Biography

12/28/1821 - 05/19/1899

Charles Rollin Buckalew (D16) Columbia, Luzerne, Montour Counties, 1851-1856 (D13) Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder Counties 1858 (D15) Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Sullivan Counties 1870-1871 (D15) Columbia, Montour, Lycoming, Sullivan Counties 1872

Early Life:

Charles Rollin Buckalew, born December 28, 1821, Fishing Creek Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania; son of John McKinney Sr. and Martha Funston Buckalew; Harford Academy, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania; studied law; admitted, bar, 1843; law practice, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, 1844; prosecuting attorney, Columbia County, 1845-1847; elected, Democratic, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1851-1856; commissioner to exchange ratifications of a treaty with Paraguay, 1854; chairman, Democrat State Committee, 1857; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1858; Minister Resident for Ecuador, 1858-1861; elected, Democrat, United States Senator for Pennsylvania, 1863-1869; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1870-1872; unsuccessful candidate, governor, Pennsylvania, 1872; delegate, Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, 1873; elected, Democrat, United States House of Representatives, 1887-1889; elected, Democrat, United States House of Representatives, 1889-1891; resumed, law practice, 1891, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania; married, Permelia Wadsworth Buckalew, children, Warren Jay Buckalew, Alice Mary Buckalew Waller; died, May 19, 1899, Bloomsburg, Columbia County, Pennsylvania; interment, Old Rosemont Cemetery, Bloomsburg, Columbia County, Pennsylvania. 

Early Life:

Law practice, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, 1844; prosecuting attorney, Columbia County, 1845-1847; commissioner to exchange ratifications of a treaty with Paraguay, 1854.

Authored: 

Buckalew, Charles Rollin. Proportional representation: or the representation of successive majorities in federal, state, municipal, corporate and primary elections. John Gosse Freeze, editor. 
Philadelphia: J. Campbell & Son, 1872.

Buckalew, Charles Rollin. An Examination of the Constitution of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Kay Brother, 1883

Pennsylvania Politics:  

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 16th district, Columbia, Luzerne, Montour Counties, 1851-1856. 

Chairman, Democrat State Committee, 1857.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 13th district, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder Counties, 1858.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 15th district, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Sullivan Counties, 1870-1871; Democratic, Pennsylvania State Senate, 15th district, Columbia, Montour, Lycoming, Sullivan Counties, 1872; committee assignments, Constitutional Reform, Federal Relations, Library and Retrenchment and Reform. 

Unsuccessful candidate, governor, Pennsylvania, 1872. 

Delegate, Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, 1873.

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Minister Resident for Ecuador, 1858-1861. 

Elected, Democrat, United States Senator for Pennsylvania, 1863-1869, elected, Pennsylvania General Assembly; 38th, 39th, 40th, Congresses, Chairman, Select Committee on Representative Reform of the United States Senate. 

Elected, Democrat, United States House of Representatives, Pennsylvania's 11th district, 50th, 51st Congresses, 1887-1891. 

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members B". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1871). Smull, J.A., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 428, 430, 436-438.

Charles Rollin Buckalew (1821-1899) - Find a Grave Memorial