James was born June 8, 1797, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the son of James and Elizabeth (Brooks) Buckles. Elizabeth was of Scottish descent, sister of David Brooks, noted Baptist Minister of New Jersey. Elizabeth was also the sister of Mary (Brooks) Buckles, wife of another ancestor, John Buckles. On September 10, 1818, James married Margaret Northcutt, daughter of Willis and Eleanor (Wilson) Northcutt. The actual birthplace of James Buckles was in old Fort Washington, which stood near what is now Fourth and Broadway in Cincinnati, at which place his parents happened to be stopping. He was taken by his parents to Warren County, Ohio then to Miami County. He lived at or near Piqua, Ohio when very young.

According to a letter written by his oldest son Robert, he was married in a long house on Section 19 in Lostcreek Township, known as the old Willis Northcutt farm. For a few months after their marriage the couple remained at the home of James’ father , but in 1819, they settled on a farm of 160 acres one and on-half miles south of where the village of Conover now stands. Because of his belief in Sunday Schools and mission work, charges were preferred against him and he was turned out of the church. He paid no attention to the action of the church and continued his regular attendance at all services until the reorganization of the Regular Baptist Church at Lena, Ohio, of which he became a member and so remained until the time of his death.

In 1876, the couple left the farm and moved to Lena, Ohio where they lived until their deaths, James in February 1881, and Margaret on December 30, 1880. Both are buried in the Fletcher Cemetery, Fletcher, Ohio.

• Robert M. Buckles
• Willis Buckles
• Evan Buckles (died in childhood)
• Eleanor Buckles
• Elizabeth Buckles (died in childhood)
• George W. Buckles
• Cynthia Ann Buckles
• William Buckles
• Mary Buckles