Montgomery County PA Archives Biographies.....Buchanan, John S. March 4, 1861 - 
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Source: Biographical Annals of Montgomery County Pennsylvania, T. S. Benham & Company and the Lewis Publishing Company, 1904
Author: Ellwood Roberts, Editor

JOHN S. BUCHANAN was for a number of years the efficient 
postmaster at Ambler, and one of its most energetic and 
successful business men. He is a native of Rouseville, in 
Venango county, Pennsylvania. The family are of Scotch-Irish 
descent, as the name indicates, the grandfather of Mr. 
Buchanan having been, however, a resident of Venango and 
Crawford counties in his later years. He died in 1879, at 
the age of eighty-seven years. John S. Buchanan was born 
March 4, 1861. He is the son of John and Jane (McClay) 
Buchanan, both of whom were natives of Ireland and came to 
America in early life, being married in Pennsylvania.

John Buchanan (father) grew to manhood near Titusville, in 
the oil regions of Pennsylvania, whose enormous resources in 
the way of the product were as vet unknown at that time. On 
reaching manhood he removed to where is now Oil City, where, 
he purchased a farm, and when the oil fever broke out he at 
first leased it and. afterwards sold it to the firm of 
Rouse, Mitchell & Co. Some time later he bought another farm 
near Titusville, which he sold in 1864.

In 1865 Mr. Buchanan visited Montgomery county, 
Pennsylvania, and purchased a farm in Upper Dublin township, 
near where is now located the borough of Ambler, at that 
time a small village known as Wissahickon, intending to 
remove to it at once with his family. This was not to be, 
however, for on Mr. Buchanan's return to his old home in the 
western part of Pennsylvania, he was stricken with 
pneumonia, and after a brief illness died. He was an 
energetic farmer, without any desire to figure in politics 
or otherwise in public notice. He was a highly valued member 
of the community in which he lived, being of a social and 
accommodating disposition. As a business man he displayed 
sound judgment, making good investments, accumulating a 
considerable state, and leaving his family in good 
circumstances. In religious predilections he was a 
Presbyterian. Mrs. Buchanan survives him, residing at 
Ambler.

Soon after the death of her husband she decided to follow 
out the course upon which he had determined in his lifetime, 
and she accordingly removed with her two sons to Ambler and 
took possession of the farm which he had purchased prior to 
his last illness. When later sons, Joseph and John S., were 
grown to manhood, they, after acquiring the necessary 
knowledge to enter upon business careers, sought other 
pursuits than that of farming. The family then rented the 
farm and, securing a desirable home within the limits of 
Ambler, removed thereto, becoming citizens of one of the 
most enterprising of the many prosperous boroughs along the 
line of the North Pennsylvania Railroad within the limits of 
Montgomery county.
 
The parents of Mrs. Buchanan never came to America, but died 
as they had lived, in Ireland. Their children took a 
different view of things, however, and after the death of 
both parents decided to seek a home in the new world. 
Leaving behind them the old associations and severity; old 
ties, they, first having made all necessary preparations for 
the voyage, emigrated to America and settled in 
Pennsylvania.

They consisted of the following: Joseph McClay; Jane, mother 
of John S. and Joseph Buchanan; Mary, unmarried; Anna (Mrs. 
A. Buchanan); Sarah (Mrs. John Hopkins); and another sister 
who yet remains in Ireland. Mrs. Buchanan is a member of the 
Presbyterian church. Her son Joseph is engaged in the real 
estate business at Ambler.

John S. Buchanan was but four years of age when he came to 
Montgomery county. He remained on the farm until he married, 
when he bought the farm, rented it and removed to Ambler. 
His first employment in Ambler was in the capacity of teller 
in the Ambler National Bank, in which position he remained 
for five years. He then engaged in the real estate business, 
in which he continued until 1898, when he received the 
appointment of postmaster from President McKinley through 
the influence of Congressman Wanger. Under his management of 
the postoffice at Ambler it became one of the most important 
as well as one of the best conducted in the county. He 
established it in a new and commodious building, fitted up 
with every requirement needed for the accommodation of its 
patrons. Besides being the center of a large and increasing 
business, the Keasby & Mattison Company contribute very 
largely to its prosperity, because of the enormous amount of 
mail which they send out daily. Several lines of rural free 
delivery radiate from Ambler, increasing very materially the 
business of the postoffice. While Mr. Buchanan was in the 
real estate business. his energy and good business ability 
aided greatly in developing Ambler and in securing for that 
borough a share of the advantages derived from the 
establishment of manufactories within its limits. He did all 
that was possible to attract the attention of those seeking 
new locations for industries, favored street and other 
improvements, and everything in general that was calculated 
to advance its interests and its growth. He was one of those 
who made the town a borough. He was a member of the first 
town council of Ambler, and for several nears the honored 
president of that body, serving twelve years in all, and 
being a member when he was appointed to the position of 
postmaster. He was a notary public for twelve years, and 
served in that capacity for the Ambler Bank. He is, as a 
matter of course, a mail of pronounced views in politics, 
being an active Republican and all earnest advocate of its 
principles and candidates.

In religious faith he is a member of the Presbyterian 
church. He was one of those who were prominent in the 
erection of the new church of that denomination at Ambler, 
and has for a number of years been one of its trustees. Mr. 
Buchanan is a broadminded, liberal and progressive business 
man who is a benefit to the community in which he lives. He 
is a large stockholder and also a director in the Ambler 
National Bank. He is also a director of the Pettit 
Ornamental Iron Company of Ambler. He is president of the 
Wissahickon Loan Association. In February, 1904, he resigned 
the position of postmaster, and was elected cashier of the 
Ambler National Bank on the retirement of John J. Houghton, 
who had acted in that capacity for a period of twenty years 
from the time of its organization. Fraternally, Mr. Buchanan 
is a member of the Masonic order, being a Royal Arch Mason. 
He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
Mr. Buchanan married, in 1884, Miss Ellen H. Hough, a native 
of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, who was born in 1863, being a 
daughter of J. Finley and Margaret (Freas) Hough. J. Finley 
Hough was a son of Benjamin Hough, and Benjamin was a son of 
Benjamin, Sr. The last named married Hannah Simpson, whose 
brother, John Simpson, was the maternal grandfather of 
Ulysses S. Grant, the distinguished general who succeeded in 
overthrowing the rebellion, and afterwards served two terms 
as president of the United States. The generations of Houghs 
prior to Benjamin, Sr., were: Septimus, Robert, John, 
Joseph, Joseph, Joseph and Richard, the last named of whom 
was a native of Macclesfield, in the county of Chester, in 
England. Richard Hough arrived at Philadelphia in the ship 
"Endeavor," from London, July 29, 1683, bringing with him 
four dependants, as follows: Francis Hough, Thomas Wood and 
wife, Mary; and James Sutton.
 
Richard Hough settled in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where 
he acquired two tracts of land, both fronting on the 
Delaware river, one of them two miles south of the present 
borough of Yardley, and the other immediately adjoining the 
manor of Highlands. Richard Hough married Margery Clows, 
January 17, 1684. He was a member of Falls Meeting of the 
Society of Friends. William Penn also lived for a time in 
the vicinity, at Pennsbury the manor of Penn, and 
occasionally attended Falls Meeting. Richard Hough was one 
of the commissioners concerned in the organization of the 
county of Bucks. He also took an active part otherwise in 
the government of the province, representing Bucks county in 
the provincial assembly of 1684, 1688, 1690, 1697 and 1700, 
and also in 1703-4. He was a member of the provincial 
council, the governing body of the colony, in 1693 and 1700. 
His first two terms in the assembly, in 1684 and 1688, were 
eventful periods, owing to the appearance of a dissatisfied 
element. Richard Hough was among the most trusted friends of 
the proprietor, William Penn. He was a justice of the peace 
in Bucks county in 1700, and Penn appointed him, in 
conjunction with Phineas Pemberton and William Biles, a 
member of a court of inquiry to investigate the state of his 
affairs in the province of Pennsylvania, showing his 
confidence in the capacity and sound judgment of Hough.

The original name of the family, De la Haugh (Norman French) 
was changed at first to De Hough, and in the sixteenth 
century to Hough. The family came to England in the year 
1066, with William the Conqueror. Richard Hough was drowned 
in the Delaware river in 1705. The accident happened on the 
twenty-fifth of March, when he was on his way to 
Philadelphia.

Some idea of the estimation in which William Penn held 
Richard Hough may be gained from the fact that when he heard 
of his death, he wrote to James Logan: "I lament the loss of 
honest Richard Hough. Such men must needs be wanted where 
selfishness and forgetfulness of God's mercy so much 
abound."

J. Finley Hough, father of Mrs. John S. Buchanan, married 
Margaret Fries, a daughter of Jacob Fries, of Ducks county, 
the family being of French descent. Finley Hough was a 
miller by trade, conducting that business very extensively 
in Bucks county. He died in 1888, and his widow resides with 
her daughter, Mrs. Buchanan, in Ambler. Her other children 
are Dr. C. B. Hough, of Ambler, and Horace Hough, who 
resides in Philadelphia.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. John S. Buchanan: Joseph, born 
in July, 1885; Charles, born in April, 1888; Helen, born in 
December, 1895. Mr. Buchanan, in addition to what the public 
schools afforded him in the way of education, took a full 
course at the Pierce College of Business in Philadelphia. He 
is a member of Ambler Lodge No. 1045, I .O. O. F., and of 
Fort Washington Lodge, No. 308, F. and A. M. He was for many 
years secretary of the Ambler Real Estate Improvement 
Company.

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