Mary (Foster) Buckner (1740 - aft. 1797)

Born 1740 in Virginia

Descendants

Died after 1797 after age 57 in Rowan Co NC

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Sharon McCormack [send private message]

Biography

Mary was the widow of George Foster who died in around 1762. She had remarried to Thomas Buckner by 1769,^[1] but he then died during the American Revolution, probably in 1777. She lived at least to 1797. One Buckner mentioned in land records with her (see below), Nancy (Buckner) Haney of Charlotte Co. VA was probably their daughter and a William Buckner living in the same area may have been theirs as well (aged between 26 and 45 in the 1810 census of Charlotte.^[2]) Mary had three "white" persons living with her in a 1782 tax list for Charlotte Co.^[3], which reinforces the idea that they had children.

In George Foster's 1762 will in Lunenburg Co. VA,^[4] he left 200 acres in Caroline Co. VA to his dau. Sarah, 200 acres to his son Josiah, and the plantation he lived on to his widow Mary for life/until remarriage, and thereafter to his son John. Their last daughter Frances Anne was born posthumously, and so was not in the will.

In 1769, Mary remarried to Thomas Buckner and she and Thomas sold 56 acres of the plantation (total 168 on Spring Creek) to John Foster via John's guardian William Foster. The reason they did this is because Mary had a 1/3 dower right to the land. After they sold it for £15, John then had the full plantation.

In 1777, Thomas Buckner was killed in the Revolutionary War.^[5]

In 1789, Nancy Buckner married Thomas Haney in Charlotte Co. with Josiah Foster (her half bro.) as surety.^[6] A few years earlier, Frances Ann Foster had married James Haney, with Josiah as surety, so it's pretty sure that Nancy was Thomas and Mary Buckner's daughter.

In 1797, Josiah died, and the Charlotte Co. court divided his estate among his 6 children, Mary Webb, George Watt Foster, Judith Foster, Richard Foster, William Singleton Foster, and Peggy Foster. Not long after, these 6 children paid Mary Buckner, widow of Thomas Buckner, 20 pounds for her dower right to 1/3 of Josiah's land, which she of course still had title to, thus reuniting the full 200 acres.

Research Notes

Heritage of Old Buncombe County (1981)^[7] states that she married Henry Buckner, Thomas Buckner's brother, but it does not give a source for this, and the claim is obviously contradicted by numerous primary sources. See Henry Buckner's profile. However, the mistake has been copied on the internet repeatedly, so this dubious idea is practically universal in internet databases.

No biography yet.^[8] Can you add information or sources?

Sources

1. ↑ George Foster GDN CHILDREN OF Robert Foster v. Elizabeth Crafton & John Crafton Charlotte Co. VA Chancery Court Index 1770-001, p. 12, 22 (1770), http://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=037-1770-001
2. ↑ http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/charlotte/census/1810/1810cens.txt
3. ↑ http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/charlotte/census/1782/1782tax.txt
4. ↑ Lunenburg County (Virginia) Will Book 2, p. 19 (wr. 30 Aug 1762, pr. 5 Oct 1762)
5. ↑ War Department. The Adjutant General's Office, Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, compiled 1894 - ca. 1912, documenting the period 1775 - 1784 NARA 570910, Microform M881, Record Group 93, Roll 0972, see list image on Fold3
6. ↑ "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRCT-N8J : 11 February 2018), Thomas Haney and Nancy Bucknor, 04 Jun 1788; citing Charlotte, Virginia, reference R1 P10; FHL microfilm 30,815.
7. ↑ David C. Reece, "The Henry Buckner Family 251-I", in Heritage of Old Buncombe County, V1, p. 261, 1981
8. ↑ Profile created by Sharon McCormack through the import of Younce_2019-02-21.ged on Feb 21, 2019. This comment and citation should be deleted after a short biography has been added and primary sources have been cited.

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