Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

ST. GEORGE TUCKER HOUSE AND ITS BOX-WOOD GARDEN AS SEEN FROM THE WEST

ARCHITECTURAL REPORT
ST. GEORGE TUCKER HOUSE

(Formerly known as the George P. Coleman House and also the Tucker-Coleman House)
Block 29, Building 2

The house is located on Nicholson Street between the Palace Green and North England Street and it faces the Market Square. It was restored between July, 1930 and May, 1931 by the Williamsburg Holding Corporation under the direction of Perry, Shaw and Hepburn, Architects.

CONTENTS

THE PEOPLE WHO OWNED THE PROPERTY

LOCATION OF THE HOUSE

The St. George Tucker House stands on the south side of a parcel of land which in colonial times was designated as lots 163, 164 and 169.^* This faces the Palace Green on the west and the Market Square on the south and it was then and is now one of the choicest locations in the city.

LEVINGSTON, THE ORIGINAL OWNER; HIS SUCCESSORS

The three lots were originally acquired from the city in 1716 by William Levingston, a theatrical manager, who built on lot 164, along the Palace Green, the first playhouse in America. The land, 2 with the exception of the part occupied by the theatre which eventually passed into the hands of the city and was converted into a courthouse, was acquired in 1735 by George Gilmer, an apothecary. Gilmer sold drugs "at his Shop, nigh the Court-House, the Corner of Palace-Street, Williamsburg." The property came subsequently into the possession of a pair of merchants, James Tarpley and Thomas Knox and was thereafter owned by John Tazewell, a prominent lawyer of Williamsburg. In 1769 the city decided to build a new courthouse (the Courthouse of 1770 on the Market Square) and in the year following it conveyed the land on which the playhouse-turned-courthouse had stood (the building had by that time, apparently, disappeared) to John Tazewell. Lots 163, 164 and 169 were now once more undivided and complete.

THE PROPERTY ACQUIRED BY ST. GEORGE TUCKER

In 1779 John Tazewell deeded the property to his nephew, Henry Tazewell, lawyer, judge and United States senator, who has been called "the most popular Virginian of his day." By 1785 the lots had become the property of William Rowsay, a prosperous merchant of Williamsburg. Three years later they were acquired by another distinguished lawyer, Edmund Randolph who was, successively, attorney general of Virginia, member of the Continental Congress, delegate to the Constitutional Convention and attorney general and secretary of state of the United States under Washington. In 1888 Randolph conveyed the land and its buildings to that famous immigrant from Bermuda, St. George Tucker, whose name the house now bears.

HE AND HIS DESCENDANTS OCCUPY HOUSE FOR OVER A CENTURY
COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG PURCHASES PROPERTY

Whereas many of the previous owners of the property had chosen to live elsewhere, St. George Tucker actually occupied it. It was 3 he who enlarged the house and gave it the form to which it is now restored. St. George made the dwelling his headquarters until his death in 1827, when it passed into the hands of his widow, Lelia, who occupied it until she died in 1837. It then devolved upon her distinguished son, Nathaniel Beverley Tucker, like his father, St. George, a lawyer and judge. When in 1833 or 1834 he was appointed to the professorship of law at the College of William and Mary which had been established by George Wythe and once held by his father, Judge Beverley Tucker returned to Williamsburg and in 1837 he took up residence in the Tucker House. He died in 1851 and the property passed to his wife Lucy. It eventually (1892) fell into the possession of Judge Beverley Tucker's daughter, Cynthia Beverley Tucker Coleman who, on her death, bequeathed it to her sons, Charles Washington and George Preston Coleman. It was conveyed by them in 1929 to the Williamsburg Holding Corporation, and it is now the property of Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated.

STORY OF THE GROWTH OF THE HOUSE

TUCKER HOUSE ONE OF TOWN'S MOST STRIKING BUILDINGS

The St. George Tucker House is, from several points of view, one of the most interesting dwellings in Williamsburg. Its striking west elevation, with its massive kitchen chimney and its "piling up" of gable ends, immediately arrests the eye of an observer moving toward the Palace Green on Prince George Street or walking on the Green itself. And its remarkable elongation makes it impressive when viewed from the Market Square, for, despite its aspect of being composed of several separate houses of varying size 4 set together, it presents a surprising unity of effect. Its main element and flanking wings are, as most buildings tended to be in the eighteenth century, symmetrical about a central axis but the static quality which symmetry produces has been modified and the total complex rendered more dynamic by the linking of the kitchen at the west to the house proper by means of a covered way, open during the eighteenth century, but at present, for convenience's sake, enclosed.

NO HOUSE EXISTED ON PRESENT SITE IN 1782
BUT FRENCHMAN SHOWS 3 BUILDINGS ELSEWHERE ON THE PLOT

The St. George Tucker House is one of those Williamsburg structures which, like its neighbor, the Brush-Everard House, has a building history sufficiently involved and, at the same time, sufficiently obscured to give rise to plenty of interesting speculation. That St. George, when he purchased the three lots from Governor Edmund Randolph in 1788, found no building on the present site of the Tucker House seems beyond question. The French military engineer who had methodically paced off the town and drawn up what we now know as the "Frenchman's Map" in 1782, a few years prior to Tucker's arrival in Williamsburg, had seen no building there or if he did, he failed to show it on his plan of the town. The map, however, does show three buildings within the area included in colonial lots 163, 164 and 169. One of these, a smallish structure located at the corner of Palace Green and Nicholson Street, a strategic spot for a business establishment, has been identified as Dr. Gilmer's Apothecary Shop. The good-sized building north of this and its smaller satellite are believed to have been the house and kitchen, respectively, of William Levingston, the theatrical regisseur, or, if these had been replaced in the 5 course of the years, the house and kitchen on the same site which had been offered for sale by Henry Tazewell the very year the Frenchman made his map.

PORTION OF FRENCHMAN'S MAP SHOWING AREA COMPRISING COLONIAL LOTS 163, 164 AND 169. THE LARGEST OF THE THREE BUILDINGS SHOWN ALONG THE PALACE GREEN NEAR THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE PLOT IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN THE LEVINGSTON HOUSE WHICH WAS MOVED TO THE SOUTH SIDE TO FORM THE NUCLEUS OF THE TUCKER HOUSE. THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY SOUTH OF THIS WAS THE LEVINGSTON KITCHEN AND THE THIRD ONE, ON THE CORNER, DR. GILMER'S APOTHECARY SHOP.

TUCKER MOVES ONE OF THESE TO NICHOLSON SIDE OF PLOT
POSSIBLE REASONS FOR HIS DOING THIS

Instead of installing himself and his children in his house on the Palace Green as soon as he reached Williamsburg, St. George Tucker saw fit to move it to the Nicholson Street side of the property. The records give no explanation of why he did this but one can easily think of reasons which might have impelled him to do it. The Palace Green was a pleasant enough location but, it may be, not so desirable, actually, as it is today, since the Palace had burned in 1781 and only a heap of ruins remained to mark its site. By moving his domicile to the south side of his 6 property St. George secured for it the unbroken prospect across the spacious Market Square. He also gave it, thereby, a southern exposure, which, it is conceivable, he may have desired for his dwelling.

REASONS FOR ENLARGEMENT OF EXISTING HOUSE

In addition, it is probable that Tucker had decided even before he moved his house that he would enlarge it. He had come to Williamsburg from Matoax, the plantation home near Petersburg of his recently deceased wife, Frances Randolph Tucker, bringing with him a little band of their children. It is likely that the house which he found on the property was not big enough to accommodate his brood so that he had decided to make it the core of a new and much larger house. If, as is probable, he had this intention, he must have concluded that the opportunities for sideward expansion were better on the Nicholson side of the plot than along the Palace Green since the Levingston kitchen still stood, so far as we know, just south of the house, even though the old theatre-courthouse north of it may by then have disappeared. (See plan of the plot and its buildings on the next page).

ACCOUNTS SUGGEST THAT BUILDING WAS MOVED
UNDERPINNING INDICATES THAT MOVE TOOK PLACE
REBUILDING OF CHIMNEYS ALSO TENDS TO SUPPORT THIS THESIS

At all events, accounts of 1788-89 list repairs made for Tucker to a house 40 feet X 18½ feet (the so-called statute house, which the Act of 1705 required the landholder to build in order to retain the half-acre lot which he had obtained from the city, was 40 feet X 20 feet). A notation in one of the accounts stipulates further that a house is "to be Mov'd on the South Side of the Street...," and this may well signify the south side of the property. It is probable that the house to be moved was the Levingston House or the one which may have succeeded it, for excavations 7 8 conducted on this site in 1931 revealed the foundations of a building 39 feet 9 inches by 18 feet 4 inches, a building, in other words, very nearly the size of the one which was scheduled to be moved. Further evidence that the house on the present site which was undergoing repairs was one which had been moved is found in a contract which St. George Tucker made in 1788 with Humphrey Harwood, carpenter and brick mason. Harwood agreed to underpin the house from the foundation to a height of 6 feet 6 inches above the ground. Underpinning means resting a building on temporary supports until permanent ones can be constructed beneath it. Underpinning is sometimes done in cases where it is necessary to strengthen already existing foundation walls. But, if we are to trust the French engineer (and he has proved himself very trustworthy) no building existed on this site and consequently there were no old foundations to strengthen. Buildings which have been moved are also underpinned until the foundations have been built, after which the underpinning is removed and the building let down upon the foundations. It should be noted that it is not good building practice, when a building is to be moved, to lay the new foundations before the moving has taken place. From the above it is evident that the underpinning work which Harwood contracted to do was to be done on a house which was to be moved. Another clause in the above contract was to the effect that Harwood should "pull down the brick work of the house now standing" and clean the bricks. Chimneys, of course, are often enough pulled down and rebuilt simply because they are defective. But it is also usually necessary to pull down the chimneys and 9 Part of map of Williamsburg, based upon Waddell's survey of 1928, showing colonial lots 163, 164 and 169, at one time held by St. George Tucker. The areas which have been investigated by means of cross-trenching are enclosed in yellow hatched frames and the old foundations discovered in them have been drawn in. The red rectangle at the upper left indicates the site of the Levingston House while the portion of the Tucker House which has been hatched in red represents the position of the old house which St. George Tucker moved from the Levingston site to the Nicholson Street side of the plot. 10 re-erect them if a house is moved.

DOCUMENTS TELL STORY OF GROWTH OF HOUSE

The very complete research report on the St. George Tucker House by Mary Stephenson traces step by step the progress of the construction work on the house by quoting in chronological sequence from the many St. George Tucker documents in the possession of the Colonial Williamsburg Department of Research and Record and the library of the College of William and Mary. The nucleus of the house, as we have seen, was the dwelling moved from the site of the Levingston House near the Palace Green. After the move was made St. George proceeded to renovate and enlarge the house. The family he brought to Williamsburg was already sufficiently large as to make this imperative so that when he remarried, taking as his wife Lelia Skipworth Carter, a widow with children of her own, the increase in his household rendered the expansion of his dwelling facilities doubly necessary.

BUILDING ACCOUNTS INCLUDE BILLS FOR BRICKWORK
HOUSE WALLS ARE FILLED WITH BRICK NOGGING

Tucker probably has his house moved sometime in January, 1789 and doubtless started its renovation immediately. His outbuildings were being worked on concurrently for we find bills of March of that year for repairs to the stable and meat house. Several bills for brickwork done on the house were rendered by William Harwood in June and July and this work must have included the rebuilding of the chimneys torn down when the house was moved. In one of Harwood's written agreements with St. George, the former "undertakes to fill in the sides of S. G. Tuckers house with brick bats plaistered in clay, and to cover the same." This so-called "brick nogging" gave the house the character of half timber construction, even though the wood frame with its infill of brick 11 was covered on the outside with weatherboarding. (In English half timber construction the brick was customarily stuccoed over leaving the timber exposed to view.) When in the course of the restoration of the house, its walls were stripped of their weather-boarding and plaster, many of them still had this brick nogging between the studs (see photograph, p. 25).

EAST WALL OF HALLWAY ALSO NOGGED

The neighboring picture, which shows the brick nogged east wall of the main hallway stripped of its plaster and allows a glimpse through into the parlor, raises an interesting question.

BRICK NOGGED EAST WALL OF MAIN HALLWAY, STRIPPED OF ITS PLASTER. THE FIREPLACE VISIBLE THROUGH THE DOORWAY IS THAT OF THE PARLOR OR WEST ROOM OF THE ORIGINAL HOUSE

USES OF BRICK NOGGING
POSSIBLE REASONS FOR NOGGING IN HALLWAY

Brick nogging was used primarily to insulate the exterior walls of a house to make it warmer in winter and cooler in summer. There was no structural need for it since the sturdy wood framing of the 12 eighteenth century was more than equal to the task of supporting the floors and roof. One wonders, therefore, why an interior wall like the one shown should have been nogged. Two or three possible explanations of this occur to one, none of which is particularly convincing. The first of these is that the Levingston House, of which this wall, presumably, was a part, started out as a dwelling with a single room and hallway on the first floor, the brick nogged wall being at that time an exterior wall of the house. This would mean, however, that the length of the house would have fallen considerably short of the 40 feet required by the Act of 1705 to hold the half acre lot. Furthermore, as we have seen above, the nogging was installed after the house was moved; the hallway walls may or may not have been filled with brickwork when the house stood on its original site.

The second possible way of accounting for the nogging in the wall of the hallway is that it may represent the persistence of the medieval tradition of constructing walls much heavier than they actually needed to be.

A third conceivable explanation derives from the fact that there was no fireplace in the main hallway and that this, in consequence, was probably cold in winter. The walls separating this cold space from the neighboring rooms which were heated by fire-places may have been insulated with brickwork to protect the rooms from a loss of warmth.

SHED ROOFED EXTENSION AT REAR THE FIRST ADDITION

Repairs were continued on the exterior and interior of the house during 1789, St. George, apparently, being intent upon putting the original house in shape before undertaking an 13 extension of it. The first mention of an addition occurs in 1790 in statements of the builder, John Saunders, in account with St. George Tucker. These have reference to work on the story and a half shed roofed extension at the rear of the old house, the part of the dwelling, that is, which now houses the Great Hall on its lower floor. An item in one of these statements, dated October, 1790, runs as follows:

To Raising & fitting the frame of the
Shed-Building—the back Side your
House—18 Sq^rs fitted £ 5:0:0

CLOSE-JOINTED BOARDS USED AS BASE FOR SHINGLES

Another item in Saunders' listing of construction work holds some interest for us:

Shingling the Shed with groved boards & planed shingles 10/ p^r square—

This and other references to the shingling of the house and outbuildings speaks of "grooved boards." It is likely that these were boards with tongue and groove joints or, possibly, rabbeted ones. In either case the term signified that the joints were tight and that little air could pass between the boards. Present day practice, in contrast with this, calls for the spacing of the slats or "laths" which receive the shingles to permit the circulation of air and so to prevent the rotting of the boards through the retention of moisture.

BUILDING OPERATIONS CONTINUE; THE SHED COMPLETED

In the year 1791 St. George Tucker continued his building operations on the site. Work on the old house and on the shed addition at the rear of it was carried forward and, apparently, completed. This we glean from builders' accounts which list such items as the making and hanging of panel doors and putting 14 up architraves and sidelinings for them; putting on locks; installing and glazing windows; finishing the inside of two closets and providing them with shelving; laying of floors and lathing and plastering. The roof of the shed portion was also covered, at this time, with sheet lead.

WINGS BEGUN AND KITCHEN STARTED

The year 1791 also marked the start of other new work. Foundations for the east and west wings were laid and their framework raised. A new kitchen was begun just west of the house and erected with considerable rapidity for by January, 1792, the fireplace hearth was being laid and a grate installed. The chimney which was erected at this time proved unsatisfactory since a decade later (August, 1802) it was taken down and completely rebuilt.

WORK GOES ON FOR SEVERAL YEARS; HOUSE COMPLETE IN 1796

Work on the house continued for several years for we find various building items listed for 1792, 1794 and 1795. It is worth noting that in December, 1795 St. George received two sets of Venetian blinds for the house from Philadelphia. By 1796 the building had attained the extent which it has today for an insurance policy of that year includes a plan drawing showing the old house with its shed addition, the two wings and a kitchen joined with the west wing by an "entry," presumably a covered way.

AGREEMENT FOR PAINTING OF HOUSE A NOTEWORTHY DOCUMENT

In 1798 Tucker hired Jeremiah Satterwhite and others to paint his house, kitchen and dairy. This fact is, in itself, not remarkable; what interests us is the circumstance that we have the agreement covering the work which St. George made with Satterwhite. This is a document of some length and it is noteworthy since it is one of the most detailed and complete eighteenth century painting specifications which we have. A full transcription of the agreement has been included in our Appendix.

RESTORED KITCHEN OF ST. GEORGE TUCKER HOUSE WITH ITS MONUMENTAL CHIMNEY, VIEWED FROM THE SOUTHWEST

ARCHITECTURAL REPORT
By
Washington Reed, Jr.

(Revised, and with illustrations added)

ST. GEORGE TUCKER HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHED FROM MARKET SQUARE ABOUT 1904. THE YOUNGSTER IN THE FOREGROUND IN THE TAM O'SHANTER AND LONG CURLS AND CLUTCHING THE LILY IS NONE OTHER THAN RUTHERFOORD GOODWIN.

INTERIOR

PHOTO, TAKEN DURING RESTORATION, OF EAST SIDE OF BEDROOM IN SECOND FLOOR OF THE WEST WING.

GENERAL NOTES

The interior was not materially altered on the first floor and most of the original doors, windows, trim and other colonial features still remain. On the second floor it was necessary to make certain changes to meet the present day living requirements of the life tenants. These changes were made frankly and without any great effort to make them seem a part of the original house.

The interior framing was found to consist of heavy hand hewn timbers and these existed in every wall of the eighteenth century parts of the house as described in the general notes on the exterior. On the first and second floors of the main portion 30 of the house it was found that the interior and exterior walls were nogged between the studs with brick four inches thick. These brick were removed and the studs renewed where this was necessary and the brick were then put back in place. Wherever possible the old framing was retained and preserved by reinforcing. Probably over half of the framing in the colonial parts of the restored house is old.

THE ST. GEORGE TUCKER HOUSE IN THE GRIP OF KING WINTER. THIS HOUSE GREW BY, ACCRETION FROM THE ORIGINAL TWO-STORY CENTRAL UNIT. THE RESULT OF WHAT MAY SEEM TO US A HAPHAZARD WAY OF BUILDING IS A SURPRISINGLY UNIFIED COMPOSITION IN WHICH THE ELONGATION OF THE BUILDING IS THE MOST STRIKING CHARACTERISTIC.

First Floor Plan - oversized image

Second Floor Plan - oversized image

ST. GEORGE TUCKER OUTBUILDINGS
By
Washington Reed, Jr.

(Revised and with an illustration added)

The outbuildings, with the exception of the office, are either reconstructions or wholly new structures. They were erected between February and May, 1932. The work of relocating the office was accomplished between February and August, 1931.

VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST SHOWING THE ST. GEORGE TUCKER BOX GARDEN; THE RECONSTRUCTED DAIRY IN THE CENTER; THE WELL HEAD AT THE LEET AND, PARTLY HIDDEN BY THE PINE, THE SMOKEHOUSE. THE BUILDING WITH THE CHIMNEY IS THE LEVINGSTON KITCHEN. IN THE BACKGROUND, RIGHT, IS THE UNRESTORED BRUSH HOUSE AND THE PALACE CAN BE SEEN DIRECTLY BEHIND THIS TO THE LEFT.

APPENDIX
ORIGINAL 18TH CENTURY SPECIFICATION FOR THE PAINTING OF THE ST. GEORGE TUCKER HOUSE^*

ST. GEORGE TUCKER HOUSE BEFORE ITS RESTORATION, VIEWED FROM THE SOUTHWEST. IT WILL BE NOTED THAT THE WEST WING AT THAT TIME HAD SWALLOWED UP THE COVERED PASSAGE AND THE KITCHEN SITE WAS OCCUPIED BY A LATE TWO-STORY STRUCTURE. THE BUILDING IN THE FOREGROUND IS THE OFFICE WHICH WAS MOVED TO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE PLOT.

Memorandum of an Agreement made the thirtieth day of August 1798, between S^t George Tucker and Jeremiah Satterwhite, both of Williamsburg.

The said Jeremiah Satterwhite agrees & undertakes to paint the Outside of the dwelling house, & part of the inside, together With the Kitchen & Dairy, belonging to the said S^t George Tucker in the City of Williamsburg, as herein after mentioned, & in the most compleat, & workmanlike manner; taking Care never to paint but in dry Weather, nor at any time when the part to be painted is not perfectly dry.— The tops of the House, Kitchen & dairy are to be painted with Fish-oil mixt in the paint, the oil to be well boiled before it is mixed with the Paint. S^t George Tucker hath imported boiled Linseed Oil, but if it should not be sufficiently boiled, it is to be boiled to a proper Consistency. Every part that is to be painted is to have two good Coats well laid on, in the best 55 Manner. S^t George Tucker hath provided about 240-pounds of best white Lead; half an hundred weight of Spanish brown; and the like Quantity of yellow Ochre, all ground in oil, and about sixteen Gallons of boiled Linseed Oil; he is further to provide as much fish-oil as will be sufficient to paint the roofs, & sheds, as hereafter mentioned. He has also provided eleven bottles of Spirits of Turpentine, and a sufficient Quantity of Tar, and the said Satterwhite agrees to keep an exact Account of the Quantity of each of these Articles that he may expend in painting the House. The said Satterwhite is to find his own Brushes and a pot to boil the oil, and paint. S^t George Tucker will provide ladders, & furnish every necessary Assistance to him.

The top of the House, the roof of the Shed, and of the covered Way are to be painted with Spanish brown, somewhat enlivened, if necessary, with red Lead, or other proper paint.

The sides of the House, and of the covered way, & the Ends of the house are to be painted of a pure White. The outer doors a chocolate colour— the brick underpinning and the other parts of the house below the floor of a dark brick Colour, nearly approaching to a Chocolate colour. The Chair boards, picture slips, Windows, & other parts of the front & back passage (except the doors & door Cases, which are to be of Chocolate Colour) are to be of a pale Stone colour, or straw Colour. The two small side passages of a Mahogany, Colour, except the part leading to the dining room, which is to be of a stone colour.— The platform for the Steps, in front of the house, when finished, is also to be painted of a light stone colour.

The top of the Kitchen, and of the shed leading from the Cellar to the Kitchen yard, are to be painted with Spanish brown, mixed with Tar, & fish oil, & well boiled together. The sides of the Kitchen of yellow Ochre, with a very small mixture of White Lead: the window frames & Sashes of straw-colour, or white: the sliders to the windows in Imitation of the Sashes.

The dairy is to be painted as the Kitchen; the open work under the Eaves white.

When the work is compleated S^t George Tucker agrees to pay fifty dollars for the same; but in Case he should concieve the work not to be well done, or in Case of disagreement on any other subject, he is to chuse one person & the said Satterwhite another, who, or in Case of disagreement [torn] them, any third person by them to be chosen shall determine whether any, or what abatement ought to be made, by reason of the work not being compleatly finished, in a masterly workmanlike manner, pursuant to the true Intent & meaning of this Agreement.

In witness whereof the parties aforesaid have subscribed their names to this present instrument of writing the day & year above-
Jeremiah Satty white
S^t G Tucker

Witness
E.H. Dunbar

NB. The boiled Linseed Oil is not to be used for the Kitchen, the Dairy, or the top of the House.

[on back] Agreement with Jeremiah Sattywhite August 30. 1798 with his reciepts enclosed Dec^r 3^d 1798

[The above agreement, except for the signature of Satterwhite or Sattywhite, appears to be in the handwriting of St. George Tucker. 55a Enclosed in the same envelope with it and obviously dealing with the painting of the St. George Tucker House were the following three items. They are on various sizes of paper and are written in various hands.]

1798 A List of paints takin to paint S^t George Tuckers house—

this it took	600 weit of spanish brown 73 gallons fish
for the tops	Oil 6 gals turpintine 11 pounds of brimstone
of the houses	11 galls tar
	to 124 pds of yeller Oker
	590 weit of white Lead
	24 gals Lincead Oil
	too gallons spirrits of turpintine

[endorsed on back] Sattywhite's Acc^t of Paint & Oiltaken to paint the House- 1798

	Messrs Lamb & Younger		London 20th March 1795
S G T	Bot of Brandram, Templeman & Jagues.
	Best Ground white Lead a Rundlet*
No 1-	2..1..15
	Vc .....15 2-1.0	At 40/	£ 4.10.
		In a Rundlet-2 InHps	5. 2
2	Best Ground Spanish Brown a Rundt containg ½ G	at 20/	10.—
		In a Rundlet	- 2. 6
3	Best Ground Yellow Oker a Rundlet containg ½ G	at 38/	- 19.
		In a Rundlet	2. 6
4 C 7	Best Boild Linseed Oil 4 Jugs containg 22½ Gs	at 4/9	5. 6. 10
		very much advanc'd
		In 4 Jugs & Baskets	16.
			£ 12. 12.

NB. The Fish oil, in Kegs, from Norfolk is to be used in painting the Top of the house, & the Kitchen.

	5.19.0
	5. 6. 10
	11. 5. 10
12. 12
1. 3. 2
11. 8. 10

[on bac^k] S G T Memdrum & the oils & paints £12.12.0

Oct. 20. 1798. Received of Henry Tucker for his father S^t George Tucker 50 d^rs = £15 according to agreem^t made between myself and the Said S^t George Tucker
Jeremiah Sattywhite

[endorsed on bac^k] Jeremiah Sattywhites Reciept for £15 Octo. 20. 1798.

INDEX

ST. GEORGE TUCKER OUTBUILDINGS, WITH HOUSE ITSELF IN BACKGROUND, AT RIGHT. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, THE OUTBUILDINGS ARE THE SMOKEHOUSE, DAIRY AND WELL HEAD.

NOTE: In this index the word "house," unless otherwise designated, refers to the St. George Tucker House. The abbreviation "ill." following a subject means that the latter is illustrated by a photograph or a drawing.

ACT of 1705

House building provisions of

6, 12

Additions to house

At rear, completed, 1791

13

First mention of, 1790

13

Series of, made by St. George Tucker

18, 19

Apothecary Shop of Dr. Gilmer

Shown on Frenchman's Map

4

Illustration of

5

Arch of entrance hall

33

Architectural Report by Washington Reed, Jr.

16-53

Architraves for doors

Installation of

13, 14

BARGE boards

23

Barrows, John A.

Measured drawings made by

Title page

Working drawings made by

Title page

58

Baseboards

33-36, 38, 40, 41, 43-49, 51

Basement

52, 53

Bathrooms

New, in east wing

43

North, main unit

47

Over old kitchen

52

West wing

50, 51

Beams

33-36, 38, 40, 41, 43-49, 51

Bedrooms

Of main unit

43-47

Of wings

29, 48-51

East wall of west bedroom, ill.

29

Over old kitchen

51, 52

Belle Farm

Arch of

33

Blair, Archibald, House 5, 53c

Shown on Frenchman's Map, ill.

5

Boarding, flush

22

Bond, brick

Of chimneys

23

Bookcases in library 36

Brick nogging

Compared with half timber construction

10, 11

In east wall of main hallway

11, 12

Of west wall of west wing, ill.

25

Photograph of, ill.

11

Possible reasons for

11, 12

Of Tucker House walls

10, 11, 29, 30

Shown in wall of west wing, ill.

25

Uses of

11, 12

Brush-Everard House

4, 53b

Involved building history of

4

Building history of house

4-14

CARTER, Lelia Skipworth, second wife of

St. George Tucker (See Tucker, Lelia)

Carter-Saunders House

Chair rail of

42

Casey's Gift House

Dormers of

20, 51

Ceilings

33-36, 38, 40, 41, 43-50, 51

Chair rails

33-36, 38, 42

Changes made to house, about 1830

17

Characterization of house

3, 4

Chimneys

Of restored house

23, 25, 52

Bond of

23

Old, of kitchen

Erected, 1792

14

Rebuilt, 1802

14

Claremont

Mantel of

34

59

Closets

Of old house

Insides of, finished

14

Of restored house

35, 37, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 49, 50-52

Coleman, Charles Washington

3, 53b

With George Preston Coleman, inherits property

3

Coleman, Cynthia Beverley Tucker

Acquires lots 163, 164, 169

3

Bequeaths lots to her sons

3

Coleman, George Preston

3, 25, 53b

Describes chimneys of old house

25

With Charles Washington Coleman, inherits property

3

Coleman, George P., House, former name of

St. George Tucker House

Title page

College of William and Mary

Library of, contains Tucker documents

10

Colonial lots 163, 164, 169

See Lots, colonial

Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated

Acquires Tucker-Coleman property

3

Color of walls and woodwork

34-37, 39, 40, 42-50, 52

Completion of house, ca. 1796

14

Contents page

iv

Cornices

Exterior

22, 25

Interior

33-36, 38, 42

Courthouse on Palace Green

Playhouse converted into

2

Probably demolished before 1788

6

Site of, acquired by John Tazewell

2

Courthouse of 1770

Built

2

Covered way

Doors of

22

Elimination of, by lengthening of west wing

17

Evidence of, in photograph, ill.

25

Flush boarding of

22

Kitchen and west wing joined by

14

Restoration and enclosure of

17

Cupboard, corner

35

DAIRY

53b, 53c

View showing, ill.

57

Dining Room

38, 39

Dormers

20, 46, 47, 49-51

Door trim

33, 35-37, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45-50, 52, 53

Doors

Of old house

Architraves for, installed

13, 14

Folding

56

Hanging of

13

Of restored house

Exterior

22, 23, 33, 53

Interior

35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42-50, 52, 53

60

Drawers

46, 52

Drawings, ills.

Elevations of house

South

21

East and West

24

North

26

Frenchman's Map

Part of, showing lots 163, 164, 169, ill.

5

Measured drawings

Draftsmen of, listed

Title page

Of west half of Block 29, ill.

7

Plans of house

First floor

31

Second floor

32

Working drawings

Draftsmen of, listed

Title page

EAST bedroom, main unit

44

Elevations of restored house, detailed discussion of

South

20-23

Drawing of, ill.

21

West

24, 25

Drawing of, ill.

24

North

25-27

Drawing of, ill.

26

East

Drawing of, ill.

24

End boards

23

Entrance hall

33, 34

Entry, see Covered way

Equipment, see Fixtures

Excavations

On site of Levingston House

6, 8

Plan of lots 163, 164, 169, showing areas excavated, ill.

9

Extension to house, see Addition to house

Exterior of house

Original house

Repairs to

12, 13

Restored house

20-28

General notes on

17-19

FERGUSON, Finlay F.

Working drawings made by

Title page

Fireplaces and hearths

34, 35, 38, 40, 42-44, 49-51

Fixtures

41, 47, 50, 52

Floor borders

56

Floor nails

33-36, 38, 40, 41, 43-49, 51

Floors

33-36, 38, 40, 41, 43-49, 51-53, 56

Foundations

Of east and west wings, laid

14

Of Levingston House, shown on plan, ill.

9

Of old main unit

53

Of porches

52

61

Framing

Of east and west wings, raised

14

Of old house, discussed

29

Of shed addition, raised

13

French military engineer

Draws map of Williamsburg, 1782

4

Shows no building on Tucker House site

4, 8

Frenchman's Map, 1782

Portion of, showing lots 163, 164, 169, ill.

5

Tucker House not shown on

4

GARAGE

53d

Gilmer, George, apothecary

Acquires lots 163, 164, 169

2

Sells drugs at his shop

2

Shop of, shown on Frenchman's Map

4

Illustration of

5

Goodwin, Rutherfoord

Photo of, as child, in picture of house, ill.

17

Great Hall

36-38

Contained in shed roofed addition

13

Grooved boards

Used in shingling of shed addition

13

Growth of house, story of

3-14

Gutters

22

HALLWAYS

East and west halls, main unit, second floor

47-48

Entrance

33-34

Great Hall

13

Hardware

40, 42-50, 52

Harwood, Humphrey, carpenter and mason

Agrees to pull down brickwork of a house

8

Possible significance of this

8, 10

Agrees to underpin house for Tucker

8

Possible significance of this

8

Extract from ledger of

56

Harwood, William

Renders bills for brickwork

10

Undertakes to fill walls with brick

10

Hays, David J.

Working drawings made by

Title page

Hearths

Of old house

Of kitchen, laid

14

Of restored house, see Fireplaces

Heating equipment

52

INTERIOR of house

Old house

Bedroom of west wing, east wall of, ill.

29

Framing of

29

New work on

13, 14

Repairs to

12, 13

62

Restored house

First floor, detailed discussion of

33-43

General notes

29, 30

Second floor, detailed discussion of

43-53

KENDREW, A. Edwin

Chief draftsman for restoration of house

Title page

Working drawings checked by

Title page

Kitchen existing when restoration started

Removal of

18

Kitchen, new

40, 43

Kitchen, old, restored

Detailed discussion of

39-41

Doors of

22

View of, ill.

15

View of, in course of restoration

19

Windows of

22

Kitchen, original

Construction of, started by Tucker

14

Restoration of

18

Knox, Thomas, merchant

With James Tarpley, acquires lots 163, 164, 169

2

LATHING and plastering

Mentioned in builders' accounts

14

Levingston House

Foundations of

Discovered by excavation

8

Shown on plan of lots 163, 164, 169, ill.

9

Moved by St. George Tucker

6, 10

Reasons for this

6

Original plan of, speculation concerning

12

Shown on Frenchman's Map

4, 5

Illustration of

5

Site of, shown on Knight plan

7

Levingston Kitchen

Shown on Frenchman's Map

4, 5

Illustration of

5

Shown on Knight plan, ill.

7

Still standing in 1788

6

Levingston, William, theatrical manager

Builds playhouse on lot 164

1

First owner of lots 163, 164, 169

1

Library

35, 36

Living room

41-43

Location of house

Title page, 1

Lots, colonial, 163, 164, 169

Owners of

Coleman, Charles Washington

3

Coleman, Cynthia Beverley Tucker

3

Coleman, George Preston

3

Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated

3

63

Owners of

Gilmer, George

2

Knox, Thomas, with James Tarpley

2

Randolph, Edmund

2

Rowsay, William

2

Tarpley, James, with Thomas Knox

2

Tazewell, Henry

2

Tazewell, John

2

Tucker, Lelia

3

Tucker, Lucy

3

Tucker, St. George

2

Williamsburg Holding Corporation

3

Theatre built on

1

MACOMBER, Walter M.

Working drawings checked by

Title page

Mantels

34, 35, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 50, 51

Matoax, home of Frances Randolph Tucker

6

Measured drawings

Draftsmen of, listed

Title page

Meat house of St. George Tucker

Repaired in 1789

10

Metal work, see Hardware

Moody House

Dormers of

20, 49, 50

NAILS, floor, see Floor nails

Nogging, see Brick nogging

North bedroom, main unit

46

OFFICE, outbuilding

53c, 53d

Views of house, showing, ills.

1, 17, 19, 53, 54

Outbuildings of St. George Tucker House 53b-53d

Repaired in 1789

10

PAINTING

Of old house

Agreement between Tucker and Satterwhite for

14

Terms of

54, 55

Of restored house, see Color

Panelling

33, 34

Parlor

34, 35

Partition in dining room

Removal of

39

Passage, enclosed

See Covered way

People, The, Who Owned The Property

1-3

Perry, Shaw and Hepburn, architects

Direct restoration of house

Title page

Pigget, William, carpenter

Extract from accounts of

56

64

Plans, ills.

Of Frenchman, showing lots 163, 164, 169

5

Of lots 163, 164, 169, showing foundations discovered on them

9

Of St. George Tucker House

At scale of 1/8" = 1' -0"

First floor

31

Second floor

32

Shown in insurance policy

14

Shown on drawing of west half of Block 29

7

Shown on plan of lots 163, 164, 169

9

Of west half of Block 29

7

Plastering

Mentioned in builders' accounts

14

Of restored interior

33-36, 38, 40, 41, 43-49, 51

Playhouse, first in America

See Theatre

Porches existing when restoration started

Replaced by porches of colonial design

18

Porches of restored house

East

27

Front (south)

22

Kitchen

22

Of north elevation

27

RANDOLPH, Edmund, statesman

Acquires lots 163, 164, 169

2

Conveys lots to St. George Tucker

2, 4

Reed, Washington, Jr.

Architectural report written by

Title page

Measured drawings made by

Title page

Working drawings made by

Title page

Repairs to house

6, 12

Research and Record, Department of

Repository for St. George Tucker documents

10

Research report on house

Contains documents on construction of house

10

Written by Mary A. Stephenson

1, 10

Restoration dates of house

Title page

Roof

Covered, of shed addition

14

Of restored building

20

Rowsay, William, merchant

Acquires lots 163, 164, 169

2

ST. George Tucker, see Tucker, St. George

St. -Memin, Charles Balthazar Julien Feuret

Portrait by, of St. George Tucker, ill.

iv

Satterwhite, Jeremiah, house painter

Agreement of, with Tucker, for painting of house

14

Terms of

54, 55

Lists of, of paint and oil used in

painting of house

55a

Receipt of

55a

65

Saunders, John, builder

Constructs shed addition

13

Extract from accounts of

56

Shed or shed roofed extension, see Addition to house

Shelving

Installed in closets

14

Shingles, asbestos-cement, of restored roof

20

Shingling of shed addition

Mentioned in account of John Saunders

13

With use of grooved boards

13

Shutters

23, 27, 56

Siding

See Weatherboarding

22

Smithfield

Porch in

22

Smokehouse

53b, 53c, 57

View showing, ill.

57

Stable of St. George Tucker

Repaired in 1789

10

Staircases

Basement

53

In old kitchen

41, 52

In west wing

39, 50, 51

Of Great Hall

Details of

37, 38

Evidence for

37, 48

Stephenson, Mary A.

Research report by

1

Story of the Growth of the House

3-14

TARPLEY, James, merchant

With Thomas Knox, acquires lots 163, 164, 169

2

Tazewell, Henry, jurist

Acquires lots 163, 164, 169

2

Offers house and kitchen for sale

5

Tazewell, John, lawyer

Acquires lots 163, 164, 169

2

Acquires theatre site

2

Deeds lots to Henry Tazewell

2

Theatre, first in America

Built by William Levingston

1

Converted into courthouse

2

Site of, shown on plan, ill.

7

Toe mold

56

Trudell, Clyde

Working drawings made by

Title page

Tucker-Coleman House, former name of St. George Tucker House

Title page

Tucker-Coleman papers

54, 56

Tucker, Frances Randolph, first wife of St. George Tucker

6

Tucker, Lelia, second wife of St. George Tucker

Inherits lots 163, 164, 169

3

66

Tucker, Lucy, wife of Nathaniel Beverley Tucker

Inherits lots 163, 164, 169

3

Tucker, Nathaniel Beverley, jurist

Appointed to professorship

3

Dies in 1851

3

Inherits property

3

Moves into house, 1837

3

Tucker, St. George, jurist

Acquires lots 163, 164, 169

2, 4

Dies in 1827

3

Enlarges House

3, 10

Moves Levingston House

5, 6, 10

Possible reasons for this

5, 6

Portrait of, by St.-Memin, ill.

iv

Repairs house, 40 x 18½ feet

6

Tucker, St. George House

Attains its full extent, 1796

14

Original house, before additions

18

UNDERPINNING

Meaning of

8

Underpinning of House

Significance of

8

Undertaken by Humphrey Harwood

8

VENETIAN blinds

Two sets of, received by Tucker

14

Views of house, ills.

Exterior

From Market Square (south), photo of 1902

17

From north, in course of restoration (1930), two ills.

28

From south, before restoration

53

From southwest, after restoration

20

From southwest, after restoration, in winter

30

From southwest, before restoration

54

From southwest, from photo of 1892

1

From west, in course of restoration

19

From west, photograph

Frontispiece

Of old west wing, from west, showing brick nogging

25

Interior

Bedroom of west wing, east wall, before restoration

29

East wall of main hallway, showing nogging

11

Views showing smokehouse, dairy and well head, ills.

53b, 57

WADDELL'S survey plan of 1928

Portion of, showing excavations conducted on lots 163, 164 and 169, ill.

9

Wainscoting

33

Walls

Basement

23, 27, 52

Interior

33-36, 38, 40, 41, 43-49, 51

67

Walker, Richard A.

Working drawings made by

Title page

Weatherboarding

Of restored house

22, 25, 27

Old, found on original ends of house

18, 19, 25

Well head, restored

53b, 53c, 57

Views showing, ills.

53b, 57

West bedroom, main unit

43, 44

Williamsburg Holding Corporation

Purchases Tucker-Coleman property

3

Restores house, 1930-31

Title page

Window trim, frame and sash

35-37, 39, 40, 42, 45, 46

Windows

Glazing and installation of

14

In north walls of library and parlor

19

Of restored house

22, 23, 27, 34, 36-40, 42-47, 49-52

Of south elevation, restored to original positions

18

Wings

East and west

Ends of, cover original weatherboarding of house

18, 19

Foundations for, laid

14

Working drawings

Checkers of, listed

Title page

Draftsmen of, listed

Title page

Wythe, George

Professorship of law established by

3

THE TUCKER - COLEMAN HOUSE
BLOCK 29, BUILDING NO.2

Tucker-Coleman Papers, Uncatalogued, Research Department, Colonial Williamsburg. List of Taxable Property 1815 of St. George Tucker

"List of Lands, Lots of Ground, with their Improvements, dwelling houses & Slaves, owned by St. George Tucker on the first day of April 1815. lying and being within the 17^th District of the State of Virginia, viz: in the County of James City, and in the City of Williamsburg.

1. description of tract of land in James City County...

2.^d One dwelling house in the City of Williamsburg, fronting the Court house square, and two Lots of Land, as p^r Deed from Edmund Randolph to the said S^t George Tucker duly recorded in the District Court held at the Capitol in the City of Williamsburg, on the first day of May 1790. which Lots adjoin the Lots of James Henderson Esq^r on the East; the Court house square ( or Nicholson street) on the South, the palace Street on the West, & the Lot formerly belonging to D^r James Carter, & now in the Occupation of M^rs Margaret Page on the North.— The said dwelling house being built in part of Brick, to wit to the first floor, and partly of wood, being two Stories high in the Center, and one at the wings; the length of the whole house being ninety feet, & the Depth, or Breadth two & thirty feet, and by a cover'd way twelve feet long connected with the Kitchen, being twenty four feet in length, & eighteen feet wide.— The said two Lots extending about 250- feet from East to West, and about the same from north to South, and having thereon ( exclusive of the dwelling house & Kitchen before mentioned,) one small dairy, one log Corn house, one wooden smoak house, one large Negroe Quarter, one Stable & Carriag house, & a fodder house and three necessary houses. The above house & Lots being in that part of the City of Williamsburg, which lies in York County.
valued at $1500.dollars.

Fifteen Slaves of the following Description, viz.

2.	Males over fifty years of Age
5.	Males between twelve & fifty.
1.	Female over fifty.
4.	Females between twelve & fifty
3.	Females under twelve years of age.
	valued at $3,000. dollars