James Madison Buchanan (May 1803 – August 23, 1876) was a Baltimore, Maryland jurist and diplomat.
Early life James Madison Buchanan was born in Pikesville, Maryland, in May 1803 (some sources indicate 1802).James T. White & Company, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume VII, 1897, page 536 He was the son of William Buchanan (1748–1824) and Hephzibah (née Brown) Buchanan. During the American Revolutionary War, his father was a member of the committee of correspondence and was a registrar of wills for Baltimore county in 1778.
Through his father, he was a cousin of 15th President of the United States James Buchanan (1791–1868).
He attended Baltimore College and St. Mary's College of Baltimore, studied law with Hugh Davey Evans and Walter Dorsey, and became an attorney in Baltimore.Richardson & Bennett, Baltimore: Past and Present, 1871, page 212
Career A Democratic-Republican, Buchanan served in the Maryland House of Delegates in 1826 & 1829.John Thomas Scharf, History of Baltimore City and County, 1881, page 819 Later a Democrat, he campaigned for Andrew Jackson for president in 1824 and 1828, and attended numerous local and state party conventions as a Delegate.H. Niles & Son, Niles' Weekly Register, Volumes 35-36, March 25, 1829
In the 1830s, he joined the militia as an aide-de-camp to the Commander of the Baltimore City Guards.Richardson & Bennett, Baltimore: Past and Present, 1871, page 213 Buchanan became a Whig in the 1830s, but later returned to the Democratic party.H. Niles & Sons, Niles' Weekly Register: The Grand Whig Festival, November 21, 1835, page 197
Buchanan served as Baltimore's postmaster for eight years during the administration of James K. Polk,U.S. Postal Service, A Brief History of the Baltimore Post Office from 1753 to 1930, 1930, page 19 and he was President of Maryland's 1850–1851 constitutional convention.Maryland Constitutional Convention, Proceedings, 1851, page 406 In 1852 he was appointed as one of Maryland's Commissioners for resolving the state's boundary with Pennsylvania, and in 1855 he was appointed a Judge on Maryland's Circuit Court.George Sanger, The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1857, 1856, page 283
In 1856, Buchanan was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, and supported his cousin James Buchanan for president.Democratic National Convention, Official Proceedings, 1856, page 14 In 1858, President Buchanan nominated James M. Buchanan as Minister to Denmark succeeding Henry Bedinger. He served until 1861 when he was replaced by Bradford R. Wood.Jesse Frederick Essary, Maryland in National Politics, 1915, page 300
Later career After spending time touring Paris and Europe during the American Civil War, Buchanan returned to Baltimore and practiced law until his death.Richardson & Bennett, Baltimore: Past and Present, 1871, page 216
Personal life Buchanan was married to Jane Ellen Carns. Together, they were the parents of:
William Jefferson Buchanan (1833–1874), a Princeton lawyer and newspaper man. John Adams Buchanan (1835–1839), who died young. James Madison Buchanan Jr. (1837–1924), who married Sarah Ann Elizabeth McGaughy (1840–1893) Emily Rebecca Buchanan (1838–1844), who died young. John Rowan Buchanan (1841–1880) Edmund Key Buchanan (1843–1908) Rebecca Priscilla Buchanan (1847–1861), who died young. Harvey Buchanan (b. 1851) Ellen Elizabeth Buchanan (1853–1859), who died young.
Death and burial Buchanan died in Berkeley, West Virginia, on August 23, 1876, and was buried in Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery. (One source indicate that he died in Baltimore.)James Grant Wilson, John Fiske, editors, Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 7, 1901, page 39
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