The Tucker Cemetery is the two-acre burial ground of the first African family in English-speaking America. Isabel and Antonio arrived at Point Comfort, now Fort Monroe, in 1619. The two were among approximately twenty enslaved Africans who survived the Middle Passage onboard the White Lion. Captain William Tucker purchased Isabel and Antonio to work on his plantation. Five years later, the couple had a son, whom they named after their master. William Tucker was the first documented African child born in English-speaking North America.

Captain William Tucker’s remains are also in this cemetery, as he requested to be buried with his slaves at his death.

During the United States Centennial celebration, Hampton Institute professors and students rediscovered the cemetery. In the early 1900’s, philanthropist Collis P. Huntington bought the site for preservation. By the turn of the 21st century, however, the cemetery was once again forgotten and overgrown with vegetation. In 2018, the Tucker Family Cemetery received a $100,000 grant from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation to maintain and preserve the grounds.

The Slavery and Freedom exhibition at NMAAHC explores the intricate story of slavery and freedom, beginning with fifteenth-century Africa and Europe, continuing with the founding of the United States, and ending with the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction. Notable objects include small shackles designed for an enslaved child, a slave cabin built circa 1853, Harriet Tubman’s shawl, and Nat Turner’s Bible.

Credits and Sources:

Hotlzclaw, Mike. “Historic Family Cemetery in Hampton gets $100,00 Grant.” Daily Press(Newport News, VA), May 7, 2018. http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nws-tucker-cemetery-grant-0508-story.html.

Veronica A. Davis, email message to author, July 18, 2018.