Charles R. Buckalew

Charles Rollin Buckalew (December 28, 1821 – May 19, 1899) was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania. He served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 16th district from 1851 to 1854 and 1859 to 1860. He also served in the Pennsylvania Senate for the 13th district from 1858 to 1861 and as Minister Resident for Ecuador from 1858 to 1861. He served as a U.S. Senator for Pennsylvania from 1863 to 1869, a U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 11th district from 1887 to 1889 and a U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania's 17th district from 1889 to 1891.

Charles R. Buckalew
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 17th district
In office March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1891
Preceded by	Edward Scull
Succeeded by	Simon P. Wolverton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 11th district
In office March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1889
Preceded by	John B. Storm
Succeeded by	Joseph A. Scranton
United States senator from Pennsylvania
In office March 4, 1863 – March 4, 1869
Preceded by	David Wilmot
Succeeded by	John Scott
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 16th district
In office 1851 to 1854 and 1869 to 1870
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 13th district
In office 1857–1858
Personal details
Born	Charles Rollin Buckalew (1821-12-28)December 28, 1821 Fishing Creek Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	May 19, 1899(1899-05-19) (aged 77) Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Permelia Wadsworth Buckalew
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

Early life and education

Buckalew was born in Fishing Creek Township, Pennsylvania on December 28, 1821 to John McKinney Sr. and Martha Funston Buckalew. He was a graduate of Harford Academy, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, where he studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1843.[1]

Career

Buckalew was the most influential early advocate of proportional representation in the United States. His proposals for a type of voting system known as cumulative voting gained significant support in Congress, and he played a central role in the adoption of cumulative voting in several places, including Illinois for state legislative elections in 1870, a system that lasted in that state until 1980.

Buckalew was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the U.S. Senate in 1863. In a number of speeches, notably in the Senate on July 11, 1867; at a large public meeting in Philadelphia in November of the same year; before the Social Science Association at Philadelphia in October 1870; and in the Senate of Pennsylvania on March 27, 1871; as well as in the report of the Select Committee on Representative Reform of the United States Senate, of which be was chairman, Buckalew argued persuasively for the use of cumulative voting in the election of representatives in Congress, state legislatures, town councils and other bodies.[2]

Buckalew's bill in the Senate would have allowed all the electors of a state to have the number of votes equal to the number of house of representatives members to be elected from that state. The voter could give all his votes to one candidate, or distribute them in any fashion, equally or unequally, among candidates. The candidates with the highest number of votes would be elected.[3]

In addition to serving in Congress and the Pennsylvania state legislature, Buckalew was commissioner to exchange ratifications of a treaty with Paraguay in 1854; chairman of the Democratic State committee in 1857; appointed one of the commissioners to revise the penal code of Pennsylvania in 1857; Minister Resident to the Republic of Ecuador 1858-1861[4]; unsuccessful candidate for governor of Pennsylvania in 1872; and a delegate to the Pennsylvania constitutional convention of 1873.

He resumed the practice of law when he left Congress in 1891, age 69, in Bloomsburg, Columbia County, where he died on May 19, 1899. He is interred in Rosemont Cemetery in Bloomsburg.[1]

Buckalew's writings and speeches on cumulative voting were collected in an 1872 book titled Proportional Representation. 1872, Philadelphia, J. Campbell & Son.

References and notes

1. "Pennsylvania State Senate - Charles Rollins Buckalew Biography". www.legis.state.pa.us. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
2. Hoag, Clarence Gilbert and George Hervey Hallett, Proportional Representation. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1926. CHAPTER IX, THE HISTORY OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE UNITED STATES Archived 2008-05-12 at the Wayback Machine
3. Senate Bill 772, 40th Cong., 3d Sess., January 13, 1869
4. Sauers, Richard A. (2012). The Fishing Creek Confederacy: A Story of Civil War Draft Resistance. Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8262-1988-6. Retrieved 18 October 2019.

External links

• United States Congress. "Charles R. Buckalew (id: B001019)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2009-04-01
• "Charles R. Buckalew". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
• Proportional Representation, by Charles R. Buckalew at the University of Michigan Making of America online library

Party political offices
Preceded by Asa Packer	Democratic nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania 1872	Succeeded by Cyrus L. Pershing
Pennsylvania State Senate
Preceded by Robert Chambers Sterrett	Member of the Pennsylvania Senate, 16th district 1851-1854	Succeeded by Bartram A. Schaffer
Preceded by Samuel Wherry	Member of the Pennsylvania Senate, 13th district 1857-1858	Succeeded by Henry Fetter
Preceded by David Mumma	Member of the Pennsylvania Senate, 16th district 1869-1870	Succeeded by Butler B. Strang
U.S. Senate
Preceded by David Wilmot	U.S. senator (Class 1) from Pennsylvania March 4, 1863 – March 4, 1869 Served alongside: Edgar Cowan and Simon Cameron	Succeeded by John Scott
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by John B. Storm	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district March 4, 1887 – March 4, 1889	Succeeded by Joseph A. Scranton
Preceded by Edward Scull	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1891	Succeeded by Simon P. Wolverton
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Philo White	United States Minister Resident, Ecuador 20 September 1858 – 10 July 1861	Succeeded by Frederick Hassaurek