"Nicholas Buck, the founder of Bucksville, was the third son of Nicholas Buck, of Springfield, where he was born March 20, 1767 [1769, was a wheelwright by trade.] He married Mary [Magdalena], the daughter of John Eck, of Upper Salford, Montgomery county, 1789, and in the fall of 1792, he purchased of Christian Klinker [Kleinker] 64 acres on the Durham road, in Nockamixon, the site of Bucksville. Here he erected a dwelling, wheelwright and blacksmith shops, and [later, a substantial stone house. In 1808 he enlarge the house and obtained license, calling it the "White Horse," [a prancing steed of that color, fully caparisoned, being emblazoned on the sign board. At that day the Durham and Easton roads were highways for freight and travel between Philadelphia and the Upper Delaware and Lehigh, and this noted tavern became a stopping-place for loaded teams and the Easton mail stages. The patronage was continued until the opening of the Belvidere-Delaware railroad, 1854. In 1816 Mr. Buck opened a store and 1828 a post office was established called Bucksville and himself appointed postmaster. Having a taste for military pursuits, when the British fired on the Chesapeake, 1807, he raised a cavalry company, calling it the "Washington Light Horse," commanding it till his death. His connection with the volunteers made Bucksville a military centre and for many years the uniformed companies of Springfield, Durham, Nockamixon and Tinicum, subsequently organized into a battalion, held their annual spring and fall training there. Captain Buck was a useful man in the community, taking a lively interest in all that concerned its welfare. He assisted to build a couple of school houses soon after going into the township; and, in order that his own children might have better facilities for education, engaged Charles Fortman, a learned German, and had a school opened in a room in his house. Here the higher branches were taught, including piano and vocal music, the languages, geography and bookkeeping. The school was kept up for several years.] He died at Bucksville, August 28, 1829 [1830], his widow surviving him until [February 4] 1858, at the age of 91 [89], leaving 95 living descendants, some in the fifth generation. [She was a native of Skippack, in Montgomery county, was familiar with a number of Revolutionary events, and frequently saw Washington and his army. She lived at Bucksville in this county 65 years." [1]
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Durham Road