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.

[5] 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.

[8] Buchanan served as Baltimore's postmaster for eight years[3] during the administration of James K. Polk,[9] and he was President of Maryland's 1850–1851 constitutional convention.

[13] After spending time touring Paris and Europe during the American Civil War,[1] Buchanan returned to Baltimore and practiced law until his death.

[15] Together, they were the parents of: Buchanan died in Berkeley, West Virginia, on August 23, 1876,[16][17] and was buried in Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery.