Ohio Normal University
Louis Charles Bucklin at Military Academy in Ada, Ohio.
Ray Bucklin (former 1st Lt Bucklin) thinks the 4th in the front row is Louis. “The military would have probably lined them up in alphabetical order. I have spent a lot of my life third or fourth in line.” I thought that one looked similar to Louis’s later photo so Ray is probably right.
Louis came home after his sister Jennie died around June 1893. I Googled the name on the flag and found it was Ohio Normal University (now Ohio Northern University).
I found Louis listed in two year books on ONU’s website:
1892-93
1893-94
Page 71 of both yearbooks list L. C. Bucklin from Calcasieu Co., LA in the Commercial Course Department.
Page 29 gives you a description of the Commercial College. I always wondered why he went to a military school, but that was just part of it. That page says, “There is nothing in which you can engage that will not call for a business knowledge.” That made me realize he must have gone there for the business education which would help him him run the farm.
The first part of the year books about the school are really interesting. Page 10 tells about the advantages over other schools, including nutritious food and electricity.
You can read about the military department of the university here.