Both monument and grave are in the lower section of Hillside Cemetery in Bremen, on the east side of Waldoboro Road (Highway 32), about seven miles south of Waldoboro and Highway 1.
Samuel Tucker was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, third of the eight children of Andrew and Mary (Belcher) Tucker. At the young age of eleven he ran away from home and went to sea, following in the footsteps of his seafaring father. By the age of seventeen he had become a second mate. Continuing to rise, by the eve of the American Revolution he was in command of his own ship, the
Young Phoenix.
The advent of hostilities saw him as lieutenant of a company
of soldiers. On Jan. 20, 1776, Washington commissioned him captain of the Franklyn, an army warship. Through the early part of the war he performed admirably, capturing many prizes at sea and on March 15, 1777, Congress recognized his services by appointing him a captain in the navy. Several months later he received a ship to command, the Boston.
Again capturing several more prizes, Tucker lost the Boston at Charleston, South Carolina and fell into the hands of the British. Almost immediately exchanged for a captured British captain, he began life as a privateer aboard the ship, Thorn. Captured yet again in August of 1781 in the St. Lawrence, he was given a boat to carry
himself and his crew to Halifax, but set a course for Boston instead. His arrival at Boston marked the end of his career in the navy.
After brief stints as a merchant seaman and in business, he moved to Bristol, Maine, and purchased a farm, where he spent the rest of his life. From 1814 to 1818 he was a member of the Massachusetts legislature and later was twice elected to the Maine legislature. In 1821 a private act of Congress allotted him a pension of twenty dollars per month, later increased to fifty. Commodore Samuel Tucker died at Bremen, Maine on March 10, 1833 at the age of 85.
A comprehensive biography, A brief sketch of Commodore Samuel Tucker, by John H. Sheppard, has been digitized by Archive.org and can be read there.