Benjamin Forsythe Buckner papers
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Benjamin Forsythe Buckner papers
- Creator
- Buckner, Benjamin Forsythe, 1836-1901
- Extent
- 8.56 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
- Lawyers -- Kentucky.
- Judges -- Kentucky.
- Court administration -- Kentucky.
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged into 4 series by subject and format: Correspondence, Financial, Legal, and Personal.
- Preferred Citation
- 48m39: [identification of item], Benjamin Forsythe Buckner papers, 1785-1918, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Lawyer and judge Benjamin Forsythe Buckner was born in Jacksonville, Illinois in 1836 to Kentucky parents. He attended the Kentucky Military Institute and served as a deputy in the Winchester circuit clerk's office before matriculating as a law student at the University of Louisville in 1856. After his admission to the bar in 1857, he began practicing law in Winchester, Kentucky.
- In 1861, Buckner joined the United States Army and entered the Civil War as Major of the Twentieth Kentucky Federal Infantry, where he fought with the Union in the Battle of Shiloh and smaller battles in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama.
- Buckner resigned from the army in 1863 and returned to Winchester, where he married Helen B. Martin, daughter of Clark County farmer Samuel Davis Martin, and resumed practicing law. In 1865, Buckner was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives on behalf of Clark County. He moved to Lexington in 1870, where he worked in partnership with William Campbell Preston Breckinridge until he was elected Judge of the Common Pleas Court of the Lexington District in 1874.
- Buckner served on the circuit court bench for the tenth judicial district from 1880-1883 and then resigned to Louisville to resume a private practice. In 1896, Buckner retired to Winchester, where he died in 1901.
- Johnston, J. Stoddard, ed., Memorial History of Louisville from its First Settlement to the Year 1896: Volume II (Chicago: American Biographical Publishing, 1896), 365-366.
- Levin, H., ed., The Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky (Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1897), 652-654.
- Peter, Robert, History of Fayette County, Kentucky, with an Outline Sketch of the Blue Grass Region (Chicago: O. L. Baskin &, 1882), 571-572.
- Scope and Content
- The Benjamin Forsythe Buckner papers (dated 1785-1918, undated; 8.56 cubic feet; 18 boxes, 1 oversize box) primarily comprise business correspondence, legal documents, and financial records that document the legal career of the nineteenth century Kentucky attorney and judge. The collection also includes Buckner's correspondence to his wife Helen during his deployment as a Union soldier in the Civil War, an office docket that reflects Buckner's legal practice during the latter part of his career, and a diary from a member of his wife's family, the Martins.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Conditions Governing Access Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
- Use Restrictions
- The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Contents of the Collection
Correspondence, 1884-1918, undated
A-G, 1884
H-O, 1884
P-Y, 1884
B-C, 1885
D-G, 1885
H-M, 1885
N-Y, 1885
A-G, 1886
H-P, 1886
R-Y, 1886
A-J, 1887
K-P, 1887
R-Y, 1887
A-H, 1888
J-Y, 1888
A-H, 1889
J-Y, 1889
A-W, 1890
A-L, 1891
M-Z, 1891
A-H, 1892
J-Y, 1892
A-D, 1893
E-W, 1893
A-G, 1894
K-Z, 1894
A-G, 1895
H-Z, 1895
A-G, 1896
H-W, 1896
A-E, 1897
F-Z, 1897
A-E, 1898
F-Z, 1898
A-W, 1899
1900-1918
undated
Financial, 1838-1912, undated
Account books and ledgers, 1857-1897
Bills and receipts, 1877-1912, undated
1877-1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884 January-April
1884 April-December
1885 January-June
1885 July-December
1886
1887-1888
1889-1890
1891
1892
1893 January-June
1893 July-December
1894 January-June
1894 July-December
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900-1912
undated
Checks and checkbooks, 1838-1896, undated
1838-1858
1860-1864
1865-1869
1869-1870
1880-1884
1885-1891
Cancelled notes, 1890-1892
1891
1892
1893
1894 January-April
1894 May-July
1894 August-December
1895
1896
undated
Legal, 1785-1905, undated
1785-1829
1830-1839
1840-1842
1843-1849
Certificates of the Register of the Land Office, 1843-1860
1850-1855
1856-1857
1858
1859 January-June
1859 September-December
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
Lawyer's office docket, 1874 July -1897 December 16
1875-1876
1884-1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900-1905
undated
Personal, circa 1844-1918, undated
Benjamin Buckner letters to his wife, Helen, 1861-1863
Clippings, coupons, advertisements, and pamphlets, undated
Safety vault box key, undated
Notebook and calendar, 1889, undated
Tintype photograph of an unidentified woman, undated
R. D. Martin diary, 1918
Teutonia Insurance agent authorization for Benjamin F. Buckner, 1897 May 7
Mutual Life Insurance Company contract for Helen M. Buckner, 1896 January 8
Blow For the Building and Loan Associations: The Court of Appeals Declares the Law of 1893 To Be Unconstitutional , 1893 June 19
Geological map of South-West Branch, Pacific Rail Road, by G. C. Swallow, State Geologist, drawn by G. C. Broadhead, circa 1844
Researchers are required to have an SCRC Researcher Account in order to request or order digital copies of materials. Research Account set-up and use instructions can be found at: http://libguides.uky.edu/SCRCaccount
If you are visiting the Breckinridge Research Room, please request materials at least 48 business hours in advance of your arrival.
For all other questions, contact us at: https://libraries.uky.edu/ContactSCRC.
Researchers are required to have an SCRC Researcher Account in order to request or order digital copies of materials. Research Account set-up and use instructions can be found at: http://libguides.uky.edu/SCRCaccount
If you are visiting the Breckinridge Research Room, please request materials at least 48 business hours in advance of your arrival.
For all other questions, contact us at: https://libraries.uky.edu/ContactSCRC.