My Great Grandfather Louis Bucklin

I thought I would write about Louis Bucklin today.  I didn’t realize that I had overlooked him so much through the years until I went to search for posts about him.  The photo I’m using is from an enhanced crop of a photo of he and his wife Addie Hine in 1905.  I posted that photo almost seven years ago.  I have lots of other posts about Addie. 

The main reason is that Addie lived so much longer than Lou did.  He only lived to the age of 54.  In fact, he died six years before my mom was born.  Neither of my parents knew their paternal grandfathers, and neither did I.  Addie lived to the ripe old age of 84, so she was around for the first 27 years of my mom’s life (and the first month of mine).  So there were lots more photos of her to pick from.  I wouldn’t say that she enjoyed having her photo taken, because at times she seems to be scowling in the photos.  But her husband Lou avoided being photographed once he was an adult.

I also overlooked him because I ended up talking about his brother Joe more than him.  Joe had some very interesting tragedies that happened to him.  He had two wives that died young, and two daughters that died even younger.  He also had a men’s clothing store in Jennings in the early 20th century.  The main tragedies that happened to Lou was that he lost an eye in a farming accident and he died somewhat young.  He did sport a glass eye, so that may have led to his aversion of the camera.  I’m not sure.

But Lou Bucklin was how my mom ended up being Betty Lou Bucklin.  His nickname was passed down to his granddaughter and great granddaughter (my oldest sister Jodie Lou).  My mom’s dad Fred D. Bucklin did not share that name.  He didn’t even get a real middle name.  He just got the letter D.  So let’s take a look at Lou’s life.

Louis Charles Bucklin was born April 11, 1873, in Masonville, Iowa.  That was just over 150 years ago.  That’s a major milestone.  I should have written about him last week!  He was overlooked yet again!  It was the sesquicentennial of his birth.  His father James Bucklin was born in Massachusetts, which is where the Bucklin family had been for many generations.  His mother Mary Ann McGrath was born in Ireland, which is where the McGrath family had been for who know how many years.  Louis was born in transition – the family ended up in Louisiana where it has been for a few generations.  Some family members have moved away, and some have stayed.  

Louis was the youngest in his family.  The brother nearest to him – Edd – was nine years older than him.  His oldest brother – a half-brother named James – was 27 years older.  Most of the older siblings were born in Massachusetts, except for Edd who was also born in Iowa.  The family moved to Louisiana when Lou was eleven years old.  Since he was so young, he was not able to make a homestead claim like his father and older siblings.  Yet he was the one that stayed and maintained that land for the rest of his life.

After Louis finished high school, he went off to college at the Ohio Normal School in Ada, Ohio.  Louis started a journal at that time.  His trip up to Ohio is an interesting read.  He commented on the landscapes he saw and the people he met.  His sister Jennie ended up getting sick and dying while he was up there. He must have come back for the funeral and never returned for further education.  His life was about farming and that was mostly what he wrote about from then on.  Of course, he did write about that girl Addie Hine who came to help his mother around the house.  They were married in 1898 when Louis was 25 years old.  They settled in Hathaway and started their family together.

Lou and Addie ended up having twelve children together.  I remember always being amazed by that.  It was like the book I enjoyed reading when I was young – “Cheaper by the Dozen.”  My mom at one point had thought of emulating them.  That’s not something I ever wanted to do.  Even though Lou died at a somewhat young age, he did get to see the first dozen years of his youngest children’s lives.  He even got to meet one of his grandchildren.  Helen Bucklin was born just two years before he died.

Lou died on November 19, 1927, in Elton, Louisiana.  There were several people who mourned his death.