Buck was recruited to serve as minister to theColony of Virginia at Jamestown after the colony's first minister, ReverendRobert Hunt, died in 1608.[7] Dr.Thomas Ravis, the Bishop of London, had recommended Buck for the appointment.[5]
Buck, his wife and their two daughters sailed for Jamestown in 1609 with the colony's new governor, SirThomas Gates aboard theSea Venture.[7][8] TheSea Venture was wrecked in a storm off the coast ofBermuda and the passengers and crew did not arrive at Jamestown until May 23, 1610, nine months after the other ships of theThird Supply.[4][7][8] While in Bermuda, Buck baptized the newborn daughter ofJohn Rolfe and his first wife, Sarah Hacker.[9] The child, named Bermuda, died afterwards.[9][10] Sarah died before Rolfe arrived in Virginia.[10]
When Gates and the other colonists from theSea Venture arrived at Jamestown, they found only 60 of the previous 500 colonists still alive after the harsh winter of 1609–1610 which became known as the "Starving Time".[11][12] Buck led the colonists in a "zealous and sorrowful prayer", which commemorated those who were deceased.[13][14] Reverend Buck immediately gained the respect and affection of the colonists as his prayer reminded them of their esteemed first preacher, Robert Hunt.[7]John Rolfe praised Buck as a "veerie good preacher".[7]
In the following month,Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr arrived at Jamestown with supplies and new colonists and assumed the office of governor on June 10, 1610.[15] He was just in time to persuade the original settlers, who were nearly out of food and supplies and had boarded their ships to leave, not to return to England.[15] West's first act was to kneel and say a silent prayer upon his arrival.[15][16] Then he went to the chapel to hear a sermon from Reverend Buck.[15][16]
Buck's duties included leading prayers twice a day and preaching on Thursday and Sunday.[7] He officiated at religious and public events.[7] Some sources state that Buck presided over the wedding of John Rolfe andPocahontas on April 5, 1614.[17][18] Others say thatAlexander Whitaker, a vicar who settled atHenricus, presided at the wedding of Rolfe and Pocahontas.[19]
TheVirginia Company set aside 100 acres of land forglebe lands but the Buck family lived near the church in the Jamestown fort.[7] In 1619, Buck acquired 750 acres of land in the "Neck-of-Land", which was separated from the north side of Jamestown Island by water.[7] The location adjacent to Jamestown was an obvious area for expansion of the colony since it was close to the fort.[7] Buck had indentured servants develop the land.[7] These servants included caretaker Richard Kingsmill (sometimes spelled Kingsmell), who later became a large property owner.[7][20] In 1620, William Fairfax sold 12 acres in Jamestown, including a home and an outbuilding, to Buck.[7]
Reverend Buck opened the first session of theVirginia General Assembly, which convened in the church at Jamestown on July 30, 1619.[4][7][21] He prayed "that it would please God to guide and sanctifie all our proceedings to his owne glory and the good of this Plantation."[4][7][21][22]
Buck died at Jamestown in 1624.[7][23] According to historians Frank E. Gizzard and Dennis Boyd Smith, Buck's wife died within a few months of her husband.[7]
He and Elizabeth had six children who survived to adulthood.[7] They were Mara,Benoni, Gercian, Peleg, Elizabeth, who became the wife of SergeantThomas Crump (or Crampe), later a member of theHouse of Burgesses, and Bridget, who married John Burras, a brother ofAnne Burras.
^Some sources shown below, such as Chandler, 1907, p. 195, state that Buck died in 1623.
^abGrizzard, Frank E. and Dennis Boyd Smith.Jamestown Colony: A Political, Social and Cultural History. Santa Barbara, CA : ABC-CLIO, 2007.ISBN978-1-85109-637-4. p. 32.
^abCampbell, Charles.History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott and Company, 1860.OCLC2109795. p. 95.
^Some of the sources such as Grizzard and Tyler state that Buck also studied atCambridge University'sCaius. Alexander Whitaker, a minister atHenricus (Henrico) in the Virginia colony from 1611 to 1616/1617, was the son of a Cambridge professor of divinity and a graduate of Cambridge. Campbell, 1860, pp. 106–107.
^Beverley, Robert.The History of Virginia in Four Parts. Richmond, VA: J. W. Randolph, 1855.OCLC5837141. 2d revised edition originally published London: 1722. p. 26.
^Hatch, Charles E.The First Seventeen Years Virginia, 1607-1624. Williamsburg, VA: Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corp., 1957.OCLC965922. p. 109.
Beverley, Robert.The History of Virginia in Four Parts. Richmond, VA: J. W. Randolph, 1855.OCLC5837141. 2d revised edition originally published London: 1722.
Bryan, Corbin Braxton.The Church at Jamestown in Clark, W. M., ed.Colonial Churches in the Original Colony of Virginia. 2d. ed. Richmond, VA: Southern Churchman Company, 1908.OCLC1397138.
Campbell, Charles.History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott and Company, 1860.OCLC2109795.
Chandler, Julian Alvin Carroll and Thomas Butler Thames.Colonial Virginia. Richmond, VA: The Times-Dispatch Company, 1907.OCLC554689.
Grizzard, Frank E. and Dennis Boyd Smith.Jamestown Colony: A Political, Social and Cultural History. Santa Barbara, CA : ABC-CLIO, 2007.ISBN978-1-85109-637-4.
Hatch, Charles E.The First Seventeen Years Virginia, 1607-1624. Williamsburg, VA: Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corp., 1957.OCLC965922.
Neill, Edward D.History of the Virginia Company of London. Albany, NY: Joel Munsell, 1869.OCLC28459826.
Tyler, Lyon Gardiner.The Cradle of the Republic: Jamestown and James River. Richmond, VA: Whittet and Shepperson, 1900.OCLC123194400.
