James Madison Buchanan (May 1803 – August 23, 1876) was a

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

Early life

James Madison Buchanan was born in

Pikesville, Maryland Pikesville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. Pikesville is just northwest of the Baltimore city limits. It is the northwestern suburb closest to Baltimore. The population was 30,764 at the 2010 cens ...

, in May 1803 (some sources indicate 1802). He was the son of William Buchanan (1748–1824) and Hephzibah (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Brown) Buchanan. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, his father was a member of the

committee of correspondence The committees of correspondence were, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...

and was a registrar of wills for

Baltimore county Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...

in 1778. Through his father, he was a cousin of 15th President of the United States

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

(1791–1868). He attended

Baltimore College Baltimore College was a secular college in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1804. It was a private non-sectarian institution, although the president of its board of directors when it was formed also happened to be the Roman Catholic bis ...

and St. Mary's College of Baltimore, studied law with Hugh Davey Evans and Walter Dorsey, and became an attorney in Baltimore.

Career

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

, Buchanan served in the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

in 1826 & 1829. Later a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he campaigned for

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

for president in

1824 May 7: The almost completely deaf Beethoven premieres his Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) , Ninth Symphony Events January–March * January 8 – After much controversy, Michael Faraday is finally elected as a member of the Royal Society, ...

and

1828 Events January–March * January 4 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac succeeds the Comte de Villèle, as Prime Minister of France. * January 8 – The Democratic Party of the United States is organized. * January 22 – Arthu ...

, and attended numerous local and state party conventions as a Delegate. In the 1830s, he joined the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

as an aide-de-camp to the Commander of the Baltimore City Guards. Buchanan became a Whig in the 1830s, but later returned to the Democratic party. Buchanan served as Baltimore's

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

for eight years during the administration of

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...

, and he was President of Maryland's 1850–1851 constitutional convention. In 1852 he was appointed as one of Maryland's Commissioners for resolving the state's boundary with

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and in 1855 he was appointed a Judge on Maryland's Circuit Court. In 1856, Buchanan was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

, and supported his cousin

for president. In 1858, President Buchanan nominated James M. Buchanan as Minister to Denmark succeeding

Henry Bedinger Henry Bedinger III (February 3, 1812 – November 26, 1858) was a nineteenth-century American planter, politician, lawyer and diplomat. Born in the part of Virginia that became West Virginia not long after his death, he served two terms in th ...

. He served until 1861 when he was replaced by Bradford R. Wood.

Later career

After spending time touring Paris and Europe during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Buchanan returned to Baltimore and practiced law until his death.

Personal life

Buchanan was married to Jane Ellen Carns. Together, they were the parents of: * William Jefferson Buchanan (1833–1874), a

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

lawyer and newspaper man. * John Adams Buchanan (1835–1839), who died young. * James Madison Buchanan Jr. (1837–1924), who married Sarah Ann Elizabeth McGaughy (1840–1893) * Emily Rebecca Buchanan (1838–1844), who died young. * John Rowan Buchanan (1841–1880) * Edmund Key Buchanan (1843–1908) * Rebecca Priscilla Buchanan (1847–1861), who died young. * Harvey Buchanan (b. 1851) * Ellen Elizabeth Buchanan (1853–1859), who died young.

Death and burial

Buchanan died in

Berkeley, West Virginia Berkeley is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Berkeley County, West Virginia, Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States. The community began as Berkeley Station on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line, but its name has since b ...

, on August 23, 1876, and was buried in Baltimore's

Green Mount Cemetery Green Mount Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established on March 15, 1838, and dedicated on July 13, 1839, it is noted for the large number of historical figures interred in its grounds as well as many ...

. (One source indicate that he died in Baltimore.)James Grant Wilson, John Fiske, editors
Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography
Volume 7, 1901, page 39

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, James Madison 1803 births 1876 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Denmark 19th-century American diplomats Maryland Democratic-Republicans Maryland Democrats Maryland lawyers Maryland state court judges Maryland Whigs 19th-century American politicians Lawyers from Baltimore Burials at Green Mount Cemetery People from Pikesville, Maryland American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers