Reuben Buckman "Buck" Claflin

Reuben Buckman Claflin (Buck) was a "stableman, tavern keeper, farmer, and promoter – a man of many occupations and of dubious reputation." He was a con man and snake oil salesman.

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He was called by his middle name Buckman and had a twin brother Samuel Carrington Claflin who was called Carrington. They were the eldest children of Robert Claflin and Anna Underwood of Sandisfield, MA, and Troy, PA.

When Buck was about five-years-old his grandmother Judith or Judah (Deming) Underwood, widow of Rogers Underwood, married Thomas Hamilton as his second wife on Oct. 25, 1801 in Granville, Massachusetts. Buck's Grandpa Hamilton was supposed to be descended from royalty and related to Alexander Hamilton. Several books about Buck's daughter Victoria Woodhull make fun of the claim and say it's a lie. They say there was no Hamilton-Underwood marriage despite the fact that a marriage record exists for the couple. Thomas Hamilton of Granville was the son of Thomas Hamilton of Tolland and Jane Mclean. There's a theory that Thomas Hamilton of Tolland was the son of Thomas Hamilton of Rhode Island whose parents were Thomas Hamilton and Lydia Wing. In the past few years DNA was tested on descendants of Daniel Hamilton, another son of Thomas Hamilton and Lydia Wing. It indicates that the Thomas Hamilton who married Lydia Wing was probably the same person as Captain Thomas Hamilton who was the grandson of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn, and a descendant of Scottish royalty. A DNA test of the descendants of Thomas Hamilton of Granville could prove or disprove if he's a descendant of the 1st Earl of Abercorn. However, the Claflins wouldn't carry this DNA as Thomas Hamilton was the stepfather of Buck's mother and not her father.

Buck had a hand in several different occupations. He was a school teacher, a farmer, a storekeeper, a tavern owner, a gun dealer, a lumber merchant, a raftsman, a race horse breeder, a hotel keeper, a gristmill and sawmill operator, a lawyer, a Chicago speculator, and an herbal cancer doctor.

Around 1833 he was postmaster in Sinnemahoning, Pennsylvania, succeeded by William Holden. From December 1833 to May 1835 he was postmaster of a place called Claflin's Corners in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. At that time Sinnemahoning was in Lycoming county. The post office may have been located in his store there. He was also postmaster of Homer, Licking, Ohio, for over a year from 1843 to 1844.

Around 1858 he advertised his daughter Tennessee as the "Wonderful Child." She practiced as a clairvoyant and magnetic physician. For several years they traveled around the country before the family moved to New York where two of his daughters gained notoriety.

He died at 17, Hyde Park Gate at the home of his daughter Victoria Claflin Woodhull Martin, who ran for President of the United States for the first time in 1872. The home is no longer standing. He was buried Nov. 24, 1885 at the age of 89.

Buck's great-great-great-great-grandson is the British actor Sam Claflin.