Samuel Botsford Buckley (1809-1884)
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Samuel Botsford Buckley, State Geologist of Texas from 1874 to 1875.
BUCKLEY, Samuel Botsford, naturalist, born in Torrey, Yates County, New York, 9 May, 1809; died in Austin, Tex., 18 February, 1884. He was graduated at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, in 1836, and in 1837-'8 made botanical collections in Virginia and Illinois. In 1839-'40 he was principal of Allenton, Alabama, academy, and in 1842 traveled extensively through the south, discovering twenty-four new species of plants and a new genus, which was named Buckleya. He also discovered and obtained in Alabama a nearly complete skeleton of a zeuglodon. In 1843 he studied at the College of physicians and surgeons, New York, and in the same year, in an expedition to Florida, he discovered thirteen new species of shells. From 1843 till 1855 he lived on the homestead farm. In 1858 he determined barometrically the height of several mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina, and one of them, Mount Buckley, North Carolina, bears his name. In 1859-'60 he traveled south and west to collect materials for a supplement to Michaux and Nuttall's Sylva. He was assistant geologist and naturalist of the Texas geological survey in 1860-'1, and from 1862 till 1865 was connected with the United States sanitary commission. He was state geologist of Texas from 1866 till 1867, and again from 1874 till 1877, and prepared two geological maps of the state. He showed by his investigations that Texas had deposits of iron and coal of much greater extent than had been supposed. In 1871-'2 he was scientific editor of the "State Gazette," Austin, Tex. From 1877 till 1881 he was engaged in preparing a work on the geology and natural history of the state. He was a member of various learned societies, and contributed largely to scientific publications. He also published several valuable reports as state geologist. A list of his scientific papers may be found in "Alumni Record of Wesleyan University" (Middletown, Connecticut, 1883).
Buckley was married four times. Charlotte Sullivan of Naples, New York, whom he married in 1852, died in 1854. In 1855 he married Sarah Porter of Naples, who died in 1858. Probably during the early 1860s he married Mary Huttner. In 1864 he married Libbie Meyers of Elbridge, New York. Sources indicate that Buckley fathered three children. According to his will, one daughter survived him. Buckley died in Austin on February 18, 1884.
ANT TAXONOMY
Buckley described 67 species of ants from North America. His species are too vaguely described to be recognized with any degree of certainty
PUBLICATIONS
Buckley, S. B. 1860a. The cutting ant of Texas. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 12: 233-236
Buckley, S. B. 1860b. Myrmica (Atta) molefaciens, "Stinging Ant" or "Mound-Making Ant," of Texas. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 12: 445-447
REFERENCE
Bradley, J.D. 1959. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 85: 284.