James Warren Hale

 

James Warren Hale, my maternal grandfather, was, primarily, a laborer on the railroad but he was also an aspiring writer.  Beginning in 1942, and likely earlier, he wrote a total of 28 short stories, plays or novels –5916 pages -- in 35 journals.  The journals are a mix of hard cover “Record” books and spiral bound notebooks.  Most of his stories are very simple and written in ink with a small but neat cursive handwriting.

I recall seeing a few of these stories along with a typewriter on a table in the bedroom he used at the Askew Farm near Meridian, Mississippi.  This would have been in the late 1950s.  I thought there were only a few stories.  After his death in 1966, his daughter, Jeannette Hill, kept the manuscripts.  Jeannette died in 2004.  After the death of her husband John in 2018, I asked their son, John if he was aware of the stories and if they were anywhere to be found.  John eventually found the manuscripts in an old suitcase.  John gave the manuscripts to me and I began to study them.

I typed three of his stories, including his autobiographical “Railroad Man” and have now put them in a book, “The Times, Life and Stories ofJ. W. Hale” along with some genealogical information.  The book also includes a short autobiography about growing up in the late 1800s that was written by Dr. R. E. Hale, brother of J. W. Hale as well as a history of the Elizabeth Presbyterian Church that they attended.  I’ve self-published this book on Amazon in both paperback and ebook format so others have access to it.

Frankly, these are not good stories but I’m pleased to have them.  They tell a little more about the grandfather that I barely knew.  In particular, his autobiographical sketch, “Railroad Man”, provides a lot of background information. 

My grandfather may not have actually intended for his stories to be read but I’m pleased to make him a published author.

Book: My Buck Family of Virginia

The print version of my genealogy book “My Buck Family of Virginia” is finally available and I’ve received the first copy for checking. Amazon said that my first proof copy (ordered in late January) was lost in transit. As far as I can tell, my book is ready to be sold. It can be found on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0842MZMSG .

My Buck Family of Virginia Book

I’ve published a genealogy book about my Buck family.  Much of the information in the book is also available on this blog.  My book is available now as an ebook on Amazon and will soon be available as a printed book.  See https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0847R7WG8/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

My branch of the Buck family is usually referred to as the “Buck Family of Virginia”.  The first member of the Buck family to come to the New World was the Reverend Richard Bucke who sailed from England on June 2, 1609 for Jamestown on the Seaventure. He was the second minister of the Virginia colony and is probably best known for performing the marriage ceremony of John Rolfe and Pocahontas in 1614.

The progenitor of my Buck family of Virginia was Thomas Buck (1618 - 1659) who left Gravesend, England for Virginia on August 21, 1635 onboard the ship George when he was seventeen years old. There is no known relationship between Thomas Buck and the Rev. Richard Bucke but there are several interesting, if perhaps circumstantial, similarities. They were from the same general area in England and settled into the same area in Virginia. It seems highly likely that Thomas would have known the children of Richard Bucke.

In Virginia, Thomas Buck settled into York County, Virginia and appeared to have been prosperous; however, he died at the age of 41.  His will includes an inventory of his household goods which includes, among other things, a Bible and 8000 nails.  There is little information on his children and grandchildren except for his great grandson Charles.

Charles Buck I was born about 1710 in York County and died in 1771 in the Shenandoah Valley. The three sons of Charles Buck I married three daughters of William Richardson and Isabella Calmes in 1774. These three families had thirty-two children. I am a descendant of Charles Buck II through his son William Calmes Buck.

Although the Buck family is not often mentioned in history books, they were a prominent and well-to-do plantation family in early Virginia. They were active in the local economy, politics and religion of the Shenandoah Valley during the 1700's and 1800's.  In the 1800s, many family members moved westward, especially into Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.

The Buck family of Virginia also has connections to the Calmes, Ashby, Blakemore, Field, Helm, Neville, Payne, Pierce, Thomas, Bayly, Catlett, Sorrell and Mauzy families of Virginia and Maryland.  Later, a strong connection to the Harrison family was developed in Texas.

All of this information and more is contained in the book.  

Charles Willis Buck and the Crystal Fount

In 1873, C. W. Buck was "Editor and Proprietor" of the "Crystal Fount" a newspaper "Devoted to Temperance, Morality, Literature and General Intelligence -- Neutral in Religion and Politics".  This "Family Paper", published in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, cost two dollars per year. In the November 3 issue for 1873, C. W. Buck's column (dated October 3) was in favor of prohibition, closing with "Destroy it from the land by forbidding it made and sold; and we shall soon have no drunkards to convert and save."   His column of October 7 was "We make Ourselves" in which he said that God's works are perfect and "man made himself what he is".  This issue also noted publication of the paper would be suspended for one month due in part to "failure of subscribers to pay up" and pleaded for financial support.  "We have done wrong in sending out the paper without the money, and will hereafter strictly abide by the cash system."  The Crystal Fount was intended to be the “Organ of the Grand Lodge of Alabama”. The Grand Lodge of Alabama was part of the Independent Order of Good Templars (IOGT) – a fraternal organization that promoted temperance or total abstinence from drugs and alcohol.    The IOGT was founded in the 19th century and modeled after Freemasonry; however, the IOGT was not part of the Freemasons.  The IOGT still exists today but the Crystal Fount was published for only about two years.

My dad had this copy of Volume 1 of the Crystal Fount.  Although barely readable, it may be the only remaining issue.

Organization of Buck Family of Virginia Blog

The organization of this blog may sometimes appear to be random and that is often true.  After all, this is a blog.  On the other hand, the organization is somewhat chronological.  Also, particularly the past year or so of posts have been about my direct line in the Buck family.  I’ve presented that direct line to the extent that I feel comfortable; however, there is a lot of Buck family information still at hand.  Furthermore, I happen across additional bits of information frequently.  So, how to present new information?

I’ve decided that new blog posts will be simply whatever I’m working on or stumble upon at the time.  In other words, nearly random.

At the same time, I am working on a book:  “My Buck Family of Virginia -- The Family Tree of Gordon Sandlin Buck”.  A number of people have asked or suggested that I write a book about the Buck family but I’ve always noted that it would take a lot of work.  I would then refer people to my blog or Ancestry.com.  One day it dawned on me that I essentially had the book written – I just needed to piece it together.  As of now, my “book” consists of many, many cut-and-paste jobs taken from this blog and other things that I’ve written.  I’m sure this book won’t be a best seller but I will try to have it published and made available somehow.  Stay tuned.