A Letter from Charles Buck II

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This is a letter from Charles Buck II to his son, Thomas Buck VI (Junior in the letter).

Mr. Thomas Buck, Jwr.
Rockingham County
Two miles from Kezeltown

August 12th, 1812

Dear Tommy:

I have been waiting for a favorable opportunity to forward your Dismissions to you, but fearing I might detain them too long, have enclosed them herein and left them with your Brother Sammy to be sent on in the most direct manner he can.

I have the happiness of informing you that we are in usual health as are our connections in this place also, as far as I know of. I heard from Mr. Dawson’s a few days past, at which time nothing uncommon appeared with them.

Br. Hiter has returned to our neighborhood, he preached at Water Lick on Tuesday last, and is to be there again tomorrow, together with Br. Brice and an other Minister.

Charley has been from home better than a week, he went with a young man of the name of Brady, who has been lately Baptized at Bethel. They went towards Dumfries, I suppose the young man was going to be married. William has been talking of going to see you, but I suppose it will not be till after the association, as I have some expectation of going there, If I should be spared.

As I have nothing of a particular nature to write you (tho’ were I to employ my pen which perhaps I ought to do I might find many things necessary) I therefore recommend you and family, to the care of him who is able to protect you from harm, and abundantly to supply all your wants.

Your Mother and sister desires most affectionately to be remembered to you all and I likewise present to yourself, Amelia and the children, my sincere love and affection.

From your Father,


The known characters are:

Thomas Buck -- born 1777, the first born son of Charles Buck II. He was called “Junior” to differentiate him from his uncle Thomas Buck V but will be assigned “VI” to differentiate from all the other Thomas Bucks. He is often referred to as the “Rev. Thomas Buck”.

Sammy – Samuel Mountjoy Buck, brother to Thomas, born 1783.

Mr. Dawson – probably Thomas’s father-in-law, Rev. James Dawson.

Charley – Charles Buck III, brother to Thomas, born 1788

William – William Calmes Buck, brother to Thomas, born 1790. He was licensed to preach only a few days after this letter was written.

Amelia – Thomas’ wife, Amelia Dawson Buck, born 1783.

Children – In 1812, Thomas had three children: Annice, Mary and Samuel.


Places are:

Water Lick – land donated by Charles Buck II for a church, approximately one mile from his house.

Dumfries – the oldest chartered town in Virginia. It dates to 1690 and includes a harbor on Quantico Creek. Charles Buck I owned land there. Dumfries is probably near the land originally owned by Thomas Buck I.

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Silhouettes of Charles and Mary Buck

In 1996, my dad, my son and I visited Front Royal, Virginia to research our roots there. The Warren Heritage Society was one of the main resources that we wanted to investigate. Unfortunately, we were only able to be there a few hours. Even so, we were able to learn a lot about the early Buck family in the Front Royal, Virginia area.

While browsing through some files, I came across one labeled simply “Charles Buck and Mary Richardson” and peeked into it. The file contained only these two silhouettes – no references, no sources, no notes. No one at the Society had any additional information. I took these photos of the silhouettes.

I have no idea whether these silhouettes are authentic or not but I’ve decided to use them to represent Charles and Mary Buck – my great, great, great, great grandfather and grandmother.

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Charles Buck II (1750 - 1823)

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Charles Buck II was born on October 28, 1750 in Frederick County, Virginia to Charles Buck I and Letitia Sorrel, his second wife. Charles II was the second son of Charles I. He lived all his life in Virginia.

Like his father, Charles II was an ardent sportsman but his life was greatly influenced and he was led into the Baptist faith by the Rev. James Ireland, a pioneer Baptist preacher of early Virginia. Charles II donated land near Buckton for the building of a Baptist church and a residence for Ireland. Charles Buck II and his younger brother, Thomas Buck V, were messengers from the Water Lick Church to the Ketoctin Association in 1795. Two of his sons, Thomas and William, became prominent Baptist ministers.

Family lore is that Charles Buck II was a prisoner of war during the Revolution, aboard a British ship in Charleston harbor, but no record has been found of his military service.

Charles BUCK II married Mary Richardson, daughter of William Richardson and Isabella Calmes, April 3, 1774. Mary Richardson was born on Aug 31, 1752.

Charles BUCK II and Mary RICHARDSON had eight children:

William Calmes BUCK I, born August 23, 1790
Letitia BUCK, born in 1776
Thomas BUCK, born November 15, 1777
Sarah BUCK, born in 1780
Samuel Mountjoy BUCK, born in 1783
John BUCK, born in 1785
Charles BUCK III, born in 1788
Mary Richardson BUCK, born in 1792
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John Buck (1748 - 1815)

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John Buck, born on December 27, 1748 near Buckton, Virginia, was the oldest son of Charles Buck I. His mother was Anna Sorrell Earle, the first wife of Charles Buck I.

John Buck and Miriam Richardson were married in 1774. Miriam Richardson (daughter of William Richardson and Isabella Calmes) was born on Dec 27, 1748. She died in 1825. John Buck and Miriam Richardson had the following children:

Charles Buck
Anne Buck
Miriam Buck (died in infancy)
Peter C. Buck
Isabella Buck
Elizabeth Buck
Isabella Miriam Buck
John L. Buck
William Richardson Buck
Sarah Buck.

John Buck was a Lieutenant Colonel of the Virginia Militia and is often referred to as Colonel John Buck. He also was Tax Commissioner and later Sheriff of Frederick County, Virginia (formerly Orange County, now Warren). John Buck is listed as a justice of Dunmore County on October 26, 1773 in "Justices of the Peace of Colonial Virginia, 1757-1775", Bulletin of the Virginia State Library, Vol. XIV, Nos. 2, 3, pages 114, 123. His name appears regularly in the court records of 1778.

About 1785, perhaps as late as 1790, John Buck emigrated to Kentucky along with Marquis Calmes IV, Marquis Richardson, John Richardson, Benjamin Coombs and Samuel Price. These were among the early pioneers of Kentucky. John Buck settled in Woodford County near what is now the town of Versailles. He was the first postmaster to serve the citizens of Versailles.

John Buck died in 1815 (although his death is given as in 1816 by Blakemore). He was buried in Lexington, Kentucky; his grave is near the Henry Clay statue.
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