Fort Worth, Tarrant County
(1842-1892) Hagar Tucker was the first African American policeman in Fort Worth, notable in 1870s Texas. Born into slavery, he came here from Kentucky in 1857 and was emancipated in 1865. One of the first African Americans in the county registered to vote, he was appointed a "special policeman" in 1873, partly through influence of former master Wm. B. Tucker, then alderman. Hagar was the only Black on the force, one of few until the 1950s. Paid separately from other police, he could only patrol Black neighborhoods. He served a short time, later working other jobs and eventually returning to the Wm. B. Tucker household with his wife Amy and three daughters. (2007)