BUCKMAN FAMILY
My 8th Great-Grandfather was Edward Buckman. About him I know very little. He lived in the area of Billingshurst, Sussex, England where he married his wife, Joan on 3 October 1648. Edward died 13 July 1670 leaving his wife and children William, Edward, Thomas, Mary, Ruth and Sarah.
Quakers seeking religous freedom, Edward and Thomas purchased land in Pennsylvania from William Penn and in 1682 Grandmother Joan and her family set sail on the ship "Welcome" bound for the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. They were in good company for William Penn himself was among the passengers.
The voyage was a misery. Smallpox broke out and killed many passengers. Among those believed to have succumed are Joan Buckman and her sons Edward and Thomas. Proof is good that they were passengers on the ship, but they are not recorded as having arrived in Pennsylvania with the rest of the family.
William and his wife, Sarah with children Thomas, Sarah and Mary are recorded as having arrived in the river Delaware in the "Welcome" the 25th of 6th month (August), 1682. A daughter Ruth was born in 1688 and a son, William in 1690. Sarah Buckman died just a few weeks after the birth of William. In 1706 William, the widower of Sarah, took for his second wife Mrs. Elizabeth Wilson and they were the parents of four children; Thomas, Elizabeth, David and Rebecca. Of these, Elizabeth, born 14 June 1709 married Zebulon Heston II and became my sixth-great-grandmother.
