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Cage 595
Bucklin Family
Papers, 1864-1988
| Back to Finding Aids | |
| Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections Pullman, WA 99164-5610 USA (509) 335-6691 Inquiries |
Cage 595
Bucklin Family
Papers, 1864-1988
The Washington State University Libraries acquired the papers of the Bucklin Family from Robert W. Bucklin of Bellevue, Washington, in 1988 and 1989 (accessions MS88-13, MS88-20, and MS89-63) and Beryl Bucklin of Dockton, Washington, in 1990 (accession MS90-24). Robert W. Hadlow processed the papers in September and October of 1992.
BIOGRAPHY
The Bucklin family's history in the state of Washington begins in 1859. The family papers are concerned principally with three men, Nathan Bucklin, his son Robert Eben Bucklin, and his grandson Robert Willis Bucklin. Other family members, including brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, in-laws, and distant relatives, are all mentioned in letters, manuscripts, or diaries.
Nathan Bucklin, who was born in Warren, Maine, in 1839, came to Kitsap County, Washington Territory, in 1859. He settled in Seabeck W.T., and there supervised a lumber mill. In 1867, he married Marian Campbell. They had three daughters, Annie, born 7 May 1868; Amy, born 4 May 1872; and Marian, born 17 January 1874. Marian Campbell Bucklin died at Port Madison, W.T., in 1874.
In early 1877 Nathan Bucklin married again. His second wife, Mary Alice Babbitt, had journeyed to San Francisco from New Jersey, to live with relatives. There she learned of a widower, Nathan Bucklin, who needed a nanny to care for his young motherless daughters on Puget Sound. This information led to the eventual marriage of Bucklin and Miss Babbitt. They were the parents of six children: Robert Eben, born 3 December 1878; Frances Lydia, born 6 August 1881; Alice, born May 1885; Clara, born 10 January 1887; Henrietta, born 3 December 1889; and Emma Louise, born 18 November 1892.
Robert Eben Bucklin grew up in Port Madison, where his father was superintendent of local lumber mills. He first pursued his secondary education at Vashon College, in the town of Quartermaster, Wash., and then in the college preparatory program at the Washington Agricultural College, where he enrolled in 1896. Bucklin entered the college-level curriculum in the fall of 1897. He was one of the WAC students who lost all personal possessions in the fire that engulfed Ferry Hall in November 1897.
When the Spanish-American War began in the spring of 1898, R.E. Bucklin and many friends enlisted in Company "K" of the First Washington Volunteers. Soon he was shipped to the Philippines, where he was wounded in the left thigh by the gunshot of an insurgent. He was then sent to the Presidio, in San Francisco, where he convalesced for the next year at the U.S. General Hospital. Bucklin was thereafter afflicted with pain and disability from the gunshot wound which had shattered his femur, leaving shell fragments in his thigh. He underwent surgical procedures for the next thirty-five years in attempts to relieve the pain.
R.E. Bucklin returned to Bainbridge Island in 1900. In the next year, he married, Hattie E. Peak. They had five sons: Robert Willis, born 8 April 1902; Nathan Erwin, born 22 March 1905; Ronald Eben, born 15 March 1909; Curtis Vann, born 2 May 1912; and Lincoln Brice, born 5 January 1918.
Bucklin served Kitsap County as Deputy Assessor and later as Deputy Auditor. He was Mayor of Port Orchard in 1909 and 1910. Bucklin represented the county in the Washington State Legislature during the 1915 session. In the 1920s, he was a County Commissioner. He was appointed superintendent of the Washington Veterans' Home, in Retsil, in July 1941. In late May 1942, he suffered a ruptured appendix, from which he died.
Robert Willis Bucklin, the eldest son of R.E. and Hattie Bucklin, attended Port Orchard and Bainbridge Island public schools. He received his high school diploma in 1920 from Winslow High School. Bucklin graduated from the State College of Washington in 1925 with a degree in English and Journalism.
R.W. Bucklin first worked for a number of newspapers in Idaho and Washington. From 1935 to 1942 he was assistant secretary and manager of the Industrial Division of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce. He joined the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) in June 1942 as personnel manager for the new Trentwood sheet rolling mill at Spokane. He transferred to ALCOA's northwest sales district office in Seattle during 1946. Beginning in 1952, Bucklin became Northwest Public Relations Director for ALCOA, in Vancouver, Washington. Except for a few years in the early 1950s, in which he consulted for the U.S. Air Force on its radar defense systems, Bucklin remained with ALCOA until he retired in 1967. From 1968 to 1973 he was an account executive with Jay Rockey Public Relations, Inc., in Seattle.
While attending WSC, Bucklin was a member of Theta Chi fraternity, and Sigma Delta Chi and Phi Kappa Phi honoraries. He was also editor of the Evergreen in 1924, president of the Junior Class, and Captain in the ROTC. Bucklin was president of the WSU Alumni Association during 1959-60.
ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION
Papers of the Bucklin family are associated chiefly with Nathan Bucklin, Robert Eben Bucklin, and Robert Willis Bucklin. They consist of correspondence, diaries, legal and honorific documents, photographs, news clips and minor printed documents.
The complex provenance of the papers dictates their arrangement as one entity, the papers of the entire Bucklin family. Within this arrangement, the papers are ordered by form, with series of correspondence, legal documents and certificates, diaries, and so forth. The general order is alphabetical by folder heading within each series. Some long sequences of correspondence are ordered by author and then in chronological order. These arrangement practices have the result of placing the papers of an individual family member at more than one location. Thus, the user seeking the papers of only one family member, R.E. Bucklin, for example, is advised to check each of the several series.
The correspondence series includes letters to and from Bucklin family members from 1864 to 1941. Chief correspondents are E. Sanford Bucklin, Nathan Bucklin, Robert E. Bucklin and and Robert W. Bucklin. Other prominent names among the correspondents are Washington Governor Ernest Lister and Washington State College president E.O. Holland.
The longest distinct sequence of letters were written by Robert E. Bucklin during his days as a member of the Washington Volunteers in the Spanish-American War. His writing chronicled experience aboard a troop transport ship, life in Manila, and combat with Philippine insurgents. They also capture Bucklin's thoughts during his long recuperation at the U.S. General Hospital at the Presidio, in San Francisco, California. These letters are set into chronological order, and the listing denotes each item.
Another long sequence is comprised of correspondence of Robert W. Bucklin. It is arranged in alphabetical subject files keyed to topics involving Bucklin's employment and civic activities.
The second major series consists of a diverse body of certificates, legal documents, newspaper clippings, and so forth. These also are in alphabetical subject filing. Three distinct sequences form subseries, one for the family generally, and the other two for R.E. and R. W. Bucklin respectively.
A series of diaries and ledgers spans 70 years, from the 1880s to 1950s. These include both personal and business account books that Nathan Bucklin kept in the late 1800s. Also included are the daily diaries of R.E. Bucklin, dated from 1898 through 1912. Many of his entries are in Spanish, which he had studied at Washington Agricultural College in the 1890s, and which he thereafter practiced in his diary. Another diary exists in the form of a. daily log maintained by Robert W. Bucklin while he worked as a. troubleshooter for the U.S. Air Force on a defense project in Alaska during the 1950s. These volumes are ordered alphabetically, and by date thereunder.
A series related to the Washington State Legislature consists of legislative journals and manuals from 1915 and from 1955-1973. These are printed items that are lightly marked by R.E. and R. W. Bucklin.
Other materials include photographs of the Bucklin family and miscellaneous materials chronicling the history of Kitsap County, in particular, Bainbridge Island. The final portion of the collection includes large size documents and memorabilia. These are also chiefly certificates, clippings, and similar documents. Also included are a Washington Agricultural College Military Cadet's cap that Robert E. Bucklin wore while a freshman college student in Pullman, and a letter "W" that Robert W. Bucklin wore on his sweater in honor of his athletic abilities at Winslow High School.
SERIES LIST
CONTAINERS
Series 1: Correspondence
Subseries 1.1: Nathan Bucklin and family members 1
Subseries 1.2: Robert Eben Bucklin 2
Subseries 1.3: Robert Willis Bucklin 3
Series 2: Certificates, legal documents, clippings, etc.
Subseries 2.1: Robert Eben Bucklin 4
Subseries 2.2: Robert Willis Bucklin 5-6
Subseries 2.3: Bucklin family, and associates 7
Series 3: Diaries and account ledgers 8-9
Series 4: Washington State Legislature documents 9-10
Series 5: Photographs 11
Series 6: Large documents and memorabilia 12-13
CONTAINER LIST