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.

William Calmes Buck's Children: Mary Elizabeth Buck (1819-1901)

Mary Elizabeth Buck was the daughter of William Calmes Buck and Maria Lewright.  She was born in Virginia on September 11, 1819.  Her mother died in Kentucky when Mary was only three years old.

Mary married Rezin Davidge Jr. (1813-1902), a Kentucky merchant, on June 3, 1839.  Rezin was the son of Rezin Davidge Sr. and his wife, Betsey Bell.  Rezin Sr. was a noted attorney in Christian County, Hopkinsville, Kentucky having been a midshipman in the navy and a Circuit Court Judge.

Mary and Rezin moved to Richmond, Southfield Township, New York about 1853 where Rezin continued as a merchant and also became an importer.  They were very successful.  Mary and Rezin were very supportive of her father, William Calmes Buck, and her siblings during and after the Civil War.  In her diary of 1862-1864, Mary’s half-sister, Emma Buck, while living in McKinley, Alabama, wrote of receiving letters from Mary that had been brought to them by returning prisoners.

In 1868, Mary and Rezin were visited by Giddings and Field Buck in Staton Island, New York.  Apparently, they were attempting to find a publisher for a book by their father, William Calmes Buck, and stayed in New York for several months.  The (proposed?) book was rejected by Scribners and perhaps others.  In his letter of April 29 to his wife, Mary, Giddings wrote “The half of Sister’s troubles with Yankees during the war was not told us.”  He also noted that Mary would like to visit Texas.

By 1900, Rezin had retired and they moved to Washington D.C. to live with their nephew Charles Davidge.

Mary Elizabeth Buck and Rezin Davidge had no children.

Mary Elizabeth Buck Davidge died September 19, 1901 in Washington, D.C. In his own will, Rezin Davidge noted that his wife wanted to bequeath funds to her whole and half siblings and that he was fulfilling her wishes.  He therefore bequeathed the sum of $2100 each to those siblings or their families. Mary Elizabeth Buck Davidge is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C.  near her husband.

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)

Wm. C. Buck: Marriage to Isabella Miriam Field

(Continuing posts about William Calmes Buck)

Seven years after the death of his first wife, Maria LeWright, William Calmes Buck married Isabella Miriam Field on June 30, 1829 in Woodford County, Kentucky.  She, the daughter of Willis Field and Isabella Miriam Buck, was his first cousin once removed.  She was born on August 16, 1809.

Wm. C. Buck wrote that Isabella Miriam Field was "Remarkable for personal beauty, intellectuality and piety, she had secured the love of a large circle of devoted admirers and friends".  She enjoyed the society of Louisville when they lived there and was unhappy to leave it later on.

William Calmes Buck and Isabella Miriam Field had the following children:

• William Thomas Buck (1830-1846) was born on September 28, 1830 in Woodford County, Kentucky  "at 25 min. after 1 p.m." according to the notes of his father.  He died on November 10, 1846 at the age of 16 at Georgetown College, Kentucky “of typhoid fever, after an illness of 18 days".  He was sixteen years old "when he died at 11:15 o'clock".  "He was of great promise and departed in perfect hope of immortality." His father described him as "A most remarkable youth -- the hope of his Parents" and noted that he was 6' 1" tall, weighing 165 pounds at age 16.  ".. as remarkable for his mental as his physical precocity, and as remarkable for his piety as for either."  He was buried in Woodford County, Kentucky.
• John Field Buck (1833-1834) was born on May 21, 1833 in Woodford County, Kentucky "at 9 min. after 8 a.m." He died on July 20, 1834 in Woodford County, Kentucky of "cholera-infantum" according to the notes of his father. He was buried in Woodford County, Kentucky.
• Charles Willis Buck (1835-1900) was born September 26, 1835, Woodford County, Kentucky; married Susan Croom Sparrow, September 13, 1857, in Greene Co., Alabama; died April 8, 1900, Phenix City, Russell, Alabama, USA.  He was a Baptist minister, a Chaplin in the Civil War, a publisher and a dentist.
• Emma Buck (1837-1933) was born June 29, 1837 in Louisville, Kentucky; married Gen. Richard Harrison M.D., March 2, 1871, at the Wm. C. Buck farm in Waco, Texas; died January 18, 1933 in Waco, Texas.  Richard Harrison (1821-1876) was a native of Alabama. One of a trio of brothers who all gained rank of general in Confederate Army.  He attended Kentucky Medical College and was a physician prior to his army service. His first marriage was to a Miss Ragsdale of Mississippi. After her death, he married Mary Tompkins. His third marriage was to Emma Buck.  He served as president of the Baptist State Convention of Mississippi. Moved to Texas in 1866. A trustee of Waco University. Served as chairman of the deacons of First Baptist Church of Waco.
• Giddings Judson Buck (1840-1912) was born April 4, 1840 in Lexington, Kentucky; married Mary Cottingham Halbert, July 3, 1865, Texas; died March 25, 1912, El Paso, Texas.  An educator, soldier, lawyer and author.  Author of the Free Christian in 1907.
• John Samuel Buck (1842-1846) was born on July 14, 1842 in Lexington, Kentucky at "about 7 a.m." He died on October 14, 1846 at the age of 4 in Louisville, Kentucky "inflammation of the stomach and bowels" at "20 min. after 11 o'clock a.m." according to the notes of his father. He was buried in Woodford County, Kentucky.
• Willis Field Buck (1845-1888) was born June 26, 1845 in Louisville, Kentucky; married Anna William Harrison, October 27, 1872, Waco, Texas; died August 14, 1888 in Texas.  All of his children died young and he committed suicide a few months after the death of his wife.  He was a doctor.
• Silas Calmes Buck (1847-1908) born November 1, 1847, Louisville, Kentucky; married Georgia Rebecca Titus, July 25, 1877, Texas; died 1908, Erath County, Texas.  He was a lawyer.
• Paul Buck (1847-1848) was born on November 1, 1847 in Louisville, Kentucky.  Paul and Silas were twins.  Paul was born at "20 min. after 5 and Silas at half past 7." He died on July 5, 1848 of "cholera-infantum" at "about half past 1 o'clock". He was buried in Woodford County, Kentucky.
• Thomas Buck (1849-1850) was born on November 22, 1849 in Lexington, Kentucky.  He died on July 3, 1850. He was buried in Woodford County, Kentucky.
• (stillborn) Buck was born and died in 1850 in Lexington, Kentucky and was buried in Louisville, Kentucky.

Wm. C. Buck noted in his memoirs that the health of his wife began to decline after the birth of the twins, Silas and Paul.  Following the death of Paul, her mother died in the same year.  Apparently, she became severely depressed.  Isabella Miriam Field Buck died on March 18, 1852 at the age of 42 in Nashville, Tennessee.  She was buried in the Versailles Cemetery, Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky alongside five of her children.

(To be continued)

Wm. C. Buck: Marriage to Maria Lewright

(continuing the series of posts about William Calmes Buck)

William Calmes Buck married Maria Lewright on December 1, 1815 in Jefferson County, Virginia.  Maria Lewright, daughter of Robert Lewright and Elizabeth Price, was born 1795 in Virginia.

Wm. C. Buck wrote of Maria LeWright "She was a lady of fine appearance, an excellent mind and unusual amiability."

William Calmes Buck and Maria Lewright had the following children:

• Robert Luther Buck (1816-1866); born in Virginia on August 4, 1816; married Elizabeth Stewart; died on January 15, 1866 in Jackson, Mississippi; buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi.  A doctor.
• Maria Louisa Buck (1818-1822); born in Virginia on April 13, 1818; died in Union County, Kentucky on December 13, 1822; buried in Old Highland Cemetery, Union County, Kentucky. 
• Mary Elizabeth Buck (1819-1901); born in Virginia on September 11, 1819; married Rezin Davidge (a merchant), 1839; died September 19, 1901 in Washington, D.C.; buried in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C.  Lived in New York and was very supportive of her father and siblings during and after the Civil War.  By 1900, Rezin had retired and they moved to Washington D.C. living with their nephew Charles Davidge.
• (unnamed infant) was born and died on January 8, 1822 along with her mother.

Maria Lewright Buck died in childbirth on January 8, 1822 at the age of 27 in Union County, Kentucky.  Her husband wrote, "She deceased from consumption, having previously given birth to a daughter, which lived only three hours and a half and died of her mother's disease".  She was buried in Old Highland Cemetery, Union County, Kentucky. 

(more to follow...)

The Family of Charles Buck II

A previous post introduced Charles Buck II, son of Charles Buck I and his second wife, Letitia Sorrell, and provided a few details about his life.  The next several posts will focus on his children.  All of the children of Charles Buck II and Mary Richardson were born in Virginia but some moved to Woodford County, Kentucky.  

Here is a summary list of the children of Charles Buck II and Mary Richardson:

• Letitia Buck (1776 – 1850); married George Catlett.
• Thomas Buck Rev. (1777-1862); married Amelia L. Dawson.
• Sarah Buck (1780-1785).
• Samuel Buck (1783-1841); married Mary P. Bayly.
• John Buck (1785-1857); married Sarah Catlett.
• Charles Buck III (1788-1870); married Lucy Chilton Bayliss.
• William Calmes Buck I (1790-1872); married (1) Maria Lewright, 1815 and (2) Isabella Miriam Field; died in Waco, Texas. Perhaps the most renowned member of the Buck family.
• Mary Richardson Buck (1792-1823); married William Mountjoy Bayly.

In his will, Charles Buck II left their house and surroundings to his wife, Mary, and divided the land equally (by value) to his children.  Some of the land had already been sold (“conveyed”) while other sections continued to be farmed by the inheritor.  

Charles Buck II and Mary Richardson had seven children who reached adulthood and forty-eight grandchildren.

Sarah Richardson Buck

Sarah Richardson Buck was born May 29, 1792 in Shenandoah County, Virginia to John Buck and Miriam Richardson.  She married Charles Cotton on January 24, 1819.  Charles Cotton was born on October 3, 1781 in Loudoun, Virginia.

Charles Cotton and Sarah Buck had the following children, all born in Kentucky:

• William Cotton (1819-1863) married Virginia K. Bonney in 1855.
• John Buck Cotton (1821-1845) apparently did not marry. 
• Frances Miriam Cotton (1824-1849) married George I. Graddy in 1845; died of typhoid fever.
• Charles Buck Cotton (1826-1894) married Jennie M. Gallagher in 1855; was a lawyer.
• Sarah Elizabeth Cotton (1830-1849) apparently did not marry.

Sarah Richardson Buck died April 28, 1832 in Versailles, Kentucky.  Charles Cotton died January 9, 1863 in Versailles, Kentucky.

John Lovell Buck

John Lovell Buck was born on September 27, 1786 in Buckton, Virginia to John Buck and Miriam Richardson. He married Annis C. Buck, daughter of Thomas Buck and Amelia L. Dawson and therefore his first cousin once removed, on September 24, 1822.

Annis C. Buck was born November 2, 1802 in Frederick County, Virginia.  Her name is variously given as Annis, Annie, Anne and Annice with middle initial “C.” or “G.”

John Lovell Buck and Annis C. Buck had the following children in Woodford, Kentucky:

• Thomas Horace Buck, Dr. (1825-1900); Married Elizabeth D. Huston; died in Leetown, West Virginia.  A Captain in Company E, Virginia 7^th Cavalry during the Civil War.

• Amelia Ann Buck (1824-1859); married her second cousin John Newton Buck, Oct. 2, 1849.

John Lovell Buck died after 1827 but at a young age.  Annis C. Buck died October 19, 1827. 

Isabella Miriam Buck

Isabella Miriam Buck was born May 6, 1785 to John Buck and Miriam Richardson. On November 1, 1805, she married Willis Field, son of Ezekiel Henry Field and Elizabeth Field, who was born in 1776.

Willis Field was a large landowner and prominent citizen of Woodford County, Kentucky.  His home, "Airy Mount", near Versailles is included in the National Register of Historic Places listings in Woodford County, Kentucky.  Airy Mount was built about 1796 but has been remodeled and expanded many times.  Airy Mount was named for its location on the summit of a low, wide rise, and has a commanding view of the gently rolling landscape in all directions.

Willis Field and Isabella Miriam Buck had the following children:

• Elizabeth A. Field (1806-).
• John Buck Field (1808-1833).
• Isabella Miriam Field (1809-1852); married William Calmes Buck I, June 30, 1829, in Woodford County, Kentucky; died in Nashville, Tennessee.  Emma Buck, granddaughter of William Calmes Buck and Isabella Miriam Field, wrote that Isabella Miriam Field was “a woman of beauty, fine intellect and saintly character”. William Calmes Buck I was to become a noted Baptist preacher, author, editor and publisher.
• Emmaline M. Field (1811-1836); married Major Humphrey Jones, 1830; died in Kentucky.
• Ezekiel H. Field (1813-1851).
• Ann Helm Field (1815-).
• Thomas Field (1816-1823).
• Willis Field (1818-); married Ellen Craig, 1842.
• Sarah Isabella Field (1819-1835).
• Charles William Field (1821-1823).
• Martha Amelia Field (1824-); married Richard White, 1843.
• Thomas McClanahan Field (1825-1908); married Susan M. Higbee, 1850.
• Charles William Field (1828-1892); married Monimia Mason, 1855.  He was a Major General in command of the First Corps, Army of Tennessee during the Civil War. 

Isabella Miriam Buck Field died on August 8, 1849.  Willis Field died on February 2, 1837 in Kentucky.

Peter Catlett Buck

Peter Catlett Buck was born in 1779 to John Buck and Miriam Richardson. Peter Catlett Buck and Miriam Price were married in 1811 in Fayette, Kentucky.  Miriam Price was born in 1793, the daughter of Samuel Price and Elizabeth Richardson.  About 1830, they moved from Woodford County, Kentucky to a farm in Montgomery County, Tennessee.

Peter Catlett Buck and Miriam Price Buck had the following children:

• Mary Elizabeth Buck (1812-1861); married Henry C. Catlett, 1832.
• Martha Ann Buck (1813-1850); married Samuel Dawson Buck, 1832.
• Rebecca Price BUCK (1815-1891); married John Buck Helm, 1865.
• John Richardson Buck (1817-1848); married Sarah Cowan, 1845.
• Eliza Margaret Ann Buck (1820-1868); married Peter N. Marr, 1840.
• Sarah Price Buck (1822-1859); married S. J. Leavell, 1844.
• Lucy Belle Buck (1824-1895); married John William Blanton, 1851.
• Annie Russell Buck (1826-1855); married William Robinson, 1846.
• Samuella P. Buck (1828-1891); married Joseph Keith, 1847.
• Charles Peter Buck (1835-1915); married Letitia Churchill, 1858; died in Mississippi County, Arkansas.

Peter Catlett Buck died in 1860 at the age of 81. Miriam Price died in 1862.  They were buried in Montgomery County, Tennessee.

The Family of Colonel John Buck

A previous post introduced John Buck, son of Charles Buck I and his first wife, Anna Sorrell Earle and provided a few details about his life.  The next several posts will focus on his children.  All of the children of John Buck and Miriam Richardson were born in Virginia but spent much of their lives in Woodford County, Kentucky. 

Here is a summary list of the children of John Buck and Miriam Richardson:

• ·        Elizabeth Buck, (1772-1851); married Captain Thomas Helm, 1797.
• ·        Charles Buck, (1774-1831); married Mary (Polly) Price in 1799.
• ·        Anne Buck, (1775-1860); married Meredith Helm in 1794.
• ·        Miriam Buck was born and died in 1777.
• ·        Peter Catlett Buck, (1779-1860); married Miriam Price, 1811.
• ·        Isabella Buck was born and died in 1780.
• ·        Isabella Miriam Buck, (1784-1848); married Willis Field, 1805.
• ·        John Lovell Buck, (1786-1827); married Annis C. Buck, 1822.
• ·        William Richardson Buck, (1790-1853); married Maria (Flowers) Dalton, 1822.
• ·        Sarah Richardson Buck, (17921832), married Charles Cotton, 1819.

Of the eight children of John Buck who reached adulthood, two married into the Price family, two into the Helm family and one into the Buck family.  The Price family was connected to the Richardson and Calmes families as were the Bucks.  The Helm family was also connected to the Buck family.

John Buck and Miriam Richardson had eight children who reached adulthood and fifty-two grandchildren.  Future posts will more details on these children and grandchildren.

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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