Call Number:

Gen.Bu1

Repository:

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Extent:

5.4 linear feet (; 47 volumes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series and volume number here], E. D. Buckman genealogical collection on the Buckman and related families (Gen Bu1), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Date:

circa 1850-circa 1892, undated

Creator:

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

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.

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.

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.