Buckman

 John Baptist Buckman and the Catholic Hearth of Maryland

 

Roots and Branches – Theresa’s Line

In the gentle folds of Southern Maryland, where the Potomac meets the Chesapeake and the air carries the mingled scent of tidewater and tobacco, lived a man named John Baptist Buckman, born in 1690. He and his wife, Susanne Anne Smith, are among the oldest known ancestors in Theresa’s maternal line, and their story—though dimmed by time—still echoes through the roots of American Catholic heritage.

John was born into a world shaped by hope and hardship. Maryland had been founded just a few decades earlier as a refuge for English Catholics fleeing persecution. By the time of his birth, the colony was still a fragile place for Catholics, who faced increasing legal restrictions under British rule. Yet families like the Buckmans held tightly to their faith, building their homes, raising their children, and maintaining their community in spite of the challenges.

John married Susanne Anne Smith, who was born around 1692. She, too, likely came from a Catholic family of English descent, possibly tracing her lineage back to the original settlers of St. Mary’s City—the first capital of Maryland and a symbolic heart of religious freedom in early colonial America.

The Buckmans lived off the land—probably as tobacco farmers like most families in the region—on property tucked among the forests and waterways of St. Mary’s County. Their homestead may have been modest in structure, but it was strong in spirit. Theirs was a life of toil: clearing land, planting, harvesting, bartering, and raising a family in a place that could be as beautiful as it was unforgiving.

Though records from that time are scarce, John and Susanne likely had many children, and their descendants spread throughout the region and beyond. By the late 1700s, many of the Buckman children and grandchildren had joined the westward movement of Catholic families migrating from Maryland to Kentucky—particularly to Nelson County near Bardstown, where they established a new Catholic stronghold on the frontier.

Susanne’s death date is unknown, but family tradition holds that she may have outlived her husband by decades. If so, she would have seen dramatic changes sweep through the colonies—from the tightening grip of British rule to the first whispers of revolution.

Today, their names rest quietly in the dust of history books and the fading ink of church registers, but John and Susanne’s legacy lives on—not just in Theresa and her maternal line, but in the deep-rooted values of faith, perseverance, and family that defined early Maryland settlers.