Several families by the name of Buck are recorded as having purchased land in Livingston County in the first half of the 19th century. All, of course, came from the East. Jasper and Rhoda (Hendricks) were in the Brighton Village area by 1841. Shortly after their arrival, their two oldest children, Willis, seven, and Philena, one, died in 1843. Rhodas obituary indicates the daughter was the 4th body buried in the Village Cemetery.
This is difficult to confirm since early records would dictate otherwise. Abigail, born August 24, 1844, married William C. Lyon of Brighton Township. After Lyons death, March 3, 1909, she married Charles E. Placeway, a widower after Alta Cases death in 1910. They were married on February 8, 1911. Abigail and Charles are both buried in Calvary Cemetery beside their respective first spouses. Myron, who became a veterinarian following his service as a bugler in the Civil War, was born in 1846. He died in Chicago January 14, 1901. Kingsley was born in 1848. Other than 1860 census records, and his inclusion in Jaspers will, no more information has been found. There is no mention of him in Rhodas obituary nor in Jaspers two-line obituary.
As a cooper, Jasper brought a valuable trade to the growing community; he made barrels and casks. Storage containers for food, water, grains, etc., were in short supply and much needed by the settlers. A cooper needed to be knowledgeable about tree species, the use of cutting and shaping tools and how to steam and bend the staves into useful containers. His shop is said to have been located on Ore Creek south of North Street. Following the opening of a large cooperage in Unadilla Township, his small operation could not compete. Rhodas obituary recorded Mr. Buck kept store in the Weicher building on the (SW) corner of Main Street and Grand River Road.
By the spring of 1850, the couple buys 120 acres in Section 13, SW ¼ SW ¼ ; Section 14, SE ¼ SE ¼; and Section 23, NE ¼ NE ¼ in Hamburg Township to build a home and farm. Besected by Winans Lake Road, the farm was located between Chilson and Hamburg Roads east of Winans Lake. Here daughter Ella was born in 1856. She married George Burgess and moved from the area.
The bucks were sympathetic to the plight of a child for shortly after moving to the farm, Henry S. Fitch, a 14-year-old orphan, came to live with them. (His father had died at sea on his way to California shortly before.) One can understand the Bucks willingness to take him in having lost the two little ones less than 10 years before.
Jasper, b. 1812, N.Y. d. December 1, 1887, and Rhoda, b. 1820, N. Y. d. January 1, 1909. Both are interred in the Village Cemetery near their two children. After his death, the land is willed to the four remaining children. Presently one finds many pleasant homes in that area; homes of those anxious to raise their families in rural surrounding.
Compiled by Marieanna Bair from: Census records; Old Village Cemetery transcription by John & Janice Field and its Supplement prepared by Bill Pless; The Calvary Cemetery transcription and obituaries compiled by Milton Charboneau.