Batteaux and Banjos
The Real Old Dan Tucker:
from Virginia to Georgia and a Batteaux Connection in the Savannah River's
"Petersburg Boats"
The song “Old Dan Tucker” was first published in 1843 by Daniel Decatur Emmett, the famous minstrel show performer from Mt. Vernon, Ohio. While many assume that Emmett composed the song, claims of an African American origin have been around since the time of its publication. Distinctive features of the music and lyrics strongly suggest roots in black tradition, and given the large number of early minstrel show songs and tunes derived from African American sources, it would not be unusual if this were the case with "Old Dan Tucker" as well. There is even a place in Georgia where, according to local legend, the song was first sung by slaves on the plantation of Captain — or, to go by the title on his gravestone, Reverend — Daniel Tucker Sr., of Elbert County.
Alexandria Gazette, March 4, 1844. Claims that "Old Dan Tucker" derived from African American sources have been around since the time of its publication. Despite its assertion that black music was merely imitative, this may be the earliest source suggesting that the song was known among Southern blacks prior to its appearance on the minstrel stage.
Just who was this Daniel Tucker allegedly celebrated in the popular song? Born on February 14, 1740, in Prince George County, Virginia, Tucker married Frances Epps, a daughter of the distinguished Epps/Eppes family of Southside Virginia, in 1768. Together they had at least nine children. During the War for American Independence, Daniel Tucker served as captain of the Amelia County Militia and, afterwards, received a land grant along the Savannah River in Elbert County, Georgia as a reward for his military service. Here, he established his plantation home Point Lookout, also known locally as Old Point. In 1798, Tucker purchased the Cook’s Ferry Tract from John Heard and operated a ferry from the site. Henceforth known as Tucker’s Ferry, it ran across the Savannah to the land of John Spear on the South Carolina shore.
In addition to being a militia captain and planter, Tucker was also a Methodist preacher. It is said that Tucker felt a deep sense of responsibility for the spiritual welfare of the slaves on his plantation and was frequently found praying with them and offering them counsel in religious matters. By all accounts, he was much loved by all in his community, both black and white. In 1818, Tucker died at the age of 78 (although not, apparently, of a toothache in his heel) and was buried in the family cemetery overlooking the Savannah River at Old Point. Thankfully, the cemetery escaped flooding when the river was dammed to form Lake Richard Russell, and you can visit his grave to this day.
These details of Tucker's life hardly square with the boisterous and irresponsible "hardened sinner" portrayed in the song. If Rev. Tucker was in fact the original subject, perhaps part of the lyrics' original comic appeal derived from the very incongruity between the man of the song and the man of reality. (If so, the Reverend must have been a very patient and good humored fellow indeed!) Meanwhile, the verse form and famous refrain provided a convenient framework for extensive lyrical improvisation as the song spread far beyond the borders of Elbert County and Old Dan Tucker took on a life of his own as verse upon verse was added by others in far flung places.
Whether or not it originally described the same Daniel Tucker of Elbert County, the song, once popular at corn-shuckings and other social gatherings in the area, has taken on special local significance. Furthermore, the story of the real Old Dan Tucker gives us insight into the actual world in which the song was enjoyed and where its lyrics found cultural relevance, being a believable, if exaggerated, representation of that world, regardless of whether or not they originated there.
Tucker Family Cemetery at the site of Point Lookout, from vanishinggeorgia.com
Gravestone of Rev. Daniel Tucker, from findagrave.com
Tucker’s story is typical of the many sons and daughters of Southside Virginia who filled in the Upcountry sections of South Carolina and Georgia after the American Revolution, and it comes as little surprise that one finds many of the same last names and cultural traditions in both places to this day. In fact, just downriver from Old Point at the confluence of the Savannah and Broad Rivers, settlers established Petersburg, Georgia, named after the town in Southside Virginia, a place Tucker would have known well, having been born and raised only a few miles away and living out the first half of his life in close proximity to "The Cockade City."
Cotton Boats Shooting Rapids on the upper Savannah River
One of the traditions which these settlers brought from Virginia was batteau knowledge, and they put it to good use building craft to carry produce — primarily cotton — to market on the upper reaches of the Savannah and Broad Rivers. The rivers of the Upcountry shared many features with the shallow, rocky waterways of the Virginia Piedmont, thus making the James River Batteau an ideal craft for the region. Virtually identical to the James River Batteau, with the exception of a slightly more upswept prow and stern, these boats became known locally as Petersburg Boats and saw use even into the early years of the 20th century. The real Old Dan Tucker would have been well acquainted with these craft both in his native Virginia and on the Savannah River, and, as a planter with an established ferry and landing on his property, it is likely he would have owned at least one if not more.
Petersburg Boat on the Savannah River, photographed in 1913