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Oatlands’ Garden and Grounds OPEN daily 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
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The Buchanan Family

Martin_Van_Buren_Buchanan-Deborah_Fox
Martin Van Buren Buchanan and his daughter, Deborah Buchanan Fox. Dates unknown; photos courtesy of Catrice Vandross.

THE BUCHANANS were among the first people George Carter enslaved. They are one of the long-time, multi-generational families at Oatlands. Andrew (a blacksmith), his wife Fanny, and their children Nancy (born 1800), George (1815), John Robert (1819), and Fenton M. (1821), were referred to by first name in Carter’s 1842 will.

Robert married Mahala Jackson, a third-generation free woman. Virginia law stipulated that a child’s status — whether they were free or enslaved — followed that of their mother, meaning the children of Robert and Mahala were free. To this union were born Hannah (1845), who married John Gaskins; Virginia (1845), who married John Gleed; Martin Van Buren (1846), who married Amelia Massey; Elizabeth (1853), who married Hiram Valentine; Susan (1854), who married John Brown and later John Barnes; Mahala Ann (1857), who married John Gleed after her sister died; John Buchanan (1864); and Fanny Buchanan (1869).


Martin_Van_Buren_Buchanan_family
The Martin Van Buren Buchanan family. Date unknown; photo courtesy of Catrice Vandross.

Martin Buchanan left Oatlands in 1863 and enlisted in Company G of the 2nd United States Colored Infantry. He served throughout the Civil War. He returned to Loudoun, bought property in nearby Gleedsville, and raised a family there. A descendant of the Buchanans has served their country in every war since. Martin’s wife Amelia and their daughter Deborah worked at Oatlands until the 1920’s. 


Lucile_Berkeley_Buchanan_Jones_1918
Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones, 1918. Photo from Wikipedia.

Fenton left with his family for freedom during the Civil War, probably when Federal troops occupied Loudoun County. They made their way to the contraband camp in Alexandria. His wife died while there and is buried in the Freedmen’s Cemetery. Fenton and his children returned to Loudoun after the war, and he remarried.

In 1918, Fenton’s granddaughter, Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones, became the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Colorado Boulder in June 1918.


Three_Buchanan_brothers_1945
Three Buchanan brothers, circa 1945. Photo courtesy of Philip Buchanan.

Robert’s grandsons Hiram and Harry worked as gardeners at Oatlands. His granddaughter Elizabeth Johnson became one of the first teachers at the Mountain Gap Colored School, later known as the Gleedsville School.

Three of Martin’s grandsons, served in World War II. From left to right: Philip in the Navy; John in the Army; and James in the Air Force. James, shown here in his chauffeur uniform, worked as a chauffeur for the Eustis and Finley families until the early 1970s.



Catrice_R_Vandross

Catrice R. Vandross has been the Buchanan Family historian since 1988.

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Garden & Grounds open 10:00 am – 5:00 pm daily. Purchase tickets here.

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Last tour at 3:00 p.m.

20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane
Leesburg, VA 20175
Tel: 703-727-0670

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