Letitia Amelia Buck (1803 – 1885)

Letitia Amelia Buck was the eleventh child of Thomas Buck V and Anne Richardson.  She was born on April 7, 1803 and died on June 15, 1885 in Riverton, Virginia at the age of 82. She was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Front Royal, Virginia.

Letitia Amelia Buck and John Mauzy Blakemore were married on July 31, 1820. John Mauzy Blakemore, the son of George Blakemore and Elizabeth Mauzy, was born on June 4, 1798. He died on July 29, 1853 of an apoplexy at the age of 55 and was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Front Royal, Virginia.

John Mauzy Blakemore was said to be of "distinguished bearing" and "so meticulous in his attire that he was known as ‘Gentleman John'".

Letitia Amelia Buck and John Mauzy Blakemore purchased "Bel Air" in 1837 from her father, Thomas Buck V for $5000.  Later they sold Bel Air to William Mason Buck.  As explained by their son, Thomas Fayette Blakemore, his father had “in a thoughtless moment” endorsed some loans by a friend and had to liquidate much of his property when those loans were called.

After selling Bel Air and other properties, Letitia Amelia Buck and John Mauzy Blakemore moved to Tennessee.   In 1842, Letitia Amelia Buck and John Mauzy Blakemore lived in "Homewood", New Providence, Tennessee.  Homewood was a farm and John Mauzy Blakemore was not well suited to be a farmer.  His son, Thomas Fayette Blakemore, was called upon to manage the farm “a task which I heartily disliked”.   Homewood was sold or traded, apparently at a loss, about 1846.    Letitia Amelia Buck and John Mauzy Blakemore then returned to Front Royal and built a house called “Retreat”.  In the 1850 census, Letitia Amelia Buck Blakemore and John Mauzy Blakemore are living in Warren County, Virginia.  According to his son, Thomas, John Mauzy Blakemore died in 1853 of an apoplexy.

In the 1860 census, Letitia Amelia Buck Blakemore is shown as a “Retired Lady” living on the farm of J. R. Richards and having a personal estate of $2800.  J. R. Richards was the son-in-law of Letitia Amelia Buck Blakemore being the second husband of her daughter Elizabeth Blakemore.  J. R. Richards is shown as having real estate or $26500 and personal estate of $19030.  Most people in the census have no entry under real estate or personal estate.

John Mauzy Blakemore and Letitia Amelia Buck had five children:

• Thomas Fayette Blakemore, born 1822; married Susan Payne Bayly, 1848; died 1896
• Elizabeth Mauzy Blakemore, born 1825; married Richard B. Bayly, 1841; married James Russell Richards, 1851; died 1891
• William Richardson Blakemore was born and died in 1832
• Marcus Newton Blakemore, born 1835; married Angela Warner, 1866
• Richard Mauzy Blakemore, born 1843; married Lily Bowen, 1892; died 1924

Elizabeth Price Buck (1794-1871)

Elizabeth Price Buck was the ninth child of Thomas Buck V and Anne Richardson.  She was born on September 5, 1794 in Shenandoah County, Virginia and died October 21, 1871 in Paris, Tennessee at the age of 77.

Elizabeth Price Buck and George Neville Blakemore were married on October 27, 1814. George Neville Blakemore, son of George Blakemore and Elizabeth Mauzy, was born in 1791 and died in 1847 at the age of 56. George Neville Blakemore was one of the original justices (1836) of Warren County, Virginia and also a trustee of the Old School Happy Creek Church in Front Royal.

George Neville Blakemore and Elizabeth Price Buck had seven children:

• Mary Rebecca Blakemore, born 1817; married Gustavus A. Williams, 1841; died 1897.
• Ann Elizabeth Blakemore, born 1815; married Presley Neville Helm, 1836.
• Thomas Luther Blakemore, born 1819; married Elizabeth Richards, 1839; died 1901.
• George William Blakemore, born 1821; died 1880.
• Lucy Virginia Blakemore was born 1824, died in 1859.
• Martha Letitia Blakemore, born 1826; married John Buck Helm, 1842; died 1854.
• Robert Newton Blakemore was born 1833; died 1917.

The family home of Elizabeth Price Buck and George Neville Blakemore in Front Royal was called “Rose Hill”.  Thomas Buck, Elizabeth’s father, had purchased this land in 1820.  Rose Hill was sold to William Richardson in 1841.  George and Elizabeth Blakemore then moved Tennessee near their daughter, Ann, who had married Pressley Neville Helm.  George died in Tennessee in 1847.

In 1860, Elizabeth Price Buck Blakemore was age 67 and living with her son Thomas and his wife, also named Elizabeth, in St. Joseph, Missouri.  This dwelling place was a hotel and probably owned by Thomas although he is listed as “bookkeeper” in 1870.  A total of 34 people were living there.  Elizabeth Price Buck Blakemore was not living at this hotel in 1870.  She had moved to Clay Brook, Tennessee and was living with her grandson, James L. Blakemore, the son of Thomas.

Thomas Luther Buck had transitioned from farmer to clerk to a partner in the hotel business with a hotel at Capon Springs, Virginia (now West Virginia) called “The Mountain House”.   The Mountain House was a luxurious, four-story hotel completed in 1851 to take advantage of the medicinal spring in the area.  At the time, The Mountain House was believed to be one of the largest structures in the South. In addition to Thomas, the partnership included John R. Richards, William Mason Buck and his brother John Buck.  Capon Springs had a 900 seat dining room and was intended to entertain Congressmen and their families from Washington, D. C.  However, Capon Springs was a business failure.    In 1857, Thomas moved to St. Joseph, Missouri and again engaged in the hotel business.  According to the 1880 census, Thomas was a farmer in Missouri so perhaps he had left the hotel business by then.