John Henry Buck and Lucy Colvin
Husband John Henry Buck 836
Born: Abt 1760 - England 836 Died: 1834 - Louisa County, Virginia 836 Buried:Marriage: 24 Aug 1784 - Culpeper County, Virginia 984Events
• Occupation: Millwright and Mechanic, Virginia. 836,985,986 John Henry Buck built Thomas Jefferson's first threshing machine from a model sent from Scotland. Jefferson acquired the threshing machine model with the help of Thomas Pinckney (Minister to Great Britain) and commissioned Buck to build it in late 1795.
Subsequently, John Henry Buck built at least one more threshing machine for Thomas Jefferson using improvements John Henry had seen at another Virginia plantation.
During the time he worked at Monticello, he and his family (Lucy Colvin and their children) lived on the Monticello estate. Thomas Jefferson provided individual houses for craftsmen and artisans working on the estate. Very likely, their daughter Elizabeth was born at Monticello.
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Entry in "Index of the Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson," ed. by Morris Betts and James Adam Beal, Jr., 1966, University of Missouri Press:
"Buck, John H. (Monticello workman), 169, 169n"
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Letter from Jefferson to James Madison, 19 May 1793:
"I expect every day to receive from Mr. Pinckney the model of the Scotch threshing machine. It was to have come in a ship which arrived 3. weeks ago, but the workman had not quite finished it. Mr. P. writes me word that the machine from which my model is taken threshes 8. quarters (64. bushels) of oats an hour, with 4. horses & 4. men. I hope to get it in time to have one erected at Monticello to clean out the present crop. -- inclose you the pamphlet you desired. Adieu."
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Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, June 19, 1796
"I put away this disgusting dish of old fragments, & talk to you of my peas & clover. As to the latter article, I have great encouragement from the friendly nature of our soil. I think I have had, both the last & present year, as good clover from common grounds, which had brought several crops of wheat & corn without ever having been manured, as I ever saw on the lots around Philadelphia. I verily believe that a yield of 34. acres, sowed on wheat April was twelvemonth, has given me a ton to the acre at it's first cutting this spring. The stalks extended, measured 31/2 feet long very commonly. Another field, a year older, & which yielded as well the last year, has sensibly fallen off this year. My exhausted fields bring a clover not high enough for hay, but I hope to make seed from it. Such as these, however, I shall hereafter put into peas in the broadcast, proposing that one of my sowings of wheat shall be after two years of clover, & the other after 2. years of peas. I am trying the white boiling pea of Europe (the Albany pea) this year, till I can get the hog pea of England, which is the most productive of all. But the true winter vetch is what we want extremely. I have tried this year the Caroline drill. It is absolutely perfect. Nothing can be more simple, nor perform it's office more perfectly for a single row. I shall try to make one to sow four rows at a time of wheat or peas, at 12. inches distance. I have one of the Scotch threshing machines nearly finished. It is copied exactly from a model mr. Pinckney sent me, only that I have put the whole works (except the horse wheel) into a single frame, movable from one field to another on the two axles of a wagon. It will be ready in time for the harvest which is coming on, which will give it a full trial. Our wheat and rye are generally fine, and the prices talked of bid fair to indemnify us for the poor crops of the two last years."
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At the time that Thomas Pinckney secured the Scot model of the threshing machine for Thomas Jefferson, Mr. Pinckney was the American Minister to England. A short summary:
Pinckney 1750-1828, American political leader and diplomat, b. Charleston, S.C.; brother of C. C. Pinckney and cousin of Charles Pinckney. At the outbreak of the American Revolution he joined the militia; he saw action in Florida, took part in the defense of Charleston (1780), and was wounded and captured at Camden in the Carolina campaign. After the war he served as governor (1787-89). While minister to England (1792-96), he was sent as envoy extraordinary to Spain (1794-95). His treaty with Spain (1795) established commercial relations between the United States and Spain, provided for free navigation of the Mississippi by American citizens and Spanish subjects, granted the right of deposit at New Orleans, and set the boundaries of Louisiana and E and W Florida.• Religious Freedom: Possible Signer of the Ten Thousand Name Petition, 16 Oct 1776, Culpeper County, Virginia. 987 Signature from Culpeper County: John Buck
Quoted from the Library of Congress Website:
The Church and State Debate
In the years following the Revolution, petitions played a vital role in registering widespread political opinion on important questions of public policy and religion. The ultimate stakes were the disestablishment of the Church of England and the possibility of a newfound commitment to full religious freedom for all citizens of the independent commonwealth. The most notable example is the famous "Ten-thousand Name" petition, presented during the General Assembly session on October 16, 1776. Asking for disestablishment of the Church of England as well as religious equality, this document consisted of 125 pages sewn or joined together with wax seals, and was signed by an unprecedented ten thousand Virginia citizens. With other petitions, this enormous manuscript began the debate over the relationship of church and state in Virginia.
General Note on Virginia Petitions:
Citizens generally sent their petitions to their elected representatives in the House of Burgesses and, later, the House of Delegates. The burgesses consistently encouraged citizens to present their requests and grievances through petitions by guaranteeing that all petitions would be considered. Generally, petitions to the House concerned local needs, and most were signed by no more than fifty or a hundred people. Occasionally, however, an issue arose that prompted wider excitement and widespread petitioning.
From the earliest colonial times, petitions were simply circulated around a given area to obtain signatures, with no official notification to anyone. Signers were supposed to be free and to have attained their legal majority. After the early nineteenth century, the practice developed of posting a notice at the court house stating that a petition on such-and-such a subject was being circulated through a certain area. Sometimes petitions were printed as handbills or in newspapers, probably to obtain more widespread publicity and hence more signatures.
• Tax List: List A, 1787, Culpeper County, Virginia. 72,836 Lists Buck, John H. with 2 horses and 2 cattle, and with only himself as tithable.
Also lists several Colvins.
• Connection to Thomas Jefferson: Carpenter & Engineer / Mechanic at Monticello, 1790s, Albemarle County, Virginia. 836 THOMAS JEFFERSON FARM BOOK. 1795-1796.AD. 2 pp. #3946. Cf. Betts, Farm Book, 47, 48:
Bread lists for Monticello, Mr. Petit, and Mr. Page. Labor lists for Monticello, Tufton, Shadwell, and Lego. General clothing list. Lists white workers Mr. Buck, Mr. Watson, Mr. Bailey.
From Thomas Jefferson's personal letters [with notes added by Bill Reynolds]:
1796 10 4 Letter, TJ to Mr. Booker, dated at Monticello:
"I have this summer had a threshing machine made on the Scotch model, and have already got out a good part of my crop with it with great success. hearing however that you had improved it by substituting whirls and bands for cogwheels & wallowers, I desired Colo. Coles to enquire whether your plan could be communicated. he did not see you, but mr Graham was kind enough to say I should have a drawing of it. this has encouraged me to send a workman and to ask your permission to let him examine it, and, on his return, make one for me. I understand you have either applied for a patent or mean to do so…if you will inform me by return of the bearer, mr Buck, what will be the price of your licence to use your invention, I will have the price paid to you in Richmond if I build one…"
1796 10 7 Letter, William Booker to TJ, dated Goochland County [This letter in TJ Papers, MHS]
I received yours of the fourth instant by Mr. Buck[.] I have with pleasure given him every information I am able respecting the Machine. At present I am very unwell, as soon as I should be in better health I will make a drawing of the machine and forward it by the post to Charlottesville for you. Mr. Graham told me Colo Coles has applyd to him and that he had promised him a drawing but it has never been since in my power to comply owing to my indesposion and previous engagements. I feel much indebted to you for your offering your assistance in procuring a patent had you been convenient I should have taken the liberty to have calld on you at first. I have got the assistance of some Gentl. In Richmond and have sent forward a model at present I believe the business is as forward as could be expected if any difficulties should arise by your permiss. I will call on you. Having not as yet obtain a patent I cannot say what will be my price for using the machine but should I succeed the price shall be moderate.
[Undated MS in Booker's hand, in MHi:]
A bill of Scantling, for a threshing machine to be worked by bands- For a wheel thirty six feet diameter One shaft ___ long. 16 inches through Hewd. 8 squ 8 pieces for arms 19 feet long 2 ½ by 9 16 pieces for braces and ties 13 feet long 2 by 3 for the framing inside of a house or to support the drum &c 4 pieces 16 feet long 5 by 8 12 Do 16 4 by 8 for rolers bands beaters &c 10 pieces of tough white oak or any strong hard wood 4 ½ feet long 4 inches sqr. 2 wheels 4 feet diameter made as a common cart or wagon wheel not dished for the drum 2 Do. For turning the rolers 3 feet 8 inches diameter as strong as the rim of a spinning will Will be sufficient, nuts 6 or 7 inches through one Do. 3 or 4 feet diameter Some stronger for directing the band to the whirl"
Notes: William Booker (d. 1802), an agricultural inventor from Goochland County, Virginia, received a patent for his machine for threshing wheat in 1797. shortly after which he moved to Richmond, where he built and sold his invention. He installed threshing machines at various estates, including George Washington's Union Farm in July 1797. Two years later, Washington engaged Booker to build a horse-powered grist mill by fixing it to a threshing machine. (List of Patents, 13; Virginia Argus, 12 June 1798…) [The letters between TJ and Coles are missing.]
1796 11 17 Letter, William Booker to TJ, dated Goochland County:
"Sir, Inclosed is a drawing of the threshing machine I promised you by Mr. Buck. I hope your liberality will excuse me for the delay. My situation has been such as to render it almost impossible with any tolerable convenience to have done it sooner. I have been but little used to drawing. What blunders you see I trust you will excuse. I hope however with it and the information you got by Mr. Buck will be sufficient to shew you the principle after which I have no doubt you will greatly improve on it. I am confident it will suit this country much better than cogs and rounds it being more simple less expensive and I think fully as opperative. I am…Wm. Booker" [On reverse, in TJ's handwriting: "rec'd Nov 18"]
1798 12 8 Letter, TJ to Mary Jefferson Eppes:
"…our house I hope will all be covered in the course of three or four weeks more so as to be out of the way of suffering, but Buck's leaving us, without laying any more floors, has prevented our getting the use of any other room…"
• Federal Census: General Population Schedule, 1820, Louisa County, Virginia. 988 Louisa County, Virginia]
Federal Census of 1820
No heading
Buck, H. John.
1 male of 45 and upwards
1 female under 10
1 female of 26 and under 45
1 female of 45 and upwards
3 persons engaged in agriculture
No slaves.• Federal Census: General Population Schedule, 1830, Louisa County, Virginia. 907 Louisa County, Virginia
Federal Census of 1820
No heading
Page 9:
George W. Buck
1 male under 5
1 male of 20 and under 30
1 female under 5
1 female of 20 and under 30
No slaves
John H. Buck
1 male of 20 and under 30
1 male of 70 and under 80
1 female of 70 and under 80
No slaves
Page 18:
John S. Buck
1 male of 10 and under 15
1 male of 30 and under 40
1 female of 40 and under 50
Slaves:
5 males under 10
3 males of 10 and under 24
2 females under 10
2 females of 10 and under 24
3 females of 24 and under 36
Total persons 18• Deed of Trust: John Henry Buck to Thomas Baker, 14 Nov 1831, Louisa County, Virginia. 836 This Indenture, made this 15th day of October in the year of our Lord 1831 between John H. Buck of the first part, Thomas Baker of the second part, and John S. Buck of the third part:
Whereas the said John H. Buck is justly indebted to the said John S. Buck in the sum of Forty dollars and eighty one cents to be paid on the 15th day of October 1832, as by a bond bearing equal date with these presents more fully appears; which debt with the legal interest thereon accruing, the said John H. Buck is willing and desirous to secure; Now this indenture witnesseth that for and in consideration of the premises, and also for the further consideration of ten dollars of lawful money of Virginia, to the said John H. Buck in hand paid by the said Thomas Baker at and before the sealing and delivery of these presents the receipt is hereby acknowledged, he, the said John H. Buck hath given, granted, bargained, sold, aliened, enfeoffed, released and confirmed, and by these presents doth give, grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfeoff, release and confirm, to the said Thomas Baker his heirs and assigns forever, fifty acres land to be laid off at the upper end of the tract on which the said John H. Buck now resides, (being a part of the said tract) lying and being in the county of Louisa in the state of Virginia & bounded by the lands of James Poindexter, Edmund Pendleton & others with all and singular the appurtenances to the said fifty acres of land belonging in any wise appertaining…nevertheless, that the said Thomas Baker his heirs, executors & administrators shall permit the said John H. Buck to remain and peaceable possession of the said parcel of land and premises with its appurtenances, and take the profits thereof to his own use, until default be made in the payment of the said sum of Forty dollars and eighty one cents either in the whole or in part…
In witness whereof the said parties to these presents have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals the day and hear first above written. [signed by John H. Buck and Thos. Baker] [Witnesses Wm. B. Gibson, Wm. H. Buck, George W. Buck]
This deed of trust was recorded in Louisa County Court on November 14, 1831.• Inventory of Estate: John Henry Buck, 21 Feb 1837, Louisa County, Virginia. 836
Real Estate: John Henry Buck owned 100 acres of land, which sold to son John S. Buck at $1.61 per acre, March 1838 at public auction. The land was in the County of Louisa about two miles from Yancyville. After bills were paid, including expenses of administration and probate, each of the nine heirs received $8.37. It appears that the other heirs brought suit against John S. Buck, the administrator, to force sale of the land and distribution of the estate, as that was not entirely settled until about 1840.
Personal Estate
Louisa County, Virginia Will Book 10, pp. 19-20, 21 Feb 1837:
ItemAmount
3 old barrel $ 0.25
1 large chest$ 2.50
2 runlets [small barrels]$ 0.50
do {large chest}$ 2.50
1 do {runlets}$ 0.75
basket of cloves$ 0.50
6 barrels$ 1.00
1 basket of cotton balls$ 1.00
1 p candlemoulds$ 0.25
2 ps Cloth$ 9.00
2 bed trays [?] & sifter$ 1.00
½ dozen plates$ 0.75
Old lock & reap hook$ 0.125
1 flax wheel$ 3.00
curry comb seales [?] & bills$ 0.25
onions$ 0.12
1 paper lamp black$ 0.03
sandbox9d (9 pence)
1 p. scales & weights$ 0.125
jug & 2 bottles oil$ 0.75
basket roling pins & horns$ 0.25
4 bottles of grease$ 0.25
basket glass & 7 viols$ 0.50
3 bottles9d (9 pence)
tin pan & basket$ 0.20
1 box soap$ 1.00
1 trowel$ 0.25
1 do {box soap}$ 1.50
shoemakers tools & leather$ 1.00
knif box & knoves$ 0.25
1 coffee mill$ 0.50
1 pr Timples [?]9d (9 pence)
Bible & Testament$ 1.00
dried fruit$ 1.00
books & baskets$ 0.75
huness [?] frame$ 0.25
6 paint pots$ 0.25
beef$ 3.50
3 black bottles$ 0.25
bacon$ 3.00
3 coffee pots$ 0.20
meal bags & plough lines$ 0.38
2 small jugs$ 0.50
tallow$ 3.00
1 lantern$ 0.25
1 counterpin$ 4.00
1 pot butter$ 2.00
1 do {counterpain}$ 4.00
bred basket$ 0.12
2 yard blankets @ 9
3 tin pans$ 0.25
2 do {yard balnkets} @ 3
greese$ 0.12
bed & furniture$ 15.00
1 stone churn$ 0.75
oven tongs & skillet$ 0.75