Calaveras
County
Biographies
WILLIAM L. BUCKLEY, M. D.
William L. Buckley, a prominent
physician practicing the regular profession in Milton and also filling the
office of coroner and public administrator of Calaveras County, was born in the
city of Stockton, this state, on the 14th of October, 1870. He is a son of William Samuel Buckley, a
California pioneer of 1853 who was born in Parkersburg, Virginia in 1829, and
is of German and Scotch ancestry, the founders of the family in America being
early settlers of the Old Dominion. He
was educated in Virginia and in Portland, Oregon. He crossed the plains to California in the
year when so many people suffered from the cholera, many graves marking the
route of the emigrants. He, too, was ill
with the disease, but recovered.
In Oregon he formed a company of men
who went with him and fought in the war with the Indians. For a time he resided in Walla Walla, Washington, and he pursued a law course in Portland,
Oregon, being admitted to the bar in that state. Subsequently he engaged in practice in
Liberty, California, where he successfully continued in business until 1870, in
which year he was appointed county judge of San Joaquin County. On the expiration of his term he was elected
to that office for a term of four years and later he was elected superior judge
and again occupied a position on the bench.
He served for twelve years in a judicial capacity, and during his term
as superior judge he had the honor of administering the oath of office to two
of California’s governors at the time of their inauguration. He was a lawyer of pronounced ability, his
knowledge of legal principles being comprehensive and profound. He was at home in all departments of law from
the minutiae in practice to the greater topics wherein is involved the
consideration of the ethics and philosophy of jurisprudence and the higher
concerns of public policy. His fidelity
to his clients’ interests was proverbial and therefore his clientage was very
extensive. In politics he was an active
member of the Democratic Party, and although he did not allow partisanship to
influence him in the slightest degree when on the bench, when not in office he
did much effective work in promoting the inters of Democracy. He was prominently connected with mining
enterprises and took a deep interest and active part in the development of
natural resources of the state and also its progress along intellectual lines. He was a prominent member of the Masonic
fraternity, the Ancient Order of United Working, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Knights of Pythias fraternity.
In 1865 Mr. Buckley was happily
married in Liberty, California, to Miss Minerva C. Crawford, a lady of
refinement and culture. She was born in
Quincy, Illinois, and was a daughter of M. C. Crawford, a California
pioneer. The Judge and Mrs. Buckley
became the parents of six sons, but the Doctor is now the only survivor of the
family. The Judge departed this life on
the 1st of April, 1891, in the sixty-first year of his age, and thus
was called from earth one of California’s ablest and best pioneer
citizens. His widow still survives him,
at the age of fifty-three years, and occupies her pleasant home in Stockton,
esteemed and beloved by all who have the pleasure of her acquaintance.
Dr. Buckley was educated in Stockton
and Portland, Oregon pursuing his preparation for medical practice in the
university of the latter state. He was
graduated on the 2nd of April, 1894, after which he put to practical
test the knowledge he had acquired by entering the Good Samaritan
Hospital. On completing his professional
duties there he opened an office in Stockton, where he remained for three
years, and in 1897 he came to Milton, where he has since been located. He at once entered upon his practice and here
enjoys the confidence and good will of the citizens of Calaveras County. In 1898 he was elected by the Democratic
Party to the position of coroner and public administrator of the county, and
has since filled the position with credit to himself and satisfaction to his
constituents.
The Doctor was happily married, in
1894, to Miss Grace F. Hale, a native of Stockton and a daughter of Joseph
Hale, a prominent pioneer to the state.
She is a valued member of the Episcopal Church. The Doctor belongs to the Ancient Order of
Foresters. His attention, however, is
chiefly given to his professional duties and he has gained high rank among the
representatives of the medical fraternity in Calaveras County. In manner, pleasant and cordial; in business,
reliable; and in office, trustworthy, he has won many warm friends in this
locality and is certainly deserving of their regard.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 659-660. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2011
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Calaveras County Biographies