Father of: Mary Buchanan James Buchanan (former US President) Jane (Buchanan) Lane Maria (Buchanan) Magaw/Johnson/Yates Sarah (Buchanan) Huston Elizabeth Buchanan Harriet (Buchanan) Henry John Buchanan William Speer Buchanan George Washington Buchanan Rev. Edward Young Buchanan
According to the book "Buchanan Family Records",New York: W. M. Clemens, 1916, pg. 6 & 7: "James Buchanan, the fifteenth President of the United States, was the second child of James Buchanan, a native of County Donegal, Ireland, who, in 1783, at the age of twenty-three, came to Philadelphia. A few months later he removed to Stony Batter, at the foot of North Mountain, near Mercersburg, and some years later had a store at that place. This was a place of exchange of the products of "the West" for those of the East, and the father of the future President soon had a prosperous business. In 1788 he married Elizabeth Speer, whose home was at the foot of South Mountain, between Chambersburg and Gettysburg. Their son, James, was born at Stony Batter, April 23, 1791. In 1796 the family removed to Mercersburg, where the father opened another store. He died in 1821. The old Buchanan home at Mercersburg was the lower part of what is now the Hotel Mercer."