Another book announcement! Sorry, fans of my novels, my latest publication is about genealogy; however, the sequel to my “Enchanted Journal” novel is nearly finished.

My great, great, great grandfather, William Calmes Buck I (1790–1872), was perhaps the most illustrious of my ancestors. Although much has been written about him, especially his ministry, I felt that his story deserved to be told in more detail. Fortunately, Wm C Buck (as he usually signed his name) wrote an autobiography. I have a transcribed copy of his autobiography and retyped it. This book includes some letters and excerpts from his daughter Emma’s diaries.

Wm C Buck was an American Baptist minister, author, editor, and publisher. Born in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, he was primarily self-educated. Still, he became a professor of religion at Waco University in Texas. Dr. Buck was the author of five books, a newspaper, and many religious tracts. He founded and pastored several Baptist churches, especially in Kentucky and Alabama.

Check it out at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFWV2DX9.

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.

William Calmes Buck II (part 3)

continued ...

Obituaries

Decatur Daily - February 4, 1924

Former Citizen Dies in Florence

Funeral services for the late W. C. Buck, formerly a city councilman of Albany and for the past five years a prominent citizen of Florence, where he was engaged as a building contractor, at the time of this death, which occurred Monday morning at his Florence home, will be held at the city cemetery and interment will be there Tuesday afternoon.

Mr. Buck is survived by his wife, four sons, C. L. Buck of Albany; M. S., T. N., and C. C. Buck of Birmingham; two daughters, Mrs. Jack Austin of Birmingham and Mrs. H. H. Masterson of Florence.  The deceased is survived by three brothers, John Buck of Tucson, Arizona; C. W. Buck and Robert D. Buck of Columbus, Ga., four sisters, Mrs. Miriam Stringer, Mrs. Belle Quarles and Miss Buck, all of Columbus, Ga., and Mrs. Ward Johnson of New York City.

W. C. Buck came here in 1888 and for eight years was a prominent local business man.  For eight years he was a member of the city council when Albany bore the name of New Decatur.  He was an active member of the Missionary Baptist church and was one of the charter members of the First Baptist church of Albany.

Decatur Daily - January 12, 1950

Beloved Woman Is Called Home

Funeral services for Mrs. Martha Buck, 91, will be held Friday at 3 p.m. at Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church. Rev. E.N. Chandler will conduct the rites. Interment will be made in city cemetery, Mutual Service directing.

Mrs. Buck died at a local hospital, today at 2 a.m. after several weeks illness. The body will remain at Mutual Chapel until 9 a.m. Friday, when it will be carried to the residence, 921 Sherman Street, until time for service.

Mrs. Buck was the last living charter member of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church. The church was founded in 1889.

Surviving are: four sons, C.L., Decatur; Murray S., Hubert N. and Charles C., Birmingham; a daughter, Mrs. H.H. Masterson, Birmingham; one brother, Edgar Clardy, Philadelphia, Penn.; 19 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren.

 

William Calmes Buck II (part 2)

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Photographs and Memorabilia

Because of the house fire in the early 1920s in Florence, there are no photographs of an adult W. C. Buck and also none of Mattie Clardy Buck until her old age. 

Helen Clementine Masterson Mason had the picture below of W. C. Buck as a child and described it in her notes.  She said that she had copies made and distributed.  Many years later, Marcia Buck Cole sent me a scanned version from her father’s photo album.

William Calmes Buck II

Martha Elizabeth Clardy Buck

Family Lore

When my father was about six years old, W. C. Buck, his grandfather, visited them in Decatur, Alabama.  This would have been just before his death.  He remembered watching his grandfather shave with a straight razor when his grandfather noticed a wart on my dad’s hand.  “What’s that, boy?” his grandfather said.  “A wart.”replied my dad.”Let me see it.”  When my dad extended his hand, his grandfather used his straight razor to slice the wart off before my dad knew what was happening.   Of course, it bled a lot but it never grew back. 

Mattie Clardy Buck outlived her husband, W. C. Buck by 26 years so more is known about her than about her husband.  She was a kind and caring woman, if a bit eccentric.

Her son, Hubert Nelson Buck, wrote that his mother was “An unreconstructed rebel until the day of her death (in her 92nd year). The misrule, fears, and chaos of reconstruction days having left searing and indelible marks in her memory.”

Family lore is that Mattie Buck was such a staunch rebel that she refused to travel down Grant or Sherman streets in Decatur.   However, she actually lived on Grant Street and then later on Sherman Street.  Another story is that Mattie Buck disowned her brother, George, when he moved to Pennsylvania in the 1920s. 

Helen Clementine Masterson, a granddaughter of Mattie Clardy Buck, wrote that “Granny” was Episcopalian before her marriage.  Mattie “wore her wedding slippers out dancing on her wedding day because she knew she would never be allowed to dance again -- Southern Baptists didn’t dance.”  Helen was a favored grandchild until she married a “damn yankee” at which time her grandmother reclaimed some jewelry that she had given to Helen.

Her grandson, Gordon S. Buck Sr. remembered “She was very tall, perhaps 5-9" or more; taller than her husband.  Her brothers were all big men -- more than six feet tall.”

Daddy told me a story of how his brother “Buddy” once almost got kicked out of the church because there was a rumor (which was probably true) that he had had a few drinks before going to a party.  A disciplinary committee was formed and, to their surprise, Grandma Buck showed up at their meeting.  She looked each of the members in the eye and reminded them that she was aware of problems they had had while growing up.  No action was taken.  

My dad always said (and his brothers and sisters agreed) that, on the death of her husband, his Grandma Buck forgave many debts that were owed him as a building contractor.  In particular, there were many debts from small churches that he had built or helped to build.  This caused some of her children to be greatly upset.  It is said that these debts were valued at approximately two hundred thousand dollars and that she either wrote “Paid in Full” on them or tore them up.  

Being named after my dad, I’d always heard how he and Nelson were named using maternal surnames.  When Daddy and I began our genealogy studies, I asked about the details of those ancestors.  Of course, he knew the Sandlin family and we quickly found the Roberts family but have never found any information on a Gordon or a Nelson family.  

Another grandson, Nelson R. Buck remembered that his Grandma Buck always said that she wasn't pretty and knew that she wasn't.  But she had a little poem that she often quoted:

"I know how ugly I are
I know my face ain't no star
But I don't mind it
for I'm behind it
the fellow in front gets the jar."

William Calmes Buck's Children: Charles Willis Buck (1835 -1900) continued

continued from previous post ...

In the summer of 1858, C. W. Buck and others met in the Methodist Church to discuss forming a Young Men's Christian Association in Selma, Alabama.  This was the first YMCA in the state of Alabama.

In 1858, C. W. Buck and his brother Giddings attempted to open a school in Sumterville as indicated by their advertisement in the Independent of Gainesville Alabama newspaper of December 12, 1857.  Apparently, this school was not successful as no further mention of it is available.

C. W. Buck and Susan Croom Sparrow Buck must have moved from the Greene county area in late 1859 because "sister Susan Buck" was granted a letter of dismissal the Saturday before the second Sunday of October, 1859.

In the 1860 census, C. W. Buck is shown as a Baptist Minister living in Marion, Perry County, Alabama with his wife.  They appear to be living in a boarding house or hotel.

In lists of Confederate soldiers, Charles W. Buck is shown to be a Chaplain in the 42^nd regiment of the Alabama Infantry.  The 42^nd was organized at Columbus, Mississippi in May 1862.  It participated in the siege of Corinth and the garrison at Vicksburg.

In 1870, Charles and Susan Buck lived in the town of Butler in Choctaw County, Alabama with their young family. Again, he is shown as being a Minister.

An advertisement in the Livingston Journal of September 29, 1871 indicates that C. W. Buck was an agent for the Mississippi Valley Life Insurance Company.

In 1872, the "Tuscaloosa Times", listing the death of his daughter, Mary Emma, referred to Rev. and Mrs. C. W. Buck.

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 published for only about two years.

From 1879 to 1881, C. W. Buck served as pastor at the Girard Baptist Church in Russell County, Alabama.

In 1880, He lived in Brownville and Whittens in Lee County, Alabama.  In this census, Charles is shown as being a farmer.  In addition to his family, now numbering nine children, the household includes Lucy Parker as a (white) servant along with her two young children.

By 1884, C. W. Buck had changed his profession from minister to farmer and then to dentistry.  He practiced a form of “painless” dentistry which he called “Electrodentis”.  An advertisement in the Tuskegee News dated October 2, 1884 seems to indicate that he was travelling from town to town and pulling teeth.

In 1897, the Montgomery, Alabama City Directory includes Charles W. Buck as a dentist.

Charles Willis Buck died in Montgomery, Alabama on April 8, 1900 of pneumonia brought on by influenza.

In the 1900 census, Susan C. Buck is shown as a widow and living in Glennville, Russell County, Alabama with her son-in-law A. D. Quarles and his wife Belle Sparrow Buck Quarles.  A. D. Quarles is shown as being a farmer and blacksmith.

Susan Croom Sparrow Buck died in Phenix City, Alabama April 26, 1906 apparently as the result of being thrown from a carriage.

... to be continued

William Calmes Buck's Children: Charles Willis Buck (1835-1900)

Charles Willis Buck was the third son born to William CalmesBuck and his second wife Isabella Miriam Field Buck. He was born on September 26, 1835 in Woodford County, Kentucky "at 5 min. past 7 a.m." according to the memoirs of his father, William Calmes Buck (I).  He was named in honor of his grandfathers Charles Buck and Willis Field.

According to the U. S. Census of 1850, Charles Willis Buck, age 14, was living with his parents and siblings in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.  His father, William C. Buck, is shown as being a Baptist Minister.  Charles was attending school.

Although his father was largely self-educated (but even so, referred to as “Dr. Buck” later in his life), Charles Willis received a formal education.  His early school years were in Louisville, Kentucky.  At about age 14, Charles and his younger brother Giddings were enrolled and boarded at Georgetown College in Kentucky.  Georgetown College was chartered in 1829 and was the first Baptist college west of the Allegheny Mountains.  After a few years at Georgetown, Charles and Giddings were enrolled and boarded at Union University in Tennessee after their mother died in 1852.   In fact, they boarded at the home of the president of Union College, Dr. Joseph Eaton.  Charles and his younger brother Giddings attended Union College whereas their sister Emma attended the Female Academy.  Giddings graduated in 1857 and, perhaps, Charles did as well. 

On October 21, 1857, Charles’s sister, Emma, while visiting in Front Royal, Virginia, noted in her diary “Hope Brother Charlie will succeed in getting a situation very soon.”  He was 22 years old.  On November 21, Charles visited Front Royal and the surrounding area.  Charles and Emma left Front Royal on December 9 for Washington D.C. where they visited the Capitol, Rotunda, Library, Senate Chamber and House of Representatives.  They departed for Baltimore on December 11 to visit relatives.  On December 18, they departed for Norfolk, Virginia on the steamer George.  They used railroad and other steamers to travel to Selma, Alabama where their father was living.  In Selma, Emma noted that she met Mrs. Croom (who would become Charles' mother-in-law).

Charles Willis Buck and Susan Croom Sparrow were married on September 13, 1857 in Greene County, Alabama. Susan Croom Sparrow, daughter of Robert J. Sparrow and Nancy E. Croom, was born on July 13, 1838 in Greene County, Alabama. The Sparrows were a well-to-do farming family in Greene County, Alabama.  In the census of 1860, the Sparrow farm, run by her mother, Nancy, after the death of her father, appears to be relatively valuable and in near proximity to other valuable farms.

Charles Willis Buck and Susan Croom Sparrow had the following children:

• William Calmes Buck II (1861-1924); married Martha Elizabeth Clardy, December 1, 1881.  As my great grandfather, he gets his own post in this blog as well as this short summary. 
•  Frances Buck (1862-1863)
•  Charles Willis Buck Jr. (1863-1883); married Martha Mahalia Clay
•  Susan Croom Buck (1866-1906); married William Thomas Quarles
•  Mary Emma Buck (1867-1872)
•  Miriam Field Buck (1869-1936); married Charles Davis Stringer
•  Robert Sparrow Buck (1870-1930); married Lenna Adams
•  John Hickman Buck (1872-1956); married Annie Zerada Johnson
•  Belle Sparrow Buck (1874-1964); married Abram David Quarles
•  Katie Steiner Buck (1878-1957); married Haywood Johnson 
• Elizabeth Davidge "Bessie" Buck (1876-1965) 

(to be continued)

William Calmes Buck: Kentucky

(Continuing posts about William Calmes Buck)

About 1820, William Calmes Buck moved to the “wilderness” of Kentucky (Union and Woodford counties) where he founded several churches but supported his family by farming because preachers were not paid at the time.

David E. Buck noted " . . . Buck steered Kentucky Baptists through the very turbulent years 1820 - 1850, when bitter opposition to missions and salaried ministers almost did in the Baptist cause in that frontier state.   . . . For fifteen years William preached in small churches around Union and Woodford Counties, almost complete wilderness.  Paid nothing for his gospel labors (he later wrote his total receipts for his first twenty-four years in the ministry were $724, mostly merchandise!), Buck farmed to support his family of five."

In later years in Kentucky, Wm. C. Buck was founder and first pastor of the East Baptist Church of Louisville, editor of the state Baptist paper, compiler and publisher of a Baptist hymnal, and co-founder of a Bible society which later merged with what is now the American Bible Society.  Upon leaving Kentucky, he held a denominational post in Nashville, Tennessee and later was pastor of the First Baptist Churches of Greensboro, Alabama and Selma, Alabama and Columbus, Mississippi. 

While living in Louisville, Wm. C. Buck was appointed president of the (Baptist) American Indian Mission Association.  In 1845, he submitted to the U. S. 28^th Congress their recommendations for the welfare of the American Indian tribes.  The recommendations can be summarized as:

1. Boundaries for Indian Territory to be fixed per a Senate bill of 1837 (which was not passed)
2. A central tract to be used for Government of the Indian Territory by all tribes
3. Representation of Indian tribes in congress
4. An educational program for the Indian tribes.

Buck was known for his presence in the pulpit.  Spencer wrote “Perhaps no other man ever preached in Kentucky that could command the attention of so large an audience in the open air.”

Wm. C. Buck was adamantly opposed to infant baptism.  His book, “A Brief Defense of the Antiquity, History & Practice of the Baptists” explained his viewpoint.  The book was based on two of his sermons which each lasted for three hours!

Wm. C. Buck preached the annual sermon before the Alabama state convention which met in Gainesville in 1858.  He then settled in Selma as pastor of its Baptist church.  In 1859, he again felt the need to publish his views and began a new paper, "The Baptist Correspondent".  His paper was in competition with the existing "Southwestern Baptist" and failed after two years.

(To be continued)