San Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM SAMUEL BUCKLEY
WILLIAM SAMUEL BUCKLEY,
ex-Judge of the Superior Court of San
Joaquin County, was born in Wood
County, Virginia, December 17, 1829, a son of John F. and Margaret
(Aulkier) Buckley. His father was a farmer, and both parents died while the
subject of this sketch was quite young. An older brother, Harrison Wade Hampton
Buckley, is still living in his native county, in 1890, aged seventy-nine. Grandfather
Buckley, also named John F., born in Virginia, the son of an Irish emigrant,
lived to an advanced age. Thrown on his own resources at an early age, the
future judge managed to acquire a fair education, and before he reached his
majority his mind was fixed on pursuing a legal career. Meanwhile he earned his
living in various vocations, among others as clerk on the steamboat Colorado, engaged in the Pittsburg and St.
Louis trade, for about
eighteen months; then as partner in a general store, under the style of Weaver
& Buckley, in Elizabethtown, Virginia, where he first began to read law under the guidance
of a local lawyer named Hall. The firm of Weaver & Buckley moved to Gallipolis, Ohio, in 1849, and carried on business there about two
years.
In 1852 Mr. Buckley came to this coast and
entered as academy in Portland, Oregon, to prepare himself for his chosen profession. While
thus engaged, about 1854, he with four other students made the first known
ascent of Mount Hood accomplished by white men. But the Indian war of 1855
interfered for a time with his professional aspirations, as he felt it a duty
to aid in subduing the sworn enemies of his people, and he promptly enlisted as
a private. In December, 1855, the white volunteers, numbering 330, had a fight
with the enemy at Fort Shinn, on the Umatilla. By a night march they surprised the
Indians, capturing Mox-Mox, chief of the Walla-Wallas, his son and several
others, and destroying their village. They then made a forced march of
thirty-five miles, only to find themselves confronted by 3,000 Indians, well
supplied with arms and ammunition. After a brief consultation it was decided to
break through their lines or perish in the attempt. A desperate conflict
ensued, extending over a distance of ten miles. Mox-Mox and his fellow-captives
attempted to escape to their friends by cutting and slashing their guards with
the knives they had been permitted to retain, and it became necessary to kill
them in self-defense. The heroic band escaped through the enemy’s lines with a
loss of seventeen killed and about forty wounded. When Cascade City was afterward taken by the Indians, Mr. Buckley again
volunteered under Captain Powell, and while in this service his company went
into the field with the regular troops under Philip H. Sheridan, then a
Lieutenant of infantry. Soon afterward Mr. Buckley was commissioned by Governor
Curry as Captain of an independent company of rangers, and ordered to join
Major Leighton’s command at the Dalles.
Captain Buckley’s company had a few successful skirmishes with the Indians, but
the war closed before any heavy engagement was fought. After completing his
academic course, he was appointed deputy postmaster of Portland, filling the position in 1856 and 1857, and reading
law in spare hours under Logan & Shattuck, and later on under Williams
& Gibbs. In 1859 he was elected assessor of Multnomah County, and discharged his duties of that office to the
general satisfaction of his constituents. In 1860 he was admitted to the bar of
the Supreme Court of Oregon, and in the fall of that year moved to San Francisco, where he became associated with Ray Reese and N. Northrup in the publishing of the Evening Journal. In 1861 he moved into
this county, and was elected Justice of the Peace for Liberty Township, which he soon resigned. He taught school for about
two years, and then engaged in the practice of law. In 1865 he helped to form
in Woodbridge the first anti-Chinese organization of this county,
and in 1866 delivered a lecture in this city upon the Chinese question, in
which he enunciated the views afterward embodied in the Chinese Restriction
bill. In May, 1874, he was appointed County Judge by Governor Booth, for the unexpired term ending in
1875, and was then elected for a full term ending in 1875, and was then elected
for a full term of four years. In 1879, the office of County Judge having been
abolished by the new constitution of this State, he was elected Judge of the
Superior Court for the term ending December 31, 1883, and at its close resumed
the practice of law. To do right, regardless of everything but law and justice,
appeared to be his guiding principle on the bench, and as a lawyer he has
always been recognized as thorough in preparation, and faithful to the
interests of his clients, as well as an able exponent of the laws and decisions
affecting each case. Though a Democrat of pronounced conviction, he has been
repeatedly elected to the bench in a county having on each occasion a decisive
Republican majority.
Judge Buckley was married in Sacramento
County, May 8, 1865, to Miss Minerva C. Crawford, born in Illinois, March 29, 1847, a daughter of Morgan and Henrietta (Castle) Crawford,
who came to this State with their family in 1860, and are still living in Oakland
in 1890. The oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Judge Buckley is William Langdon
Buckley, born in this city, October, 1871. He was educated in the public
schools, the business college and high school of Stockton. He is now filling the position of time-keeper for
the Howard Street Railroad Company, of San Francisco. The
younger members of the Buckley family--John R., born in 1877, and Maud
Crawford, born in 1879--are attending the public schools of this city. Brought
up a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, Judge Buckley regularly attends
the service of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church of Stockton. He is a
member of Stockton Lodge, No. 11, I. O. O. F., and of Charter Oak Lodge, No.
20, K. of P.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 375-377. Lewis Pub.
Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Genealogy Databases
Golden Nugget Library