Sherry Tucker Brown’s family roots run deep in New York, and also in a familiar brand of alcoholic spirits.
Her grandmother, Francis Dewar Tucker, who was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, was the daughter of John Dewar II, the son of John Dewar, founder of Dewar Scotch Whiskey.
There is no known official record of Black family members who are descendants of the Dewar dynasty, but Brown said she is acquainted with numerous Black Dewar descendants in Jamaica.
“I have met Black Dewars in Jamaica, and there are still Black and White Dewars who live in Jamaica,” said Brown who turned 80 in January. Her grandmother, Brown said, was sent with her sister to New York, but they had other family members who could pass for White, and were sent to Scotland. However, none of her family shared in the Dewar family inheritance. She said her whole family in New York grew up knowing this family history and a rule was instilled that no Dewar Whiskey was allowed in their home.
“That was really the story of the United States,” she said. “I wasn’t getting any of the money, so why was I supporting them?”
Even without the inheritance, the family made a prominent name for themselves. “Although we didn’t inherit the Scotch whiskey money, the family, the Tuckers still did very well and did very well by their children and their children’s children,” said Brown.
Sherry’s uncle, Alfred Tucker, a World War I veteran became the eighth Black Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in America, and the second Black CPA in New York City, working in an office on Lenox Avenue and 125th Street. He later went on to work as an accountant and field auditor at the New York State Transit Commission.
“No matter what was going on in the United States then, I mean the total segregation, he still went to law school and he graduated from Colombia [as] a CPA.”
Brown, the youngest daughter of five girls, all born in the Bronx, attended the historically Black university, Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. She later went to work for the New York Urban League Street Academy and also for the city of New York as a counseling department manager for a vocational training program located in what is now the Theresa Towers on 125th St.
She is now co-principal of the Tucker Brown Group, a Cape Cod based consulting firm.
Brown was excited about sharing her family’s story and wanted to let people know of her family’s contributions to the fabric of New York and Harlem. Despite her family not inheriting anything from the Dewars, she said they did build a name for themselves and helped to enrich their communities.
“It’s actually a part of African American history. Some of us know where we came from and some of us don’t.”
