Biographical Sketch of

German Buckland

Transcribed by Sandy Boudrou



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Green Lake, Marquette and Waushara Counties, Wisconsin, 
published 1890 by Acme Publishing Co., Chicago, Pages 514 and 517
Barrett, Buckland, Buckley, Hale, Mead, Thomas, Thrall, Willis

German Buckland, one of the most extensive land owners of Green Lake County, who now resides on section 6 in the town 
of Brooklyn, has made his home in this community for almost forty years.  He was born in Rutland County, Vt., March 29, 
1829, his parents, Hiram And Candace (Hale) Buckland, being also natives of the Green Mountain State.  On the maternal 
side our subject is of Scotch descent, and on the paternal side, of English origin, the family having been established 
in America by five brothers of English birth, who crossed the Atlantic and settled in the New England States at an early 
day.  His grandfather was a revolutionary soldier.
 
When German was a lad of ten years he was deprived of a father's care and counsel, Mr. Buckland dying at the age of 
forty-four years.  His mother, however, survived him many years, she attaining the allotted three score years and ten.  
Mr. Buckland was a highly esteemed citizen, and is wife a zealous Christian woman.  She remained true to her husband's 
memory, never again marrying, though many years passed ere she crossed the river to meet him in the better land.  Of 
their four children our subject is the youngest.  As he was but ten years of age when his father died, and was not 
restricted by his care, he left school at an early age, but had already obtained a good knowledge of the common branches. 
His early deficiency, however, has been largely overcome by subsequent reading and observation, supplemented by travel.  
He is now an intelligent citizen, always keeping himself well informed on the leading questions of the day.  He entered 
upon a business career at the age of fifteen, obtaining a position as driver on the tow-path of the Erie Canal, after 
which he returned to his native county and worked among the farmers of the community.  In 1850, with the share received 
from his father's estate, about $500, he started for the West with the intention of trying his fortune upon its broad 
prairies.  Going to Algonquin, Ill., where he had an uncle living, he was employed as a merchant's clerk for about eight 
months, at the end of which time he came to Green Lake County and purchased the farm on which he now lives.  Some years 
later, in company with a brother-in-law, he started for Pike's Peak, but at Omaha met the tide of emigration returning.  
His companion decided to go no further, but Mr. Buckland hitched his team with one enroute to California.  He spent the 
next six years of his life on the Pacific Slope, engaged in mining in the Golden State, Washington and British Columbia.
 
On his return to Wisconsin, Mr. Buckland again resumed farming, which occupation he has followed continuously since.  
Notwithstanding the fact that he had but little capital with which to begin life, and the many reverses and obstacles 
which he has encountered, he has risen step by step to a position of wealth and affluence, and is now one of the most 
extensive land owners in the community, his possessions aggregating 1,160 acres, 520 of which is situated in Green Lake 
County, the remaining 640 in Cass County, N. D.  Public spirited and progressive, he is a valued citizen, and is always 
found in the foremost ranks for the promotion of any enterprise calculated to benefit the community.  He casts his ballot 
with the Republican party, and both he and his wife are members of the Congregational Church.
 
Mr. Buckland married Miss Mary Ann Willis, daughter of Anthony Willis.  Her father was born in Rutland County, Vt., June 
27, 1809, and in his youth learned the trade of a machinist in Lowell, Mass.; however, he followed cabinet making and 
painting.  On the 24th day of October, 1832, he was joined in wedlock with Sabrina Mead, who was born in Rutland County, 
Aug 16, 1813, and was a daughter of William and Roxanna (Bigelow) Mead.  They were parents of ten children, eight of whom 
grew to maturity.  The father, who was of English descent, served as an American soldier in the War of 1812, and died at 
the age of forty-five years, his wife departing this life at the advanced age of eighty-four years.
 
About four years after their marriage, Mr.. Willis and his wife became residents of St. Lawrence County, N. Y., where he 
worked at his trade until his health failed him, when he came with his family to Green Lake County, settling in the town
of Brooklyn, in 1851.  Believing that work in the open air would greatly benefit him, he turned his attention to farming, 
which he followed until his death, on the 11th day of March, 1889.  His wife still survives him.  He was an active worker 
in the Congregational Church, and helped to organize the first church of that denomination at Bluffton, of which he was 
deacon for some seventeen years.  Mrs. Willis is a most estimable lady and, like her husband, is a faithful member of the 
Congregational Church.  Their six children are Mrs. Buckland, Mrs. William Thrall, deceased; Mrs. G. I. Thomas; William 
H., who died in the Union Army; Mrs. Capt. Oscar Barrett, deceased, and Dr. Charles M. of Berlin.
 
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Buckland has been blessed with five children, three of whom are yet living: Ellen S., at home; 
Edwin F., who died when two years old; Julia I., who died at the age of twenty-four; Willis S., who is now employed in a 
wholesale notion store at Milwaukee; and Ralph H., at home.  This family ranks high in the social world; its members are 
valued citizens, and it is certainly deserving of a representation in this volume.
 





Back to the Marquette Pages Menu