Family:John Buckner and unknown (1)

John Buckner was a large scale planter and land owner in 17th century Virginia, as well as an active participant in the civil government. Mason^[1] estimated that he was clerk of Gloucester Co. from 1677 to 1693.

Essex Co. VA court records show that William Buckner, John Buckner, and Thomas Buckner were the executors of John Buckner's will in the summer of 1695 (the actual will has been lost however). John Jr. seems to have been charged with returning the inventory in Essex. When he eventually returned it, the estate was appraised "as followeth": Negro man named Jack; one woman called Judath; and child abt. 15 mths. old, one boy called Harry; one boy Brandee; one girle Mill, one boy Sam, one girle Hannah, old pewter dishes, 2 old pestle, 1 axe, 1 pot and pot hooks, 1 Mare, 1 Bull, 1 Cow, 1 Steer. L 63...02...00

There must have also been some probate process in Gloucester Co., where the main Buckner residence was probably located (later known as "Marlfield"), but few Gloucester Co. records have survived from that period. The relative meagerness of the personal property in Essex probably reflects this fact. An important fact to note is that the will was not probated in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, so John Buckner probably held no real property outside of Virginia at the time of his death.

In the case of Richard and William Buckner, extant land records directly state that John was their father, and it can be inferred from later land records in the case of Thomas. There seems to be no surviving direct statement that John Buckner Jr. was his son, but circumstantial evidence is strong enough that no authorities seriously doubt the fact.

1. ↑ Mason, Polly Cary. Records of colonial Gloucester County, Virginia: a collection of abstracts from original documents concerning the lands and people of colonial Gloucester county. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1970)
   1, p. 121.