E. D. Buckman genealogical collection on the Buckman and allied families

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biographical/Historical note

Scope and Contents note

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

Collection Inventory

Summary Information

Repository

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Creator

Buckman, E. D. (Edwin Dawson), d. 1891.

Title

E. D. Buckman genealogical collection on the Buckman and allied families

ID

Gen.Bu1

Date

circa 1850-circa 1892, undated

Extent

5.4 Linear feet ; 47 volumes

Author

Finding aid prepared by Cary Majewicz

Sponsor

Processing made possible by a generous donation from Norman Bryant Buckman via the Buckman Family Fund.

Language

English

Mixed materials [Volume]

1-47

Abstract

This collection, compiled mostly by Edwin D. Buckman of Philadelphia, contains genealogical records pertaining to the Buckman family of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and many related families, such as the Blakers, Burgesses, and Hestons. The majority of the material consists of handwritten notes which trace the family from its roots in England and Edward Buckman (1623-1670), a Quaker of Sussex County. The Buckmans eventually settled near Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, approximately thirty miles north of Philadelphia. This collection consists of forty-seven volumes, all in modern library bindings. The volumes’ contents vary from histories of the Buckmans to papers on related families to abstracts of minutes from Friends' meetings. There are also notes and charts on the Buckman family by generation, newspaper clippings, and a few family papers such as deeds and correspondence. A few of the volumes contain indexes of other volumes.

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Biographical/Historical note

The Buckman family was one of the earliest British families to settle in Pennsylvania. In 1682, Joan Bagham Buckman, widow of Edward Buckman of Sussex County, England, set sail with several other family members on William Penn’s Welcome from England to America. While at sea, smallpox broke out on the ship and many passengers died, including the widow Buckman and at least two of her children. The Buckmans who survived the journey to Pennsylvania were William Buckman (circa 1650-1716), his wife Sarah and four of their children, and William’s sister Ruth Buckman (circa 1659-1716).

Prior to their journey, the Buckmans had purchased property in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, from William Penn. In 1683, William and his family made their way to Newtown to claim their land. William worked mostly as a carpenter and became a member of the Middletown Friends Meeting. After his first wife died in 1690, he married Elizabeth Wilson (1682-circa 1731). Together they had four children.

Also in 1683, Penn granted Ruth Buckman land in nearby Fallsington, Pennsylvania; though by the late 1680s, she was living in Burlington County, New Jersey, with her new husband Richard Harrison (circa 1664-circa 1742). The couple went on to to have several children.

Edwin Dawson Buckman (1823-1891) descended from William Buckman. He received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1848, married Rebecca Lowner (Lownes) that same year, and worked as a doctor in Philadelphia. He spent much of the latter part of his life compiling the history and genealogy of the Buckman family. At one point he announced his intentions to publish a book on the family, although it is unclear if the book was ever published. However, some of his findings were published in the Doylestown Democrat in the early 1880s.

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Scope and Contents note

The E. D. Buckman genealogical collection on the Buckman and allied families consists of forty-seven volumes that together present a comprehensive family history representing the first through ninth generations. The volumes' original order and call numbers have been retained, though their order is somewhat chaotic (e.g. the index to Gen Bu1:3 [Volume 3] is in Gen Bu1:18 [Volume 18]).

While the Buckman family is the one most prominently featured, several volumes are devoted to allied families including the Atkinsons, Ashtons, Burgesses, Blakers, Hestons, Harrisons, Paxons, Martindales, Janneys, Coopers, Hibbs, and Tomlinsons, among others. Several volumes also contain similar accounts of the history of the Buckman family, the "final" versions of which are published in newpaper clipping in Gen Bu1:15 (Volume 15). Other volumes contain correspondence to E. D Buckman and copies of abstracts, minutes, and vital records from Friends' meetings. In the first six volumes of the collection, family members are arranged by number. Starting with the earliest generations (the Widow Buckman, is number 1; her children are numbers 2, 3, 4, and so on), these numbers of used to track individuals throughout these volumes. The family numbers reappear in throughout the volumes, especially in Volumes 13 and 14 where individuals are listed alphabetically, and the family number indexes (Volumes 30 and 33).

Further descriptions of some of the volumes can be found in the inventory below.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; 2010

Conditions Governing Access note

The collection is open for research.

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Related Materials

Related Archival Materials note

At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:

The following papers can be accessed using the call number FC Bu:

Buckman family of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Buckman family of the County of Sussex, England and Pennsylvania.

Miscellaneous data concerning the family of William Buckman of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

The family of Spencer W. Buckman and his wife Sarah Ann Buckman (1812-1891) of Morris County, New Jersey.

Buckman family of Bucks County, Pennsylvania : especially descendants of William Buckman from England on the ship Welcome, to Newtown, Bucks Co., Pa.: line of descent from William Buckman to Amos Tomlinson.

The following is a sample of Buckman-related collections at HSP. Others can be found through our online catalog (Discover).

Line of ancestry of Williamson Buckman, 689 to 1926. (Gen Bu18:1)

Buckman, Penquite, Hilborn, Fell, Heston, Hallowell, Spencer, Williamson and allied families. (Gen 18:2)

Short biographies of individuals who served as president of the Buckman Reunion organized in 1912. (Gen Bu16:2)

Family charts regarding related families of Buckman, Shawn, Heston, Martindale and others. (Gen Ma4:7)

Biles, De Normandie, Buckman and Dilworth of Bucks County, Pennsylvania : an unfinished study (Fc Bi)

Family charts regarding related families of Comly, Beale, Buckman, Stackhouse, Harding, Twining, Goslin and others. (Gen Ma4:1)

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Controlled Access Headings

Subject(s)

• Buckman family.
• Genealogy & local history.
• Genealogy--Archival resources--Pennsylvania.
• Genealogy--Authorship.
• Genealogy--Library resources--Pennsylvania.
• Genealogy--Pennsylvania--Bucks County.
• Genealogy.

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Collection Inventory