Buchman was born April 11, 1859, in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1] He attended Cornell University, graduating in 1880. He then took a job with the architect Herman J. Schwarzmann in New York. In 1884, he was made junior partner in the firm of Schwarzmann & Buchman. Schwarzmann retired in 1886, and Buchman began practicing under his own name.[2] In 1887, he made Gustav Deisler junior partner in Buchman & Deisler.[lower-alpha 1] This continued until 1899, when Deisler retired from the firm and Buchman associated with Mortimer J. Fox as Buchman & Fox.[3] This partnership lasted until 1917, when Fox was appointed a vice president of the Columbia Bank.[lower-alpha 2]
After Fox retired, Buchman formed a fourth and final partnership with Ely Jacques Kahn, as Buchman & Kahn. Office manager John M. Montfort was also associated.[5] Due to his health Buchman eventually retired, and in January, 1930 Kahn reestablished the practice as the Firm of Ely Jacques Kahn, in association with Montfort.[6] Buchman died in New York, April 15, 1936.[1]
Deisler had worked for the Schwarzmann firm for several years and was a graduate of the technical schools of Stuttgart and Munich.[2] After ending his association with Buchman, Deisler formed the contracting firm of Deisler & Stevenson.
Fox's father, Joseph Fox, had been president of this bank from 1889 to 1916.[4]