Charles Rollin Buckalew (December 28, 1821May 19, 1899) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and Democratic Party politician from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He represented the state for one term in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, where he was an advocate for

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

and

cumulative voting Cumulative voting (sometimes called the single divisible vote) is an election system where a voter casts multiple votes but can lump votes on a specific candidate or can split their votes across multiple candidates. The candidates elected are tho ...

, from 1863 to 1869. Buckalew also served three nonconsecutive terms in the

Pennsylvania Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mi ...

(1851–1854, 1859–1860, and 1869–1870) and two consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1887 to 1891. He served as Minister Resident for Ecuador under President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

from 1858 to 1861.

Early life and education

Buckalew was born in Fishing Creek Township, Pennsylvania on December 28, 1821, to John McKinney Sr. and Martha Funston Buckalew. He was a graduate of Harford Academy,

Susquehanna County Susquehanna County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,434 Its county seat is Montrose. The county was created on February 21, 1810, from part of Luzerne County and later organized in ...

, Pennsylvania, where he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1843.

Career

Buckalew was the most influential early advocate of

in the United States. His proposals for a type of voting system known as

gained significant support in Congress, and he played a central role in the adoption of cumulative voting in several places, including Illinois for state legislative elections in 1870, a system that lasted in that state until 1980. Buckalew was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...

by the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvani ...

to the U.S. Senate in 1863. In a number of speeches, notably in the Senate on July 11, 1867; at a large public meeting in Philadelphia in November of the same year; before the Social Science Association at Philadelphia in October 1870; and in the Senate of Pennsylvania on March 27, 1871; as well as in the report of the Select Committee on Representative Reform of the United States Senate, of which be was chairman, Buckalew argued persuasively for the use of cumulative voting in the election of representatives in Congress, state legislatures, town councils and other bodies. Buckalew's bill in the Senate would have allowed all the electors of a state to have the number of votes equal to the number of house of representatives members to be elected from that state. The voter could give all his votes to one candidate, or distribute them in any fashion, equally or unequally, among candidates. The candidates with the highest number of votes would be elected. In addition to serving in Congress and the Pennsylvania state legislature, Buckalew was commissioner to exchange ratifications of a treaty with

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

in 1854; chairman of the Democratic State committee in 1857; appointed one of the commissioners to revise the penal code of Pennsylvania in 1857; Minister Resident to the Republic of

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

1858–1861; unsuccessful candidate for governor of Pennsylvania in 1872; and a delegate to the Pennsylvania constitutional convention of 1873. He resumed the practice of law when he left Congress in 1891, age 69, in Bloomsburg, Columbia County, where he died on May 19, 1899. He is interred in Rosemont Cemetery in Bloomsburg. Buckalew's writings and speeches on cumulative voting were collected in an 1872 book titled ''Proportional Representation''. 1872, Philadelphia, J. Campbell & Son.

References and notes

External links

Retrieved on 2009-04-01 *
''Proportional Representation'', by Charles R. Buckalew
at the University of Michigan ''Making of America'' online library , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckalew, Charles 1821 births 1899 deaths 19th-century American diplomats Ambassadors of the United States to Ecuador Democratic Party United States senators from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators People from Columbia County, Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Writers from Pennsylvania 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century United States senators American social reformers