Buckner Family Papers, 1784-1991

Held by The Filson Historical Society 

Creator:  Buckner Family 

Title:  Papers, 1784-1991 

Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department. 

Size of Collection:  4 cubic feet 

Location Number:  Mss. A B925 

Scope and Content Note 

Papers pertaining to the Buckner family of Kentucky contain personal correspondence from 1788-1991. Early letters, 1788-1844, are primarily written to Thomas Buckner from his brothers, George, John C., William, and Henry M. Topics discussed include Kentucky’s Old Court-New Court controversy; Campbell County; Fayette County; Georgetown, Ky.; education; slaves; religion; Kentucky politics and politicians; Kentucky land laws; early Indiana and Indianapolis history; Virginia economic conditions; the Texas Revolution; Missouri; and presidential elections of 1824, 1828, 1832, and 1836. Letters from 1845-1889 cover a variety of topics including the extension of slavery into the territories; Missouri history and politics, Kansas City, Mo. during the 1870s; the American Party; the Mexican War; the Civil War, Stonewall Jackson, and the Battle of Columbus, KY; freed slaves in Louisiana; and presidential elections of 1872, 1876, and 1880. Letters from 1890-1949 are primarily written by John A. Buckner and pertain to his Louisiana plantations, and raising cotton. Other topics include claims made against the government for damages to Kentucky property during the Civil War; and the presidential elections of 1900 and 1908. Letters from 1950-1991 are mostly family correspondence, but do note the 1976 presidential election. 

Business papers, 1819-1915, include Thomas Buckner’s papers while Campbell County Deputy Sheriff, and papers about the Louisiana plantations. 

Legal papers, 1802-1950, include Buckner and Taylor family wills. 

Kentucky land papers, 1785-1913, pertain to Campbell County, Kenton County, Boone County, and Jefferson County, including grants signed by Patrick Henry and James Garrard. Louisiana land papers, 1848-1911, are also included. 

Military documents, 1808-1861, contain early Kentucky militia muster orders, and Civil War orders. 

Collection also includes John Leather’s early Kentucky day book from 1784-1802; Pattie Anderson Kennedy Helm’s diary from 1872-1893; certificates; cancelled checks; family snapshots; newspaper clippings; and miscellaneous items, including an 1884 broadside advertising the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, and undated rules for the Covington, Ky. Debating Society and the Campbell County Agricultural and Manufacturing Society. 

Finally, collection contains genealogical correspondence, notes, and newspaper clippings pertaining to the Buckner family and allied families: Taylor, Covington, Helm, Hardin, Sandford, Catlett, Berry, Martin, Nelson, Thornberry, Thornhill, Taliferro, Todd, Keene, Conn, Maddox, Hubbard, Magruder, Wright, Wailes, Hoggatt, Anderson, and Kennedy. 

Biographical Note 

Thomas Catlett Buckner 

Thomas Catlett Buckner, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Buckner, was born 20 Feb. 1793 in Caroline County, Va. and died 19 June 1844 in Kenton County, Ky. He first married Caroline Perry who died on 29 June 1820. He married his second wife, Mildred Washington Berry on 22 April 1823. Their children were Henry Washington Buckner and Hubbard Taylor Buckner. Thomas Catlett Buckner was a resident of Campbell County, Ky. (later, Kenton County) and served as the county’s deputy sheriff. In 1839 he built “Beechwood” house in Kenton County. 

George Buckner 

George Buckner, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Buckner, was born 17 Nov. 1791 (probably in Caroline County, Va.) and died in Missouri. He married Elizabeth Mansell on 16 August 1818. Buckner was a carpenter who lived in Kentucky, Indiana, and Missouri. 

John Catlett Buckner 

John Catlett Buckner, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Buckner, was born 17 Aug. 1790 (probably in Caroline County, Va.) and died 3 July 1824 in Lexington, Ky. He married Mary Gano on 23 April 1813. Their children were William Henry Buckner, Margaret Buckner, Richard Buckner, and Elizabeth Buckner. 

Henry Mortimer Buckner 

Henry Mortimer Buckner, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Buckner, was born 15 April 1796 in Caroline County, Va. and died 30 June 1876 (probably in Erlanger, Ky.). He married Etheline E. Conn on 18 Sept. 1828. Their children were Ellenora E. Buckner and John Alexander Buckner. Buckner built “Edgewood” house in Kenton County, Ky. 

William Buckner 

William Buckner, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Buckner, was born 15 Nov. 1801 (probably in Caroline County, Va.) and died 2 May 1876 (possibly in Fayette County, Ky.). Unmarried, he lived in Chilesburg, Ky. in Fayette County and worked as a farmer. 

John Alexander Buckner 

John Alexander Buckner, the son of Henry Mortimer and Etheline (Conn) Buckner, was born 15 Aug. 1832 in Boone County, Ky. and died 22 Oct. 1903 in East Carroll Parish, La. He was first married to Nellie Mason Kellam in 1859. Nellie died in 1863. Their two children, John Alexander Buckner and Loulie Buckner, both died in 1863. He was married to his second wife, Susan Covington on 6 May 1872. Two of their children, John Alexander Buckner and Henry M. Buckner, both died in infancy. Only their daughter, Etheline Conn Buckner survived to adulthood. 

Buckner attended schools in Covington, Ky. and Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from Centre College in 1852 and later attended the Theological College at Princeton, N.J. He worked as a missionary in Rio de Janeiro until 1856 when he returned to Kentucky. Later, he bought a cotton plantation in Louisiana. 

Hen enlisted in the Confederate Army at Hopkinsville, Ky. in September 1863 and was the Captain of Co. A, 8th Kentucky Regiment. With the fall of Fort Donelson, Buckner disbanded his company and crossed into Tennessee where he joined Albert Sidney Johnston’s army. He was also on the staff of John C. Breckinridge and was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for his gallantry in battle. He participated in the battles at Shiloh and Stones River. By 1864 Buckner was serving on General Simon Bolivar Buckner’s staff and was in charge of the Cotton Bureau. 

After the war, Buckner returned to his plantation in Louisiana and spent his time raising cotton and serving on the Levee Board rebuilding levees on the Mississippi River that were destroyed during the war. 

Hubbard Taylor Buckner 

Hubbard Taylor Buckner, the son of Thomas Catlett and Mildred (Berry) Buckner, was born 18 Feb. 1827 and died 1 Jan. 1903. He married Lucy M. Sandford on 7 Nov. 1848. Their children were Alexander, 

Mildred Thomas, William Henry, Hubbard George (also known as George Hubbard), Mary Lucy, Alice Elizabeth, and Sophia Belle. Buckner served in both the Mexican and Civil Wars. 

Etheline Conn Buckner 

Etheline Conn Buckner, the only surviving child of Col. John Alexander and Susan (Covington) Buckner, was born 13 Jan. 1872 in New Orleans, La. and died 19 Nov. 1950 in Erlanger, Ky. She married Hubbard G. Buckner (also known as George Hubbard) on 25 June 1890. Their children were Mildred Louise, Alice Elizabeth, Susan Covington, Lucy Sandford, Lucy Mary, Sophia Belle, and Hubbard George, Jr. 

Hubbard George Buckner 

Hubbard George Buckner (also known as George Hubbard), the son of Hubbard Taylor and Lucy (Sandford) Buckner, was born on 22 Sept. 1856 and died in 1942 in Erlanger, Ky. He married Etheline Conn Buckner, the daughter of Col. John Alexander Buckner, on 25 June 1890. Their children were Mildred Louise, Alice Elizabeth, Susan Covnington, Lucy Sandford, Lucy Mary, Sophia Belle, and Hubbard George, Jr. Buckner was a businessman who helped his father-in-law, John Alexander Buckner, run his Louisiana plantations. He was also an expert on horses and an accomplished judge of horse shows. 

Folder List 

Box 1 

1. Correspondence, 1788-1817
2. Correspondence, 1818
3. Correspondence, 1819
4. Correspondence, 1820-1821
5. Correspondence, 1822

Box 2 

6. Correspondence, 1823-1824
7. Correspondence, 1825-1826
8. Correspondence, 1827
9. Correspondence, 1828-1829
10. Correspondence, 1830-1831
11. Correspondence, 1832
12. Correspondence, 1833
13. Correspondence, 1834

Box 3 

14. Correspondence, 1835
15. Correspondence, 1836
16. Correspondence, 1837-1839
17. Correspondence, 1840-1842
18. Correspondence, 1843-1844
19. Correspondence, 1845-1866
20. Correspondence, 1870-1877
21. Correspondence, 1880-1893

Box 4 

22. Correspondence, 1894-1897
23. Correspondence, 1898-1899
24. Correspondence, 1900
25. Correspondence, 1901-1903
26. Correspondence, 1904
27. Correspondence, 1905
28. Correspondence, 1906

Box 5 

29. Correspondence, 1907
30. Correspondence, 1908-1909
31. Correspondence, 1910-1914
32. Correspondence, 1915-1928
33. Correspondence, 1930-1959
34. Correspondence, 1960-1966
35. Correspondence, 1967-1979
36. Correspondence, 1980-1983

Box 6 

37. Correspondence, 1984
38. Correspondence, 1985-1991
39. Correspondence, No date
40. Pattie Anderson Kennedy Helm Diary 1872-1878, 1883, 1893 intermittent entries (NOT IN A FOLDER) 

41. John Leathers Day Book and Ledger,1784-1802 (NOT IN A FOLDER)
42. John Leathers Day Book and Ledger loosepapers

Box 7 

43. Thomas Catlett Buckner Business Papers asCampbell Co., Ky., Sheriff 1819-1832, nodate 
44. Thomas Catlett Buckner Personal BusinessPapers 1816-1842, no date
45. Miscellaneous Business Papers 1798-1904
46. Miscellaneous Business Papers 1905-1915,no date
47. Legal Papers 1802-1873
48. Legal Papers 1890-ca. 1950, no date

Box 8 

49. Jefferson Co., Ky., Land Papers 1785-1807,no date
50. Campbell Co., Ky., Land Papers 1797-1829
51. Campbell Co., Ky., Land Papers 1830-1839
52. Boone Co., Ky., Land Papers 1836-1868,no date
53. Kenton Co., Ky., Land Papers 1851-1901
54. Miscellaneous Kentucky Land Papers1799-1913
55. Louisiana Land Papers 1848-1911
56. Miscellaneous Land Papers 1866-1868,no date
57. Military Documents 1808, 1822, 1835, 1861
58. Invitations, Announcements 1866-1989,no date

Box 9 

59. Certificates 1853-1972, no date
60. Cancelled Checks 1865-1871
61. Cancelled Checks 1872-1903
62. Snapshots
63. Newspaper Clippings 1895-1984, no date
64. Envelopes
65. Miscellaneous 1812-1967, no date

Box 10 (RECORD CENTER BOX) 

66. Genealogy Correspondence, 1905-1959
67. Genealogy Correspondence, 1960-1969
68. Genealogy Correspondence, 1972-1979
69. Genealogy Correspondence, 1980-1990,no date
70. Buckner Family Genealogy
71. Buckner Family Genealogy
72. Buckner Family Newspaper Clippings,1902-1984, Snapshots
73. Taylor Family Genealogy
74. Taylor Family Genealogy
75. Taylor Family Newspaper Clippings,1940-1984, Snapshots
76. Taylor Family Pamphlets and Brochures, 1924-1984
77. Covington Family Genealogy
78. Covington Family Genealogy, Newspaper Clippings 1935, 1965, Snapshots
79. Sandford Family Genealogy
80. Sandford Family Genealogy, Newspaper Clippings 1953, 1966, 1972, Snapshots
81. Helm Family Genealogy
82. Helm Family Genealogy Newspaper Clippings, 1939-1980
83. Hardin Family Genealogy
84. Catlett, Berry, Martin, Nelson, Thornberry, Thornhill,TaliferroFamilies Genealogy 
85. Todd, Keene, Conn, Maddox, Hubbard Families Genealogy
86. Magruder, Wright,Wailes,Hoggatt Families Genealogy 
87. Anderson, Kennedy Families Genealogy, Newspaper Clippings 1970, 1982-1985
88. Oversize folder – Buckner and Taylor Familycharts, Louisiana plantation plat maps