Tucker Hall

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The Tucker family serves as a prime example of the varying opinions on slavery held by the faculty at William & Mary. Tucker Hall is named for St. George Tucker, who studied law at William & Mary under George Wythe (who also taught Thomas Jefferson). St. George Tucker would eventually teach law at William & Mary and in 1796, Tucker wrote and published A Dissertation on Slavery: With A Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of It in the State of Virginia. Later, his son, Nathaniel Beverly Tucker would also attend and teach law at William & Mary. Unlike his father, Beverly Tucker believed vehemently that slavery was beneficial to all involved. President Thomas Roderick Dew, who became president in 1836, was a vocal advocate for slavery, calling it an absolute and necessary good. John Millington, who served as a Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy from 1836-1848, was known to entertain his guests by tricking black people into receiving electric shock.