Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/711

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY


1049


John Buckner, the Virginia founder of the family, son of Thomas Buckner and grand- son of Hugh Buckner, the latter born in England in 1560.

John Buckner, born in England in 1631, died in Virginia in 1695. He married De- bora Ferrers, born in England, died in Vir- ginia. their marriage being solemnized in London, July 10, 1661, by the Vicar General of Canterbury. In 1667 they settled in Gloucester county, Virginia. John Buckner brought the first printing press and printer from England in 1683 and in that year is recorded as a member of the Virginia house of burgesses.

Thomas Buckner, second son of the four sons of John and Debora (Ferrers) Buck- ner, became one of the prominent men of his day. He was coroner in 1702, justice in 1705, sheriff in 1712, member of the Virginia house of burgesses in 1718, and from 1714 was a vestryman of Petworth parish. He married, in 169S, Sarah, daughter of Captain Francis Morgan, a member of the Virginia house of burgesses in 1653, and justice of York county, Virginia.

Thomas (2) Buckner, youngest child of Thomas (1) and Sarah (Morgan) Buckner, was born in 1702, died in 1756. His will dated June 2, 1755, was probated in 1756. He was a justice of Gloucester county, Pennsylvania. He married (first) Mary, daughter of Philip and Mary (Matthew) Smith, who bore him a daughter, Mary, who married, in 1763, John Chrisman. He mar- ried (second) Mary, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Matthews) Timson. the latter a daughter of Baldwin Matthews, and grand- daughter of Governor Samuel Alatthews, captain-general and governor of Virginia, 1622-1660. both wives being granddaughters of Baldwin Matthews, of York county, Vir- ginia, and first cousins. By his second wife. Mary (Timson) Buckner, Thomas Buckner had four children : Baldwin Matthews, died in 1798: John, married Dorothy Cros- by, and died in 1790; William, of further mention ; Colonel Mordecai, of colonial war fame, who married, in 1768, Mrs. Elizabeth Beverly.

William Buckner, third son of Thomas (2) and Mary (Timson) Buckner, was born in Kingston parish, Mathews county, Vir- ginia, in 1750, died in 1804. He served three years in the revolutionary war as captain in the Virginia state navy. While on a mission from Baron Steuben to a supposed French fleet, anchored in Chesapeake Bay, but which proved to be the British fleet, commanded by Admiral Arbuthnot, by whom he was captured and carried to Eng- land and there imprisoned for nearly one year, arriving home March 7, 1782. A claim for half pay was later allowed by the Amer- ican government. He died in Matthews county, Virginia, February 13, 1804. He married, in Mathews county, September 11, 1773, Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Thomas and Dorothy (Armistead) Smith, of Kingston parish, Virginia (he a vestry- man in 1677), and sister of Rev. Armistead Smith, rector of Kingston parish in 1794.

Susan Buckner, fourth child of William and Elizabeth (Smith) Buckner, was mar- ried by her uncle Rev. Armistead Smith, to Captain Robert Hudgins. Their son, Rob- ert King Hudgins, married, in 1834, Sarah James White, daughter of John White, who served in the revolutionary war, and his wife, Elizabeth Davenport, married in King- ston parish, Virginia, 1 791 ; she was the daughter of Captain William Davenport, captain of Virginia troops in the revolution- ary war, and his wife. Mary Hunley. Rob- ert King and Sarah James (White) Hud- gins had issue : James Madison, William Edward, Henry Clay. Elizabeth S., Robert D., Louis Kossuth, Charles Buckner, Sarah Frances.

James Madison Hudgins, eldest son of Robert King and Sarah James (White) Hudgins, was born .Xugust 30, 1835. died in Norfolk, Virginia. May 18. 1895. During the war from 1861 to 1865 he was captain and assistant quartermaster in the Confed- erate army. He married, June 26, 1871, Mollie Sumner .Schofield and resided there- after in Norfolk. William Edward, the sec- ond son, is mentioned below. Henry Clay, third son (q. v.). Elizabeth S., eldest daughter, born in Mathews county, married in Portsmouth, January 21, 1869, Richard C. M. Wingfield. Robert D., fourth son, born in Mathews county. May 9, 1847, died in Norfolk, .August 31. 1 891, and is buried next to his father and mother in the Nor- folk Cemetery. He was a popular club man of Richmond, Virginia, and on the wall of a room in the Commonwealth Club, which he aided in organizing, hangs an oil paint- ing of "Bob Hudgins" as he was familiarly known to his manv friends. He never mar-