My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in Portrait and Biographical Album of Greene and Clark Counties, Ohio published by Chapman Bros., in 1890.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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ABNER S. BUCK, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public and Collecting Attorney in Xenia, in former years devoted considerable attention to the study of law, and engaged in the regular practice five years. He has just passed the seventy-second year of his age, having been born September 20, 1818, and is a native of this State, his birth occurring at Washington Court House which for some years was the home of his parents, Samuel and Sarah (Smith) Buck. Samuel Buck was born in Westmoreland County, Pa., May 7, 1780, but when a boy of nine years removed with his parents, John and Martha (Wasson) Buck to Lexington. Ky.

Grandfather Buck was a native of County Antrim, Ireland, where he was married and whence he emigrated with his estimable wife to America during Revolutionary times. He soon entered the army, fighting on the side of the Colonists, and after the struggle was ended, settled on a farm in Westmoreland County, Pa. A few years later, he in 1789, started with his little family down the Ohio River, running the gauntlet of savage Indians, and arrived safely at the infant town of Lexington, Ky., where he sojourned for a period of ten years. Then, in 1799, he changed his residence to the Territory of Ohio, locating upon ground now occupied by the flourishing city of Chillicothe, but which was then scarcely marked by a human habitation. He occupied himself in farming pursuits and finally removed to Fayette County, where he spent his last days, departing hence in June, 1823. Grandmother Buck survived her husband about twelve years dying in 1835, at Greenfield, Ohio.

Samuel Buck, the father of our subject, did not accompany his father’s family to Ohio although coming to the State that same year, 1799, making the journey alone on horseback. Eleven years prior to this he had entered the service of the Government as clerk in the Quartermaster’s department, being stationed at Ft. Pickering, Tenn., which occupied the present site of the city of Memphis. Upon his return to Lexington he rode three hundred miles without seeing the face of a white man but one. He lived for a time in Fairfield County, then joined the Buck family in Fayette County, they settling ten miles south of the present site of Washington Court House.

In the meantime the father of our subject, who was studiously inclined, had employed his leisure time in the reading of law and later was a student in the office of William Creighton of Chillicothe, Ohio. In February, 1813, he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of his profession at Washington Court House. He had now been married six years, being wedded in 1807 to Miss Sarah Smith. He continued the practice of his chosen profession until 1862, making his headquarters at Washington Court House, and Wilmington, Ohio, but later for twenty years was a member of the Greene County bar. He was a prominent man in his community, holding some of the local offices and at one time was the prosecuting Attorney of Fayette County. He affiliated with the Democratic party until 1855 and then identified himself with the Republicans. He died in Jefferson Township, Greene County, Ohio, October 27, 1862, leaving a family of five sons, one of whom met his death in the army while fighting the battles of his country. Samuel Buck was a man of decided ideas and a member in good standing of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Mrs. Sarah (Smith) Buck, the mother of our subject, was born in New Jersey near the city of Philadelphia, Pa., September 29, 1789. Her parents, Abner and Jemima Smith, settled with their respective parents near Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, in 1805, and on the 7th of December, 1807, pronounced the word which made them partners for life. Thereafter they spent the most of their lives in Ohio, and Grandmother Smith died about 1820. Abner Smith departed this life September 11, 1818.

The early years of the subject of this notice were spent at Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio, where he completed his education and commenced the study of law in his father’s office. He was admitted to the bar of Greene County, May 22, 1841, and commenced the practice of his profession, being for a time engaged as a teacher. He came to this county in 1842, and has resided within its limits for the long period of forty-eight years. He took up his residence in Xenia twenty-two years ago and has been a witness of its growth and development from that time, while at the same time actively interested in its material welfare. He was elected Justice of the Peace in April, 1876, an office which he has since continuously held by successive re-elections. The fact that he is well spoken of by his fellow citizens is sufficient indication of his character as an official and a private citizen. Esq. Buck chopped two hundred cords of wood during the time he was studying law.

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This family biography is one of the many biographies included in Portrait and Biographical Album of Greene and Clark Counties, Ohio published by Chapman Bros., in 1890. 

View additional Greene County, Ohio family biographies here: Greene County, Ohio Biographies

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