George Buck was born in 1792 in Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, a son of Henry and Rachel Buck. Henry died in 1805. George and his older brother, Robert, were soldiers in the War of 1812, fighting in the Battle of Chippewa, July 5, 1814 and the Battle of Lundy's Lane, July 25, 1814.

The Buck family moved to Butler Township, Columbiana County, Ohio about 1817. Martha Irey, later to be George's wife, was born in what is now Barbour County, West Virginia in 1798. She was the daughter of Philip (a blacksmith) and Hannah Irey. George met and married Martha in 1817 in Columbiana County. George and Martha joined the Quaker movement in 1820.

George and his family moved in 1830 to what became Bucks Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan and is now Three Rivers, Lockport Township, being among the earliest settlers. He built a house on the St. Joseph River at what would now be 4th and Buck Street. He used part of his house for a tavern or inn (called "Bucks Tavern"), and put up a ferry in the early 1830s. George and Jacob McEnterfer (also spelled McInterfer) platted the Village of St. Joseph in 1830. In 1836, George, together with other local businessmen, formed the St. Joseph Canal and Lockport Manufacturing Association, incorporating the St. Joseph village plat into a new plat for the Village of Lockport. The financial panic of 1837 doomed their plans. However, the new plat survived and became Ward 2 of Three Rivers, with some changes in street names. The canal was later built (by others) as they had planned. Mostly the same street names can be seen today, although Main Street has been changed to Buck Street. The outline of the canal can be seen from an aerial view, as the track of an abandoned railroad track. The location of the original Buck house is now far from the water, as the St. Joseph River has been straightened out between River and Madison Streets.