Cynthia Beverley Tucker Washington Coleman

Cynthia Beverley Washington Coleman ( Tucker; 1832–1908) was an American preservationist and writer. She was one of the first preservationists to advocate for the restoration of historic buildings in Williamsburg, Virginia. Her work predated the establishment of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, with Coleman credited as a forebear of that organization's restoration and preservation work in the city.

Biography She was born in Saline County, Missouri and christened Cynthia Smith Tucker, but her middle name was later changed to Beverley. Her father was writer and judge Nathaniel Beverley Tucker, a prominent advocate for States Rights, southern unity, and the continuation of slavery. In 1834, the Tucker family moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, where Nathaniel Tucker had accepted a professorship at the nearby College of William and Mary. As such, Cynthia grew up in the Williamsburg area, and was educated both at home and at a Loudoun County boarding school.

In 1852, Cynthia married Henry Augustine Washington, a legal scholar and professor of history at William and Mary. The couple often travelled between Williamsburg and Washington D.C., where Henry often sat in on congressional debates. However, their family life did not last long: their two daughters both died in infancy, and in 1858 Henry was killed in an accident with an air rifle. In 1861, she married Charles Washington Coleman, a Williamsburg native and surgeon. The couple's marriage took place early in the American Civil War, and soon Charles joined the Confederate army to work as a surgeon while she remained in Williamsburg. During the 1862 Peninsula campaign, Williamsburg was occupied by the Union army, and, by 1863, Cynthia had moved to North Carolina, only returning after the war ended.

Cynthia Coleman died on 24 October 1908 and is buried at Bruton Parish Church. She is considered by some sources to be a forebear of the movement to establish Colonial Williamsburg, and her portrait is preserved in the Swem Library at William and Mary.