to dismiss the mention of Frank Tucker as a mistake on the journalist’s part, but there are a few other items that confuse the story, such as that Anna gave birth to a baby boy in 1896. It seems rather unlikely that she would be working as a governess while having a newborn baby at home. It appears that I have still more research to do to figure out the whole story.