My Buckner Ancestors

For this blog post, I will be tracing my family genealogy starting with an ancestor in my maternal line nine generations back.

Richard Buckner was christened in Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, England, on September 21, 1661. He moved from England to Virginia and settled in Essex County, where he came to own thousands of acres of land between Essex and Richmond Counties. He was Clerk of Essex County in 1703. In 1714 he moved up to become Clerk at the Virginia House of Burgesses. In 1689, in James City, Virginia, he married Elizabeth Cooke, and they had fourteen children.

Philip Buckner was born in Gloucester, Virginia, in 1694. He lived much of his life in Louisa County, where he died in 1762. He married Jane Aylett, who was from King William County. According to his will, he was survived by his wife Jane, four sons, and three daughters.

Thomas Buckner was born in 1733 in Louisa County, Virginia. On December 31, 1767, he married Martha Foster. They had twelve children together. His wife predeceased him in 1800, and Thomas died on August 29, 1806.

James Monroe Buckner was born in 1776 in Caroline County, Virginia. He married Judith Womack on July 28, 1792. They had ten children together, relocating to North Carolina, then to McMinn County, Tennessee. Judith died in 1856, but James lived a few more years, passing away on January 5, 1863. 

Garrett David Buckner, was born in North Carolina in about 1809. In 1826, in Sweetwater, Monroe County, Tennessee, he married Sarah Psalms McSpadden. They had eight children together. They moved to Texas by wagon train at some point, possibly in the 1840s. In 1848, Garrett paid $3.81 in taxes in Rusk County, Texas, on 320 acres, 3 horses, and 15 head of cattle. Garrett died in August of 1853, and was buried in Laneville, Texas.

Moses McSpadden Buckner, my great-great-grandfather, was born December 8, 1828, in McMinn County, Tennessee. He married Emmeline Jane Risinger on December 2, 1852. Moses and Emmeline soon had children of their own. Eventually they would have six. In 1861, Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. Moses and his younger brother James joined up, serving in Company C, 17th Regiment, Texas Cavalry. A few months later, during the Cumberland campaign, they found themselves under siege in Fort Henry. The besieging army was led by none other than Union General Ulysses S. Grant. On May 6, 1862, the garrison surrendered, and Moses and his brother James were sent to Camp Douglas, Illinois, as prisoners of war. On March 1, 1863, Moses’ younger brother died in a smallpox outbreak in the camp. Only eleven days later, Moses himself also succumbed to the illness and died. Moses was survived by his wife Emmeline and six children, ranging in age from nine years old down to only a year old. Moses was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.

Robert Garrett Buckner, my great-grandfather, was born on May 2, 1860, in Van Zandt County, Texas, not long before his father left for war and never returned. Robert married Lorey Etta Swink on November 11, 1883, and they had fifteen children together. He died on October 6, 1929, and was buried in New Salem, Rusk County, Texas.

Joe Bailey Buckner, my maternal grandfather, was born in November of 1900. After attending Jacksonville Baptist College and Sam Houston State College, he became a schoolteacher for a time, then went to work for an older brother, John Buckner, building bridges. This work led him to Pecos, Texas, in the late 1920s. While there, he met and married Clara Fuqua in August of 1927. Returning to eastern Texas, he built a house and began farming. The first house burned down after a short time, but was rebuilt in 1933 and still stands today. He and Clara had nine children, eight of whom survived to adulthood. He died of stroke in 1984. Clara lived another twenty-four years, passing away in 2008.

Janis (Buckner) Seale, my mother, was born November 10, 1952, in Cushing, Texas, to Joe Bailey Buckner and Clara (Fuqua) Buckner. After graduating from Laneville High School, she attended Jacksonville Baptist College and Stephen F. Austin State University, earning a dual major in elementary Education and Home Economics. While still attending SFASU, she met and married Edward Seale, accompanying him to Springfield, Missouri, where she attained another degree in Biblical Studies. She gave birth to seven children and worked as a missionary with her husband for over forty years. They are now retired and living in the farmhouse built by her father Joe.