Category: Bucklin

I’m being a bit bold with that title.  I’m not really sure how old Louis is in the main photo I’m talking about, but my guess was that he was nine.  So that makes the photo’s date as around 1882.  Louis Charles Bucklin was born April 11, 1873, in Masonville, Iowa, which is in the township of Coffin’s Grove in Delaware County.  His parents were James A. (possibly Austin) Bucklin and Mary Ann McGrath.  The Bucklin family was from Massachusetts and the McGrath family was from Ireland.

Rhoda Maria Gove Bucklin died in 1849. This grave was difficult to find since the name is given as Maria R. Bucklin.

James and Mary Ann were married in 1854 in Springfield, Massachusetts.  It was James’ second marriage and Mary Ann’s first.  James had married  Rhoda Maria Gove in 1843 probably in Ludlow, Massachusetts.  They had two children together, then Rhoda died in 1849.  At some time Mary Ann immigrated to the United States with her parents and siblings.  They settled in Palmer, Massachusetts.  Somehow she met widower James Bucklin and they got married.

James and Mary Ann settled in Palmer, Massachusetts, with James’ two children from his first marriage.  Eleven months later their daughter Jennie was born.  Almost six years later they had their first son together.  He was named Joseph C. Bucklin, but everyone knows him as Joe. 

The family then moved to Iowa before the birth of their next son Edd.  He was born March 8, 1864, in Sand Springs, Iowa, which is in Delaware County.  Their last child was Louis.  The spacing of the children seems a little odd.  There are gaps of 6 years, 3 years, and 9 years.  I haven’t found any mention of any children that died, but I wouldn’t be surprised. 

Louis Charles Bucklin circa 1882 probably in Iowa.

It was during the childhood of these family members that photography was getting to be affordable and available to families.  That must have been true for the Bucklin family because there are several old photos of this family.  The sad part of it is that many of the photos are unidentified.  One of the identified photos is this photo of Louis Bucklin.

Like I said at the beginning, he looks to be about nine years old.  In 1882 the family was still living in Coffin’s Grove, Iowa.  They did not move down to Louisiana until 1884.  I have tried to edit this photo in the past and have never liked any of the results, so I’m going ahead and posting it as is.  I like the photo.  He looks like a dignified little man in the photo.  His feelings about photos must have changed at a later date, because there aren’t any photos of him after he was married.

Edd Bucklin circa 1870

I’m going to share a few other photos as well.  The next one is another photo that was identified.  But this one is of Louis’s older brother Edd when he was a child.  He looks to be about six years old, so that would put the photo as being taken around 1870.  This is an enhanced version of the photo.  Of course, the photo of my great uncle looks great with edits.  The original photo is much better.

Unidentified boy from late 1800s. Probably a Bucklin child in Delaware County, Iowa.

This next photo is one that was not identified, but I’m starting to think that is was my great grandfather Louis.  I think it may be a little larger photo that looks like a post card.  It’s not like that small one of Edd that looks like a daguerreotype.  Also, this boy doesn’t have the same dour look that Edd has in the photo.  I think it looks like a younger version of Louis.  If it is Louis, it was taken around 1875 or so.  This is an enhanced version of the photo.  Sometimes my photo editing comes out good, but a lot depends on the quality of the original photo.

Tell me what you think.  Could it be Louis?

Fred D. Bucklin circa 1929 around Hathaway, Louisiana

Here is another great old photo of my grandfather Fred D. Bucklin.  I sometimes wonder whether a photo is actually a photo of him.  He had a twin brother, so it’s difficult to tell them apart.  I’m sure if you knew them well at the time you could tell them apart, but this photo was taken over 90 years ago.

But this photo of him was in my mom’s possession ever since I can remember, so I’m pretty sure it is my grandfather.  It was taken around 1929, which is around the time that he began his plant-selling profession.  He and his twin brother Clarence actually were working together at the time.  I’ve shown a picture of their price list previously, as has cousin Joseph.  They were from the early 1930s.

This newspaper ad from the February 13, 1929, edition of the Crowley Daily Signal shows that they had started at least by that point.  The Bucklin Bros. were advertising the sale of evergreens to the surrounding communities.  This seems to coordinate well with the photo of Grandpa in the truck.  If you look at the bed of the truck, you can see several balled and burlapped trees back there.

Like I said, it’s a great old photo.  I just wish I knew where the photo was taken.  The price lists that were printed back then show an address of Elton, Louisiana, but they didn’t live in Elton proper.  They lived in Hathaway.  It’s always a bit confusing to me.  They have so many names for that little area in Jefferson Davis Parish.  We always said that we went out to Hathaway to visit our grandparents, but I think they may actually have lived in China.  Or maybe it was Raymond!  We passed by the Hathaway High School and the Raymond Methodist Church on the way to their house.  If we went a little further down the road we’d be at the China Cemetery.

Whatever you want to call the place, I don’t recall seeing a body of water like you see in this main photo.   Maybe some of my cousins or some residents can help me out with this.  China?  Hathaway? Raymond?  Pine Island?

Tell me what you think.

Snapshot of Betty Lou Bucklin in the 1949-50 yearbook for the Hathaway High Hornets in southern Louisiana.

I’ve thought about writing a post about this topic for quite a while now, but I have to admit that it is a really weird topic.  But lately I keep hearing the word hydroxycholoroquine in relation to possible medical treatment for Covid-19.  Every time I hear the beginning of the word, it reminds me of one of my mom’s favorite words. 

I can’t remember the first time I heard the word.  I seem to think it was back when I was learning the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in 2nd grade or so.  I’m sure we must have been learning the song for school choir or something like that.  So my mom must have decided to tell me about her favorite word.  That favorite word was hydroxymercurobenzolphenonasulfate.

So I learned that word and have remembered it ever since then.  And now lately I’ve been thinking about it more often.  It’s not a word that comes up in conversation very often, if ever.  I assumed it was a word she might have heard in a science class or something.  I have tried to find out what it means or what its purpose is, and I’ve only been able to find one reference to it.  And it wasn’t online anywhere.

A note to Betty Lou from Flutina. Hathaway High School, Hathaway, Louisiana, 1949.

I found it in my mom’s old yearbook from 1949-50.  It was a message written to Barry Tone c/o Miss Betty Lou Bucklin.  (It’s a play on words.  My mom played the baritone in band.)  The message was from one Flutina the Flute.  I don’t know her identity, but her message says, “Dear Barry, They say life is hard.  Don’t let its problems get you down.  If they do, I advise the quick way out – Take some hydroxymercurobenzolphenonasulfate.” 

My only thought about it when I found it was that it was just a cute little phrase that mom and her friend joked about.  Kinda like “Wheatavitavegimin, it’s tasty!”  I didn’t think it was anything dark –  my mom taught me the word when I was a wee lad!  But when I showed it to Chuck to tell him what I was going to write about tonight, he thought it was a bit dark.  He’s right!  How did I never see that before.

Then when I looked it up online, the closest results came up with poisons and an icon with skull and crossbones.  Oh my!  I decided to write about it anyway.  Did I tell you that it was one of my mom’s favorite words?  I’m sure I did.  And I like it too!  And I know for sure my mom was not trying to encourage me to harm myself in any way.  It’s just a fun word to say.  Try it.  Hydroxymercurobenzolphenonasulfate!  See?  No harm in saying it.

Hathaway school band circa 1950

I’m still curious to know who Flutina the Flute is.  I have a photo from that yearbook and it shows a picture of the Hathaway school band.  My mom labeled a few people in the photo.  She is in the photo, as well as her sisters Alma and Loris.  She also labeled Gayle (Groth I presume).  And there on the back row is Flutina the Flute.  Of course, she is playing the flute, but I don’t know her real name. 

But I think I might know one of her favorite words!  You think?

Betty Lou just a swingin’

How can you not like this photo?  Right?  Such a cheerful little photo.  I think I may have posted this photo before with another one as a comment on a blog post.  I thought it was time for it to have a blog post of its own.  Being that we are right in the middle of a coronavirus lock-down, I thought something a bit cheery was in order.  That “middle” definer in that last sentence might be a bit optimistic as well.  We shall see.

If you don’t already know, this is a photo of my dear sweet Mama.  Funny how that phrase reminds me of something so particular.  When I was in college, I went home one weekend.  Part of that weekend included washing my clothes.  I’m pretty sure that she was the one doing the washing!  The next week I put on a shirt and noticed something in the pocket.  I fished out a stick of gum that had a note attached that read, “From your dear sweet Mama!”  That’s my mom, a sweet one for sure.  I saved that little note, though I haven’t seen it in a while.  If I ever find it again, I’ll have to add it to this post.

So as I was saying, this is Betty Lou Bucklin Landry.  She was born in Hathaway, Louisiana, on May 20, 1933, with Dr. Fletcher from Elton in attendance.  At the time that this photo was taken, she was around 17 years old.  She was either a junior or senior in high school at Hathaway High.  Go Hornets!  She’s sitting on a swing in the china ball tree next to the old ice box.  Her dad Fred Bucklin had a plant nursery back then and you can see part of that in the background.  Just a quiet day in little old Hathaway in the early 50s.

When I first started writing this post, it looked like she was saying a big hello.  Now it looks like she is saying, “See you later!”