Background
Stephen Davis Tucker was born on January 28, 1818 at Bloomfield, N. J. His parents were Benjamin and Jane (Davis) Tucker; his first American ancestor, grandfather of Benjamin, was Timothy Tucker, who came to America prior to 1732.
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Stephen Davis Tucker
Edit ProfileEducation
On June 3, 1834, young Tucker was apprenticed to a member of the firm of R. Hoe & Company of New York, manufacturers of printing presses, to learn "the art, trade and mystery of finisher or whitesmith. "
Career
In 1842 he was set to work in the experiment room which had just been established. At first his work there consisted merely in the fabrication and testing of models, but his inventive genius soon manifested itself. He proved to be "one of the most brilliant mechanics that this country ever produced", and in the course of his long service with the company took out nearly one hundred patents for improvements in printing, some in his own name alone and some in conjunction with Richard M. Hoe.
He invented the printing of both sides of a paper at once, the printing of a continuous web of paper instead of individual sheets, and the folding of newspapers by machinery as they come off the press.
In 1846 he became foreman of his department, and in 1848 was sent to Paris to set up new Hoe presses for La Patrie and start their operation.
Further business of the firm kept him in France for two years. He was admitted as a partner May 28, 1860, and finally retired on August 31, 1893, transferring his share to Robert Hoe, 1839-1909.
Tucker continued to live in New York, but traveled abroad extensively. He devoted much of his leisure to the study of sundials and assembled a collection of more than sixty specimens in ivory, bone, silver, and wood, illustrating both artistic and scientific aspects; this he left to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
He also wrote a "History of R. Hoe & Company, " which is of great value for the study of the printing art in the nineteenth century. It was not intended for publication and was never printed, but there are copies in the Library of Congress, the Newberry Library (Chicago), and the Stephen Spaulding Collection at the University of Michigan, besides three or four in private possession. He died on October 9, 1902 in London.
Achievements
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Stephen Davis Tucker was one of the most brilliant mechanics. Among his most important inventions were those which made practicable the printing of both sides of a paper at once, the printing of a continuous web of paper instead of individual sheets, and the folding of newspapers by machinery as they come off the press.
Works
Connections
He was twice married: first, about 1852, to Aime Desire, daughter of Jean Cherouvrier of Le Mans, who died September 12, 1860; and second, November 4, 1862, to Sarah Ann, daughter of William Conquest of London, who survived him.
