Biography

10/31/1879 - 02/18/1943

Clarence Jay Buckman (R10) Bucks County 1911-1938

Early Life: 

Clarence Jay Buckman, born October 31, 1879, Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; son of John R. and Sarah Hibbs Buckman; Hulmeville High School, 1894; State Model School of Trenton, New Jersey, 1897; University of Pennsylvania School of Law, 1900; law partner, brother, J. Hibbs Buckman; lawyer; elected, delegate, Republican State Convention 1907; Bucks County Republican Committee, 1907-1912; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1909-1910; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senator, 1911-1938; elected, Senate President pro tempore, 1917-1919; elected, delegate, Republican National Convention, 1916; appointed, Joint Legislative Commission on Interstate Cooperation and Special Committee on Interstate Corporation 1935-1936; married Ada Cornelia Luedinghaus, 1919, two children, Clarence Jay Buckman, Jr., Cornelia Ann Buckman; died, February 18, 1943, Langhorne, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; interment, Middletown Friend’s Cemetery, Langhorne, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. (i)

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Member, Joint Commission for Elimination of Toll Bridges over Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey; Member, Bucks County and Philadelphia Bar Associations; director, vice president, Farmers National Bank of Bucks County, Bristol, Pennsylvania; member, Newtown Lodge Mason. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Bucks County Republican Committee, 1907-1912; delegate, state convention, 1907; delegate, Republican National Convention, 1916.  

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1909-1910, not a candidate for reelection. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania Senate 10th district, Bucks County, 1911-1938, elected, president pro tempore, 1917-1919, chaired, Legislative Apportionment Committee, 1911-1914; Appropriation Committee, 1915-1918; Corporations Committee, 1921-1926, Public Roads and Highways Committee, 1925-1930; Corporations Committee, 1931-1934; member, Finance, Game and Fisheries, Insurance, Judiciary General, Judiciary Special, Mines and Mining Committees.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us)

Legacy: 

Son, Clarence Jay Buckman, Jr. Killed in Action, B17 bombing mission, World War II, March 22, 1943.

Known as the Father of Free Bridge Legislation. Title was passed to Pennsylvania State Senator George N. Wade once he left office.  

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members B". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Dight, J.C., (Director). Whitmore, R.E., (Compiler). (1923-1924). The Pennsylvania Manual, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 983, 988, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 961.

The Bristol Daily Courier (Bristol, Pennsylvania) Thursday February 18, 1943, Page 4. 

Harrisburg Telegraph (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) Monday, February 22, 1943, Page 6

Clarence Jay Buckman Sr. (1879-1943) - Find a Grave Memorial