Clarence Bennett "C.B." Buckman (April 1, 1851 – March 1, 1917) was an American farmer, lumberman, and politician who served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

for

Minnesota's 6th congressional district Minnesota's 6th congressional district includes most or all of Benton, Carver, Sherburne, Stearns, Wright, Anoka, and Washington counties. Many of the Twin Cities' northern and northwestern suburbs are included within the boundaries of t ...

from 1903 to 1907. He also served in both houses of the

Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decenn ...

prior to his election to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Early life and pre-political career

Buckman was born in

Doylestown, Pennsylvania Doylestown is a borough and the county seat of Bucks County in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Trenton, north of Center City, Philadelphia, southeast of Allentown, and southwest of New York City. As of the 2020 ...

, on April 1. The year is uncertain, with sources claiming it to be anywhere between 1849 and 1852; 1851 seems to be the most widely accepted year. He moved to Minnesota in 1872 and was involved in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

and the

lumber industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry -- when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. furn ...

before being appointed justice of the peace in 1873. When the area he lived on became incorporated in 1874, it was named after him, becoming

Buckman, Minnesota Buckman is a city in Morrison County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 307 at the 2020 Census. History A post office called Buckman was established in 1877. The city was named for Clarence B. Buckman, an early settler and member o ...

. A September 13, 1876

threshing machine A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Before such machines were developed, thres ...

accident on his farm caused him to lose his left leg. He would use a

wooden leg Wooden Leg ( Cheyenne ''Kâhamâxéveóhtáhe'')''Kum-mok-quiv-vi-ok-ta'' in Marquis 1931pg. 3/ref> (1858–1940) was a Northern Cheyenne warrior who fought against Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Early life Wooden Leg was born, ...

for the rest of his life and reportedly practiced enough that he walked without a

limp A limp is a type of asymmetric abnormality of the gait. Limping may be caused by pain, weakness, neuromuscular imbalance, or a skeletal deformity. The most common underlying cause of a painful limp is physical trauma; however, in the absence ...

. He moved to Little Falls in 1880.

Political career and retirement

Buckman was elected to the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the Min ...

for the 30th district in 1880. He served only one term, as he won the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are h ...

seat for the 39th district in 1882. During his term, he served as chairman for the Grain and Warehouse Inspection Committee. His farm in Buckman was destroyed by the

1886 Sauk Rapids tornado Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

. He was reelected to the state Senate in 1886, although during the term his residence was listed as

Sauk Rapids Sauk Rapids is a city in Benton County, Minnesota, Benton County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,862 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is 13,896 according to 2021 census estimates, about a third of Benton County' ...

. During the first half of his term, he was designated

president pro tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being" ...

and also served as chairman for the Booms and Logs Special Committee and the Finance Committee. He was not reelected to his state Senate seat in 1890. In 1892, disliking the accommodations of his Little Falls hotel room, Buckman decided he would build his own. He bought a corner lot in the downtown area and designed the building himself, telling the architects to only fill in the blanks. The hotel opened its doors on February 16, 1893, and was considered Little Falls'

high-end In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast to ...

hotel. The building now serves as a senior living facility and is a

contributing building In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the

Little Falls Commercial Historic District The Little Falls Commercial Historic District is a historic district in downtown Little Falls, Minnesota, consisting of the approximately 6 acres of 1st Street SE between 1st Avenue SE and 1st Avenue NE. The district was added to the National Re ...

. With Buckman returned to politics when he won election to the state Senate for the 48th district in 1898, this time running as an Independent Republican instead of

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

, which he ran as for the other positions he held. He served as chairman of the Internal Improvements Committee for his first term and chair for the Labor Committee in his second. He then won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the 6th district in 1902 and won reelection in 1904 before losing renomination to Charles Lindbergh, Sr. in 1906. He was a U.S. deputy marshal from 1907 to 1912. He died at the

Battle Creek Sanitarium The Battle Creek Sanitarium was a world-renowned health resort in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. It started in 1866 on health principles advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and from 1876 to 1943 was managed by Dr. John ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

on March 1, 1917, and is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Little Falls.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckman, Clarence 1851 births 1917 deaths People from Doylestown, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Republican Party Minnesota state senators United States Marshals 19th-century American politicians American amputees