Person:Patrick Buckner (1)

Patrick "Mack" Buckner, a.k.a. Patrick McBuckner, was born in the area that would become Tennessee around 1789. He enlisted in the Virginia Militia in Russel Co. VA in 1814, where his family was living at the time. He appeared in the Lawrence Co. and then Carter Co., KY tax lists intermittently from 1833 (beside his son Overton and others) to 1866. His grandson Harrison Buckner's biography indicates that Overton moved to KY when he was 16, around 1828. Obadiah Fultz, Overton's father in law, appeared in Lawrence, Co. KY in 1829. Patrick also appeared in the 1840 and 1850 censuses of Carter Co., KY. Overall, the pattern of locations suggests that the larger family group moved to KY around 1828-29, but individual members arrived sporadically. In 1860, Patrick was enumerated in Scott Co., VA, though this entry contains an erroneous birthplace and a 10-year error in his age, suggesting it was second-hand information. In the 1870 census he was again in Scott Co., and that census entry is consistent with the 1850 entry and other information. His War of 1812 pension and land grant application records from 1868 to 1872 give his residence as Scott Co., VA, though some evidence suggests his occasional presence in KY through the 1860s. He died in Scott Co. in 1873. His known or suspected children, Overton, James, and Henry were born in 1812 in Scott Co., VA; ca. 1822 in VA; and ca. 1825 in TN, respectively, while the youngest Susannah was born in KY around 1832, which gives an overview of the family's migration. The records suggest that the family spent some time in Tennessee in the 1820s, between leaving Russel/Scott Co. VA and moving to KY. Patrick's father, Patrick Buckner, was enumerated in a Wilkes Co. NC tax list in the mid 1780s, and it is likely that he still had family living in the East Tennessee area in the 1820s. Patrick Buckner's first wife's name is variously given as Elizabeth Gillum or Gilliam but her identity is otherwise fairly well established. An extensive genealogy for her family exists. After her death, a "Patrick McBuckner" married Susan Flanagan on 3 Aug 1862 in Greenup Co., KY, and the information given in the marriage record are completely consistent with other known facts about him, including indicating his father's Irish birth. The "McBuckner" form of the surname is also found often in his military records. However, Patrick's pension records (file SC16944) from 1872 give his wife's name as Elizabeth and say that she died about 10 years earlier, so the legal status of the 1862 marriage is unclear. A further bit of relevant evidence is that a Sukey Buckner (age 42) appears in the 1870 Greenup census with a 6-year-old son, Rickey Buckner, but they seem to have disappeared after that. Sukey is of course an old nickname for Susan or Susannah.

1. ↑ Virginia Certificate of Death.