life insurance executive, b. North Middletown, Ky. He served in various capacities with insurance companies in Kentucky and Missouri. In 1879 he moved to Wisconsin as the state's general sales manager for the New York Life Insurance Company with headquarters in Milwaukee; other states were later added to his territory. After retiring in 1894 he was general sales manager of the company's Chicago agency (1897-1901). Of Buckner's three sons who rose to important positions with the New York Life Insurance Company, only SAMUEL OWEN BUCKNER, b. Wellington, Mo., remained long in Wisconsin. He began his insurance career as a clerk in his father's Milwaukee office. In 1894 he succeeded his father as head of the company's Wisconsin and Northwestern business, and served as inspector of agencies (1914-1929). He actively supported the Milwaukee Art Institute, to which he donated his private collection of paintings. He was president of the Milwaukee Art Institute (1911-1926), and was a trustee of the Layton Art Gallery and the Layton School of Art. In 1928 he moved to New York City. W. G. Bruce, ed., Hist. of Milwaukee (3 vols., Chicago, 1922); E. B. Usher, Wis. (8 vols., Chicago, 1914); Who Was Who in Amer. (1943); Milwaukee Journal, Aug. 13, 1901, Nov. 12, 1945; WPA field notes.Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
