Name Charles Tuckerman | ||
Charles Keating Tuckerman (March 11, 1827 – February 26, 1896) was an American diplomat, writer and the first American minister resident to Greece.
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Early life and family
Charles Keating Tuckerman was born on March 11, 1827 in Boston, Massachusetts to Henry Harris Tuckerman (1783–1860) and Ruth Lyman Keating (1787–1823). His parents had the following children: Elizabeth Tuckerman Heath (d. 1847), Henry Theodore Tuckerman, Lucy Keating Tuckerman (1820–1880), Ruth Keating Tuckerman (1821–1896), and Charles Keating Tuckerman (1821–1896). His sister Ruth married Rudolph Bunner, Jr. (1813–1875), the son of Rudolph Bunner (1779–1837), a U.S. Representative from New York. He was educated at Boston Latin School.
His first cousins included Edward Tuckerman (1817–1886), the botanist, Samuel Parkman Tuckerman (1819–1890), the composer, and Frederick Goddard Tuckerman (1821–1873), the poet.
Career
After spending his 20s working overseas, he returned to the United States in 1856, settling in New York City, where he directed the New York Institution for the Blind.
President Andrew Johnson asked Tuckerman in 1867 to be the American minister resident to Greece, because of Tuckerman's experience overseas. The Senate refused initially to confirm Tuckerman's nomination, but he was officially appointed on March 11, 1868 and presented his credentials on June 16, 1868. Tuckerman was the first American diplomat ever posted to Greece. While there, he helped improve trading relations between Greece and the United States. His resignation in 1871 was delayed for six months by President Ulysses S. Grant, who wanted to keep Tuckerman on the job and presented recall on November 4, 1871. Tuckerman returned to the United States after his Greek posting.
Writings
Tuckerman wrote three books:
Personal life
In 1858, Tuckerman married Mary Fleming (1837–1901). Together they had:
Tuckerman died in Florence, Italy on February 26, 1896.