CLASS OF 1887

At the request of The BI-MONTHLY, Mr. Fred A. Howland has given the following written account of Mr. Buckley's life and work:

"William Parkinson Buckley, who died at Lancaster, New Hampshire, of pneumonia on January 10, 1906, was born at Littleton, New Hampshire, February 22,1865, his father being of English and his mother of Scotch nativity. Graduating from Littleton High School in 1883 he entered Dartmouth the succeeding fall. Of perfect physique and with an ardent love for outdoor life which to the last never flagged, he excelled in boxing and was college champion in that sport. He was one of the fine K. K. K. delegation from his class and an organizer of the Casque and Gauntlet society. He was a successful participant in various prize speaking contests, and at graduation received a commencement appointment and, what was then considered by many the most desirable distinction of the course, the general improvement prize. As one of the many who is those days found it necessary to finance, in part, their education, Buckley was for several terms principal of the academy at Epping, New Hampshire. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of his college life was the ease with which he maintained a good and constantly improving standard of scholarship, notwithstanding the interruptions incident to teaching and other outside work and his interest and participation in the athletic and social life of the College.

"No uncertainty as to his ultimate vocation disturbed Buckley from the early days when as office boy he fell under the stimulating influence and became the protege of the firm of Bingham, Mitchell and Batchellor; and upon graduation he returned to their office to complete his preparation for the bar. After admission he entered the employ of Drew and Jordan at Lancaster, New Hampshire, and soon assumed the partnership relation which lasted till his death, doing his full share to make the name of Drew, Jordan and Buckley distinguished throughout and beyond the borders of the state.

"In a profession where men are fortunate if they excel in a single branch, Buckley exhibited a ready proficiency in all departments, his work hearing the stamp of excellence whether at the desk, before juries or in Supreme Court, so that lie was reputed by his associates—and a lawyer's work is of such character that the judgment of contemporaries is about the only test of its effectiveness—the peer of any of the New Hampshire attorneys of his years. In 1900 Governor Jordan appointed him Judge Advocate-General. and in 1903-4 he was a representative from Lancaster to the general assembly.

“The foregoing details furnish no adequate conception of the charm, the capacity and the possibilities, had his life been spared, of this exceptional man. Courage, loyalty, generosity, charity, abode in his heart. The memory of his delightful companionship will long be cherished by the many who, in the woods, along the stream, or in his hospitable home, experienced the charm of his comradeship. His distinguished appearance, buoyant disposition, brilliancy in conversation, and skill as a raconteur gave him ascendancy in whatever group he chanced to be, yet no assumption of leadership marred the attractiveness of his intercourse, and he was democratic in every instinct, thought and act. He liked men for what they were, stripped of the circumstance of birth, education, influence or social condition, and to his other qualities were added such a naturalness of manner and such genuine sympathy with all sorts and conditions of men that to fall under the spell of his personality was to become his lasting friend. His well-rounded ability, his professional attainments, and his wide popularity justify the belief that the most coveted distinctions of his native state, attainable either at the bar or in politics, were not beyond his reach.

"The following appreciative summary appeared in the editorial column of the Concord Daily Monitor:

"'He did a man's complete work among a group of strong men, adding to professional attainments of rare power the refinements of a mind replete with culture. Gallant, courteous, courageous man that he was, he attacked life's duties with debonair and youthful enthusiasm, with high courage and unswerving persistence—and he won a high place in his profession, with much more in store for him had his years been prolonged.'

"He was married, July 25, 1891, to Elizabeth Drew, and is survived by her and two children, Clyde, born June 1, 1892, and Alice, horn August. 16, 1894. His mother, from whom in a large degree he inherited his splendid qualities of mind and heart, died only a few days before his own death.”

Secretary, Emerson Rice, Hyde Park, Mass.