Robinson Crusaw "Crusoe" Buck

Headstone of Robinson Crusaw Buck photo from Find a Grave 

Robinson Crusaw "Crusoe"  Buck

Born a Slave -Died a Free Man

    I was reading in a book I read about the people of the Upper Cumberland Plateau about race relations in the plateau and lot in life of many black persons.   One in particular was very well known and respected. Part of his reknown was for the quality of his character, but part of it was for his living to the ripe old age of 109 years.  He passed away about a month away from his 110th birthday!
He was a close friend to Cordell Hull and  visited President Franklin D. Roosevelt.   He lived a life of distinguishment and harmony. 

    I read that he was particularly loyal to his Massr' and stayed with him even after the Civil War ended.   His mass'r left him a thousand acres of land and died in his arms. Only then did he leave the plantation and start a new life for himself.   His mother nursed him and the master's grandson.  He slept in the same crib with the grandson until they got too big. About the time they could walk they had to find separate sleeping accomodations for them.  In reading all this I began to marvel at the incredible loyalty.   I thought to myself this is more than a master and loyal slave relationship. 
The only kind of relationship that would illicit that kind of loyalty is that of a parent and a child.

     I got to checking around and learned indeed I was correct.   He was fathered by the Master.. one Abraham Covalt Buck.   His mother was a slave who was 3/4 Cherokee Indian and 1/4 black.
Her name was Chainy.     Mr. Buck was a German immigrant and owned a plantation and slaves.
I am 99% sure the original spelling of the name would have been Buch
Fathered by his mass'r .. A German immigrant Abraham Covalt Buck.
The original Germanic spelling would have been Buch. It is a habitational name that means one who lives by a beech tree.   Mr. Buck's descendants on the black side that came down from the slave, Chainy acknowledge the heritage openly.  The white side of the family makes no mention of it in their family tree.  I found a bunch of info on more than one genealogy site and it all reads the same. 
They mention only the legitimate white offspring by his first, legal wife.   

     The account I read stated that Mr. Abraham Buck was a ruined man thanks to the Civil War.
He passed away in his son's arms and then Crusoe left to begin a life for himself.   He moved to Livingston and started a livery stable.  He eventually married in his twenties a lady named Tibbie Ann Buck. They had two daughters together. Their names were Daisy and Winnie.  He was widowed for three years, but remarried. His second wife was Ollie Cullom MacDonald.  They married when she was 66 and he 91!  They remained married truly until death parted them.  They were Christian people.  Crusoe was survived by several grandchildren. 
 

  It is worth mentioning he is not the only child born to Chainy and Abraham Buck.
Crusoe had several brothers Anthony, Isaac, and Ephraim Buck and one sister, Clearsey Buck!

 

    I can't help wondering if the times were different and it had been socially and culturally acceptable to admit that Crusoe and these other offspring were his would he have done so?   Would he have married Chainy if things were different?  I'm sure he didn't do anything a lot of other slave holders at the time didn't do. 

   I believe he must have loved Crusoe, and under different circumstances would have publicly acknowledged him and claimed this fine man as his own along with his siblings.  Crusoe Buck looks very much like my own grandfather and great grandfather.  His skin tone is about the same as my son's. 


    He was loved and respected by all who met him.  He was a friendly man and a devoted son and family member.   He helped his father hide their money and used the fact he was a supposedly ignorant slave to his advantage.   He helped hide his master/father and their valuables. 

    He is buried in a segregated cemetery in Algood, Tennessee.  I cannot help finding that ironic.
I know we are all the same regardless of race, but most especially we are all equal in death.

 

 Above:  Photo found online on a genealogy site of Mr. Abraham Buck. Notice no mention of him being the father of Robinson Crusoe nor any of the other children he had with Chainy.

 Photo of Mr. Robinson Crusoe Buck from the internet holding photos of secretary of state Cordell Hull and FDR

Robinson Crusoe Buck late in his life.  He became friends with then Judge Cordell Hull when he drove him around from place to place.  He ran a taxi service with a horse and buggy.



   While race relations in the Cumberland Plateau were not perfect it sounds like to me from what I have read they were in many ways more fair and better than in some other areas.   It certainly beat the heck out of Mississippi, but that is not a very high standard.    I have been told that Fentress County is very racist even today.  It may be, but if it is I can't prove it.    I will say that I don't see many blacks there.   I worked with a good looking fellow named Ruben Coffey and his sister, Bridget when I was at UT.   They hailed from Boone County, West Virginia. Jessco White Country!   Ruben told me that the ignorance in that area of West Virginia was the best thing that ever happened for race relations.  He said there were so many people of both races who were eaten up with the dumbass that if you were smart it didn't make any difference what color you were.  The smart folks wanted to marry up with other smart folks.  Keep clear of the fools!  His mother was white and father was black.  He was a lovely human being and such a bright soul.  He passed away in an unfortunate auto accident several years back. 
I will never forget what he had to say about race relations.