Memorial Record of Western Kentucky, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904,
pp 612-616 [Hickman]

     HENRY BUCHANAN.  Well may America boast of her citizenship, for
great have been the accomplishments of her sons in all lines of
endeavor which contribute to the sum of the world's progress.  In
this land where every man is born equal before the law, where the
road to public usefulness and public honor is open to all, it is
worthy of note when an individual, by his merit and ability, is
enabled to pass others on the highway of life and reach the goal of
prosperity.  Standing in an eminent position among the leading
citizens of Hickman and Fulton county is Henry Buchanan, who at an
early age started out in life for himself and has had an eventful
career, being connected with many events which have left their
impress upon the history of the country.
     Mr. Buchanan was born in southern Maryland, near Harper's
Ferry, on the 29th of March, 1824, a son of Robert G. and Fanny
(Wise) Buchanan.  The father was reared in Maryland and secured a
fair education there.  He was a painter by trade, and instructed two
of his sons in the work of that craft.  He was still following his
trade when he met a tragic death, at the advanced age of eighty-eight
years.  While crossing a street in Buffalo he was run down by
a heavy wagon and killed.  His wife passed away at the age of sixty-six
years.  In the family were nine children, as follows: Mary Ann,
Hiram and Matilda, all deceased; Henry; John and Alfred, who have
also passed away; Louise; Charles; and Kate, deceased.
     Henry Buchanan spent his boyhood days in the city of Buffalo,
New York, and acquired a common school education.  When twenty years of
age he began learning the painter's trade under the direction of
his father, and at intervals throughout his entire life has followed
that pursuit.  When about twenty-one years of age he joined the
American navy, at Boston, and served for three and a half years on
the ship Columbus.  On the expiration of that period he returned to
Buffalo and began work at the painter's trade.
     In 1848 Mr. Buchanan was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Waldo,
a daughter of Nathan Waldo, of New York.  The following year he went
to California to seek his fortune, attracted by the discovery of
gold, his wife remaining in Buffalo.  He was fortunate in striking a
rich claim on the Yuba river, at Rattle Snake Bar, and after two
years of hard work he returned to Buffalo with a neat fortune.  In
1853 he again went to the Pacific coast, this time making his way to
Oregon, where he opened a hotel, but after a short time he again
located in California, engaging in mining at Yreka.  While there the
town was destroyed by fire, but its enterprising citizens at once
rebuilt it, and Mr. Buchanan, who secured the contracts for
painting, made several thousand dollars by his work there.  Mr.
Buchanan is familiar with life in California in early mining days. 
Not from hearsay but from actual experiences has he learned of the
conditions which existed in the far west during the times of the
mining excitement, when people from all sections of the country
flocked to the coast in search of the precious metal, the great
majority going with the hope of honestly winning success, while
others went for the purpose of living off of others' gains, and thus
causing a lawless element which was not quelled until the
respectable men took the law into their own hands and brought order
out of chaos.
     Mr. Buchanan is also a veteran of three wars, having
participated in an Indian war, in the Mexican war and in the Civil
war, and he was ever found a brave soldier, loyal to the cause under
which he enlisted.  In the Civil war he was a lieutenant in the
famous "Orphan Brigade," belonging to Company H, Ninth Kentucky Regiment,
of the Confederate army.  After 1864 he acted as commander
of scouts and did gallant service.  His first fighting, however, was
in border warfare, when as a young man he fought against the Rogue
River Indians in distant Oregon.  Back to the Mexican war seems a
long lapse of years and all but a few of those who participated in
that struggle have answered the last roll call, yet he was at Buenta
Vista with the gallant Zachary Taylor, when fifty-six hundred
Americans routed a horde of twenty-two thousand Mexicans under Santa
Anna.  He served all through the war with Mexico with gallantry and
distinction.
     When the tocsin of war sounded for the great strife between the
north and the south, he was a prosperous merchant at Louisville, but
the stern alarm quickly summoned him to the front.  He enlisted in
Company H, Ninth Kentucky Confederate Infantry, and served
throughout the prolonged struggle with marked bravery.  The roster
of his services, as given in the history of the famous Orphan
Brigade, is as follows: "Henry Buchanan, New York: was elected
second lieutenant, October 18, 1861, and was re-elected April 25,
1862; was promoted to first lieutenant in 1862; fought at Vicksburg,
Baton Rouge, Hartsville, Stone River, Jackson, Chickamauga,
Missionary Ridge, Rocky Face Gap, Resaca to Atlanta; Peach Tree
intrenchment [sic]; and ten days at Jonesboro.  He was wounded at
Stone River."
     Ruined by the fortunes of war, at the close of hostilities Mr.
Buchanan arrived in Hickman with only a dollar and a half.  Since
then his history--which is a splendid one--is largely familiar to
the people of this locality.  He secured employment in the store
owned by John Millet, and in three years bought out his partner.  He
has successively been president of the three banks in Hickman, and
at present is the president of the Farmers' & Merchants' Bank.  It
is a rare and unique fact that every merchant, with three
exceptions, now doing business in Hickman received his business
education under Mr. Buchanan.  It would be difficult to find any one
who has taken a more active and helpful part in the upbuilding [sic]
and improvement of the city or one to whom the city is more deeply
indebted for its progress along lines of permanent advancement.
     Fraternally Mr. Buchanan is a member of the Royal Templars and
the Confederate Veterans of Louisville, and his wife is an active
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South.  Mr. Buchanan has
been a life-long Democrat, and served for one term in the city
council, but refused to act longer.  He is still active in business,
in citizenship and in social life, although he has attained the age
of seventy-nine years, and it is to be hoped that he may be spared
to many years more of activity.  His has indeed been an eventful career,
and his life has been useful and honorable.  Many events
which are to others matters of history are to him matters of
experience, his mind forming a connecting link between the past and
the present.  There are few who approach the evening of life with
such vigor and such continued interests in the affairs bearing upon
local advancement and national progress, and few there are who enjoy
so uniformly the respect, confidence and honor of those with whom
they are associated as does Henry Buchanan.

Buchanan Wise Waldo Taylor Millet
=
MD NY CA OR Fulton-KY

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/hickman/buchanan.h.txt