Mary Logan Tucker

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Mary Logan Tucker
Washington, D. C.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesDolly Logan
Occupation(s)farmer, political activist

Mary Logan Tucker (June 20, 1858 – March 16, 1940) was an American political activist. She attended the Convent of the Visitation, Georgetown, in Washington, D.C. Tucker organized and founded the Georgetown Alumnae Association and was elected and served as its first president in 1893. She was an active member of the Illinois State Association and the Illinois State Society of Washington, D.C., from the late nineteenth century until her death. She also served as the president of the Dames of the Loyal Legion of the United States from 1924 to 1928, and was a member of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, and the Legion of Loyal Women.[1]

Early life

Mary Elizabeth Logan was born on June 20, 1858, in

U. S. Senate, the family returned to Washington. There, she was placed in Georgetown's Convent of the Visitation School, where she completed her schooling graduating from high school in 1876.[2]

In Chicago, on November 27, 1877, Logan married William F. Tucker, who was working for the Pay Corps of the

Atlanta, Georgia, during the Spanish–American War, Tucker returned to Washington.[2] In 1896, she and her son George were the beneficiaries of the estate of George E. Lemon, a family friend and godfather of Tucker's youngest son. Each inherited one-fifth of his estate plus an award of $25,000.[7] At the conclusion of the conflict, the couple reunited in Chicago and made a home there until 1899, when the major was recalled to Washington. Because the major was subsequently sent to Fort Vancouver in Portland, Oregon, (1901) and Manila to serve as chief paymaster to the U.S. Army in the Philippines (1904), Tucker resided with her mother in Washington.[2] In 1905, her son George died from appendicitis in Manila.[8] Tucker, took up farming in Maryland, and advocated it as a viable occupation for women.[4]

Scandal

Beginning in 1907, Tucker was involved in a scandalous divorce,[9] which threatened to tarnish the carefully crafted family history that her mother had spent years building.[10] For two years, newspapers from coast to coast covered the story.[11][12] Tucker initiated the proceedings alleging misconduct by her husband.[9] Approaching the War Department, she attempted to have him discharged from the military, alleging he had engaged in conduct unbecoming to an officer. The military investigation proved the charges insufficient, and when her divorce was declined Colonel Tucker instigated proceedings.[13] The press carried reports that the marital trouble was due to the bequest from Lemon, several years before.[14][9] Tucker then changed the grounds to desertion,[15] and Colonel Tucker was arrested, but released as he was undergoing medical treatment.[16][17] In 1909, the couple were granted an absolute divorce, with the Colonel ordered to pay alimony to Tucker.[18] In 1911 the couple's only remaining child, Logan, died of heart failure amid rumors of suicide.[19][20][21]

Activism

In 1916, Tucker organized a branch of the Loyal Legion of Dames in Washington, D. C.

Daughters of 1812, Daughters of the American Revolution, and other organizations with the purpose of eliminating communism and pacifist movements, which were radical or unpatriotic.[27] Tucker and Potts, who shared the leadership of the Daughters of 1812, created a propaganda investigation committee and by 1927 created a loyalty committee.[28] In 1928, Tucker organized a national convention of patriotic societies to combat the pacifist movement.[29] That same year, she took her message to the radio, broadcasting a Dames of the Loyal Legion program aimed to generate respect for heroes. She called for all teachers in either public or private schools to take an oath of allegiance to the United States and pledge to give honor to all historic soldiers and sailors of the nation.[30]

Death and legacy

Tucker died on March 16, 1940, at her home in Washington, D. C.[31] She was buried on the grounds of the Old Soldiers and Sailors Home in the Logan family crypt.[32]

References

  1. ^ Tarbell, Arthur Wilson (1903). National Magazine. Bostonian publishing Company.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Logan 1905, p. 170.
  3. ^ Logan 1912, p. dedication page.
  4. ^ a b Randall 1907, p. 127.
  5. ^ a b The Chicago Tribune 1897, p. 2.
  6. ^ Logan 1912, p. 615.
  7. ^ The Indianapolis News 1896, p. 2.
  8. ^ The Daily Free Press 1905, p. 3.
  9. ^ a b c Quad-City Times 1907, p. 1.
  10. ^ Simon 1997, p. xxii.
  11. ^ The Richmond Times-Dispatch 1907, p. 2.
  12. ^ The Los Angeles Times 1909, p. 2.
  13. ^ The McCook Tribune 1907, p. 3.
  14. ^ The Chicago Tribune 1907, p. 3.
  15. ^ The Chicago Tribune 1909, p. 3.
  16. ^ The New York Tribune 1908, p. 14.
  17. ^ The Baltimore Sun 1908, p. 5.
  18. ^ The Washington Times 1909, p. 7.
  19. ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1911, p. 12.
  20. ^ The Washington Herald 1911, p. 4.
  21. ^ The Huntington Herald 1911, p. 3.
  22. ^ The Washington Post 1916, p. 16.
  23. ^ The Washington Times 1916, p. 4.
  24. ^ Delegard 2012, pp. 87–88.
  25. ^ The Washington Times 1915, p. 8.
  26. ^ Delegard 2012, p. 88.
  27. ^ Delegard 2012, p. 89.
  28. ^ Delegard 2012, p. 102.
  29. ^ The Indianapolis Star 1928, p. 51.
  30. ^ The Los Angeles Times 1928, p. 29.
  31. ^ The Chicago Tribune 1940, p. 14.
  32. ^ Illinois State Society 2017.

Bibliography

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