Buckingham, Henry (1779-1845)

First store owner and postmaster in Kingston, PA


When Burke met1818
Where Burke metKingston, PA
OccupationCommerce
Interaction with BurkeShod Burke’s horse and gave him money
Identity StatusCertain
GenealogyWikiTree
Memoir Pages97

Notes

Henry Buckingham (1779–1845) was a merchant, mill operator, and public official born in Lebanon, Connecticut, to Thomas and Triphena (Hibbard) Buckingham. After marrying Harriet Talcott in 1803, he relocated from New London to Kingston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in 1804. There he constructed the town’s first store and dwelling, engaging extensively in merchandising, farming, and milling. He served as Kingston’s first postmaster from 1809 to 1822, operated a paper mill from 1812 to 1821, and held the office of county treasurer. Financial insolvency, precipitated around 1819 by a clerk’s unauthorized purchases and the post-war economic downturn, led him to close his local businesses. In 1821, he moved his family to the Western Reserve in Ohio, eventually settling in Norwalk in 1822. He died of apoplexy in Newark, Ohio, leaving two surviving children, George Talcott and Fanny.


Sources

Burke, William. Memoir of William Burke: A Soldier of the Revolution, Reformed from Intemperance, and for Many Years a Consistent and Devoted Christian; Carefully Prepared from a Journal Kept by Himself; to Which Is Added, an Extract from a Sermon Preached at His Funeral, by Rev. Nathaniel Miner. Hartford, CT: Case, Tiffany, 1837.

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