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Buckner (Simon Bolivar) Papers
mssSB
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Simon Bolivar Buckner papers
Creator:
Buckner, Simon Bolivar, 1823-1914
Identifier/Call Number: mssSB
Physical Description:
26.80 Linear Feet
(24 boxes, 3 letter books, 19 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1828-1913
Date (bulk): 1862-1912
Abstract: Papers belonging to Confederate general and Governor of Kentucky Simon Bolivar Buckner.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Simon Bolivar Buckner papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., 1956.
Simon Bolivar Buckner was a Confederate general, businessman, Democratic governor of Kentucky from 1887 to 1891, and the vice-presidential
candidate of the National Democratic Party in the 1896 campaign. He died in 1914, in "Glen Lily," his country estate near
Munfordville, Kentucky. He married Mary Kingsbury in 1850 and Delia Claiborne in 1885. His son, General Simon Bolivar Buckner,
Jr., was one of the highest-ranking military officers killed during World War II.
Chiefly letters, including three letter books, with documents, manuscripts, 38 Civil War maps, nine photographs, newspaper
clippings, and other ephemera relating to Buckner's service in the Civil War, Reconstruction, Kentucky and national politics,
and Buckner's business and personal affairs. The papers deal with various aspects of the Civil War: Buckner-Bragg controversy,
Chickamauga campaign, battle of Perryville, siege of Fort Donelson, various Confederate armies, departments, and districts.
Included are military maps, especially for Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, and the Chickamauga Campaign. Also included are
papers of Joseph Walker Taylor, nephew of Zachary Taylor, scout for Buckner and a major in Adam Johnson's Partisan Rangers
(10th Kentucky). The portion of the collection covering Reconstruction includes a group of letters by Buckner's sister Mary
Buckner Tooke, written from Texas, and letters from various other people. Also included are materials related to Buckner's
political affairs, including his gubernatorial campaign and various state governmental and political questions. Buckner's
business affairs are represented by the materials of the litigation involving his Kentucky and Chicago property (Kingsbury
suit), his insurance activities as regional manager of the Globe Mutual Life Insurance Co., and interest in railroads. The
collection also contains poetry written by Buckner; letters of Buckner's sister, Mary Buckner Tooke; letters of his first
wife, Mary Kingsbury Buckner; and letters of his daughter, Lily Buckner Belknap. Also present is Theodore Roosevelt letter
signed to Simon Bolivar Buckner, 1908 September 23 (SB 920).
Processed by Huntington Library staff. In 2020, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid. In 2022, Melissa Haley enhanced description
of the presidential material present in the collection as part of the American Presidential Papers Project.
Former call number: mssSB 1-1197.
Organized in the following series: 1. Correspondence; 2. Miscellaneous and printed matter; 3. Calling cards, receipts, and
cancelled checks; 4. Oversize folders; 5. Letter books; 6. Maps.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Business insurance -- United States -- History -- Sources
Chickamauga, Battle of, Ga., 1863
Fort Donelson, Battle of, Tenn., 1862
Politicians -- United States -- Archives
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
Railroads -- United States -- History -- Sources
Confederate States of America -- History, Military -- Sources
Confederate States of America -- Veterans -- Archives
Kentucky -- Politics and Government -- 1861-1865 -- Sources
Kentucky -- Politics and Government -- 1865-1890 -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
United States -- Politics and Government -- 19th century -- Sources
Letters (correspondence) -- United States
Maps -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Belkhap, Lily Buckner
Bragg, Braxton, 1817-1876
Buckner, Delia Claiborne, 1857-1932
Buckner, Mary Kingsbury
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
Taylor, Joseph Walker
Tooke, Mary Buckner
Confederate States of America. Army -- Officers -- Archives
Confederate States of America. Army. Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, 10th
Globe Mutual Life Insurance Company