For general information:

Descendants of John Baptist Buckman, Sr.


Generation No. 1

1. JOHN BAPTIST1 BUCKMAN, SR. was born in Lincolnshire, England, and died Abt. 1730. He married SUZANNA SMITH, daughter of PETER SMITH and DOROTHY MARTIN.

Notes for JOHN BAPTIST BUCKMAN, SR.:
"King Charles I of England gave land in the New World to George Calvert, First Lord Baltimore, who planned the colony of Maryland. Except for the years of the Puritan upheaval, the vision of George Calvert and Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, of Protestants and Catholics living in peaceful communion in a small corner of the New World became a reality in Maryland. From 1634 until about 1689 Catholics practiced their religion freely and played a predominate role in the government of the colony.

With the death in 1715 of Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore, Catholics lost all civil power in Maryland. Three years later Catholics were not allowed to vote for delegates of their localities. Thirty years later the land of Catholics was subject to double taxation.





Child of JOHN BUCKMAN and SUZANNA SMITH are:
2. i. JOHN BAPTIST2 BUCKMAN, JR., b. 1730, St. Mary's Co., MD; d. 1793, St. Mary's Co., MD.


Generation No. 2

2. JOHN BAPTIST2 BUCKMAN, JR. (JOHN BAPTIST1) was born 1730 in St. Mary's Co., MD, and died 1793 in St. Mary's Co., MD. He married ANN DRINKER. She was born in Holland.

Notes for JOHN BAPTIST BUCKMAN, JR.:
When John Baptist Buckman, Jr. was born in St. Mary's County Catholics did not have the right to vote or participate in their government. Their land was taxed at twice the level of their Protestant neighbors. With the American Revolution just 17 years before his death these rights would be returned to Catholics. Many Catholics fled the St. Mary's area to escape religious persecution.

By 1753 he acquired 50 acres of Free Point" and in 1757 part of Mattingly's Hope" and 124 acres of "Hayden's Discovery". Both of these tracts bordered on his "Mattingly Hope". On April 27, 1797 his sons Clement Buckman and Charles Buckman deeded "Mattingly Hope with Additions" and "Hayden's Discovery" which totaled 218 1/2 acres to Robert Saxton Clever (Alienations and Transfers of St. Mary's Co., MD, p50).

"The American Revolution ended religious persecution and opened fresh opportunities for Catholics in Maryland. Ironically, it was at this time that many Catholics made plans to leave Maryland and settle in Kentucky County, Virginia in an area which in 1792 became the state of Kentucky. The desire to start a Catholic colony, the poverty caused by the Revolutionary War, hopeful tales of the Kentucky frontier, a spirit of adventure, or the scarcity of land in Maryland for their heirs, was single or collective factors for the movement." (From The Buchman Family of Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, U.S.A. by Mary Louise Donnelly).

On September 24, 1790, John Baptist Buckman wrote his will and it was probated December 16, 1793 (JJ#2:73). His will reads:

"In the name of God amen I John Baptist Buckman of Saint Mary's County, in the Province of Maryland, being well and in perfect health and duly considering the uncertainty of human life do make this my last will and Testament. First I give and bequeath my Soul to almighty God, trusting in the mercies and in the merits of my dear redeemer for the remission of all my Sins. My body to be decently entered at the discretion of my Executors hereafter mentioned. First of all it is my will and desire that all my lands and livings be the property of my beloved wife Ann Buckman during her single life, but if she should marry nothing but her thirds, and at the death of my beloved wife to be divided between my children in the manner and form as followeth to wit all my lands that I am possessed with to be equally divided between my two sons Charles and Clement, all my Tools and Cart wheel Timber to be divided between the two boys Clement and Charles. I likewise leave Clement Ten pounds Current money and nothing else and as to the balance and residue of my temporal Estate I give & bequeath in the manner and form that follows Ten pounds to my Son Ignatius, Ten pounds to my Son Joseph and Ten pounds to my Son Francis, and the residue to be divided between my children I am now going to name Ignatius, Joseph, Francis, Ann, Sarah, & Elizabeth Menton's children have her part equally divided between them, and to my daughter Susanna one Shilling Sterling. And lastly I do appoint my two Sons Charles and Clement Executors of this my last will and Testament and to take care of my son James as long as he lives, revoking all other will or wills heretofore by me made in testimony whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and affixed my Seal this twenty fourth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and Ninety."

In the 1790 census of St. Mary's Co., MD, John Baptist Buckman is listed with four males over 16 (himself and sons Joseph, Clement, and James), one white free female (his wife) and ten slaves. In the same census Charles and Francis are given as heads of households. His son Ignatius had moved to Virginia. Ignatius is listed on the 1788 tax list of Nelson Co., VA, on Hardin's Creek, in an area which in 1792 became Washington County and in 1834 Marion County.

All of the living Buckman children except Sarah moved to Washington County, KY and settled in that area. The journey from Maryland to Washington Co., KY was anything but easy. They traveled by land from St. Mary's County, MD to Pittsburgh, PA. At Pittsburgh they continued by flatboat down the Ohio River to Limestone, KY (present day Maysville, KY about 50 miles up River from Covington, KY), where the journey was again continued by land. The trip down the Ohio would have taken about nine days. They probably traveled west from Limestone to link up with the Ft. Washington Trail to travel south to Lexington picking up the Harrodsburg Trail west to Bardstown. As the crow flies Limestone, KY was about 110 miles from Bardstown. Early writers speak of making about thirty miles a day under good conditions. If they made an average of 20 miles a day using these trails it would have taken over 8 days to travel over 160 miles. The entire trip from St. Mary's to Washington County could easily have taken two months or more depending on how long it took to acquire boats and horses at transition points. There was the continual threat of hostile Indians and fresh meat would be needed.

Children of JOHN BUCKMAN and ANN DRINKER are:
3. i. SUSANNA3 BUCKMAN, b. 1750, St. Mary's Co., MD; d. July 1795.
4. ii. CHARLES BUCKMAN, b. 1752, St. Mary's Co., MD; d. April 1829, Washington Co., KY.
iii. IGNATIUS BUCKMAN, b. 1754, St. Mary's Co., MD; d. 1794.

Notes for IGNATIUS BUCKMAN:
Ignatius fought in the American Revolutionary War. In 1778 Ignatius took the Oath of Allegiance in St. Mary's County, MD. In that same year he obtained possession of a piece of land in Charles County, MD.

"In 1785 a large colony of Catholics under the leadership of Basil Hayden, Sr. arrived in Kentucky County and settled chiefly on Pottinger's Creek around twelve miles south of Bardstown. In the spring of 1786 Captain Richard James Rapier led another large group who located principally on the Beech Fork much nearer Bardstown. In 1787 Thomas Hill and his brother-in-law Phillip Miles brought another band of settlers into Kentucky County. They were followed in 1788 by Robert Abell and his companions who settled on Hardin's Creek in an area that became Washington County, Kentucky in 1792, later known as Calvary, Kentucky.

Ignatius Buckman arrived with the last named group. He is recorded on Cartwright's Creek in the 1788 tax list of Nelson County, Virginia. By the 1800 census of Kentucky all of the brothers of Ignatius Buckman were residing in Washington County, Kentucky in1792, later know as Calvary, Kentucky."

The area was part of a 1,000 acre tract granted to David Bard by Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia. Settlers from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, who began arriving in the area from the Falls of the Ohio in 1780, were sold lots by a lottery organized by developers David and William Bard and John C. Owings. The area was first named Salem but was commonly referred to as Bard's Town. It became the county seat in 1784, when Nelson County was formed from Jefferson County. The 150 logs houses built in 1789 would soon be replaced by brick homes as the area prospered.

Under the date May 5, 1793 of the Kentucky Militia records, "Ignatius Buckman," of Capt Muldrough's Co. not present: Lieut. Hayden says he lives on a frontier. The Court considering him a single man, are of the opinion he be fined forty shillings." This statement was followed by a note that he "was shortly killed by Indians near the mouth of Cloyd's Creek.

In "A History of Marion County, Kentucky" by W.T. Knott, taken from the Lebanon Newspaper: “In the year, 1794, Ignatius Buckman was killed, the last Indian murder ever perpetuated this county. Buckman was killed on Cloyd's Creek trail, near the residence of John B. Hayden (his nephew), one of the earliest pioneers of the territory, and the father of James Hayden."

On September 4, 1794 an inventory of the property and belongings of Ignatius Buckman was taken (Will Book A: 32). His inventory included wearing apparel, a rifle. ax, hand saw, one tenant saw, plow, shovel, saddle and bridle, 3 horses, a colt, 7 pewter plates and a pewter basin, grind stone, some pigs, 50 bushels of corn, 154 pounds of bacon, a parcel of dry beef and a raw cow hide.

(From The Buchman Family of Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, U.S.A. by Mary Louise Donnelly).

iv. ELIZABETH BUCKMAN, b. 1756; d. Bef. 1790.
5. v. JOSEPH ADDISON BUCKMAN, b. 1758; d. October 1839.
vi. FRANCIS BUCKMAN, b. 1760; d. 1814.
vii. JAMES BUCKMAN, b. 1762.
viii. ANN BUCKMAN, b. 1764.
ix. SARAH BUCKMAN, b. 1766; m. HENRY SMITH.
x. CLEMENT BUCKMAN, b. June 07, 1769; d. August 16, 1842.