The Bucklins in Prairie Grove in 1914

I finally found something that I want to talk about today.  I didn’t know if I’d ever find something.  Sometimes I have so many ideas for posts, while other times I am blank.  I knew that I wanted something from my mom’s side of the family since the last two weeks were about my paternal side. 

I was also thinking about doing something about one of my maternal ancestor’s siblings to continue with last week.  So when this little newspaper article popped up, I thought it was just perfect.  It includes a photo of my maternal grandfather with several of his siblings.  And though he did have a big family, there were not this many kids in the family!  Only a dozen.

My maternal grandfather was Fred D. Bucklin.  The D. was just an initial.  Just like Ulysses S. Grant.  The initial did not stand for anything.  I’m pretty sure his maternal grandmother had the same situation.  Grandma Sue’s full name was Susan G. Stanbrough.  The G. did not stand for grandma, though. 

So Fred was my mom’s (Betty Lou Bucklin) dad.  He was born in 1907 along with his identical twin Clarence.  When they were born, there were five older siblings.  There was an older brother Paul who was born in 1903 and died in 1904.  The next Bucklin child born after the twins was Edna Bucklin.  She was born in 1909 in Roanoke, Louisiana.  Something happened between the time of her birth and the birth of the next Bucklin child – the family moved to Prairie Grove, Arkansas.  I’m not sure when they moved there, but they were there at least by the date of September 7, 1911.  That was the date of birth for Grandpa’s brother Robert Louis Bucklin, and my records show that he was born in Prairie Grove.

I also have a few letters from 1912 and 1913 that were written in Arkansas and sent home to family in Louisiana.  The information about that time is sketchy at best.  Just little bits of details for those few years up north.  One of those bits of information is this newspaper clipping.  I don’t know what paper it was from, but it talks about the school that the Bucklin children attended when they lived in Prairie Grove.  The name of the school at that time was the Illinois Chapel School.  Why would it be called that when it was in Arkansas?  I did a quick search, but all I could find was that there is a road in Prairie Grove called Illinois Chapel Road.  

The great thing about the newspaper article is that it names all of the children in the photo.  Not just the Bucklin children – all of them.  To make it easier for us, someone in the past has numbered the Bucklin children.  The first child on the front row has a number 1 in front of him.  That is Clarence Bucklin, my grandfather’s duplicate.  You will find 2 and 3 at the end of the front row.  Number 2 is Carl Bucklin.  He was Fred and Clarence’s older brother, and he was born in 1904.  There aren’t many photos of him.  I think he had some learning or developmental issues.  Number 3 is my grandfather Fred.  He was around 7 years old at this time.  On the second row you’ll find number 4.  That was Uncle Herbert.  He was just a year and a half older than the twins.

In the middle of the second row is a boy labeled with the number 5.  That was Ralph Bucklin.  He doesn’t look too happy in the photo.  Maybe it was because he looks smaller than his younger brother Herbert.  Though I doubt that he was aware of that when the photo was taken.  He only looks smaller because he’s sitting in a chair and Herbert was standing.  He was four years older than Herbert.  Two rows behind Ralph you can see the oldest of the brothers.  That was Leo with the identifying number 6 written on his chest.  He was the first-born child of Louis Charles Bucklin and Addie Hine Bucklin.  Leo was born in December of 1898, just six months after his parents’ marriage.  

And that leaves one more numbered Bucklin.  Number 7 was Mary Bucklin, the oldest daughter of Lou and Addie.  I suppose younger siblings Edna and Robert were too young to attend school at the time.  I’m not sure when the family moved back to Louisiana.  All I know is that the last two Bucklin children – Roy and Ruth – twins again – were born in Louisiana in 1915.  I know the family kept in touch with some of their friends in Arkansas.  There was a Clement family that came down to Louisiana to visit them when my mom was a child.  I see that there are four Clement children in this photo.  They were probably friends of the Bucklin children.

Ok, that’s it.  That’s all I know about this article and photo.  If anyone knows anything more about it, just let me know.  I always like more.

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Speaking of more.  There was one other thing I wanted to share.  It’s an old photo I found online that showed farmers going to sell their produce in 1915 in Prairie Grove.  I don’t recognize any family, but the photo represents the time and place where my family was.