Gordon M. Buck papers, 1881/1956, bulk 1910/1940

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
170 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Special Collections Public Services & Reference Staff
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Summary

Extent:
7.2 Linear Feet 18 boxes, 7.2 linear ft.
Creator:
Buck , Gordon M., 1875-1970
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The papers of Gordon M. Buck consist of professional legal papers and a small collection of personal material. The papers range mainly from the early 1920s to the 1940s, and contain records and briefs, memoranda, personal and business correspondence, court transcripts, and railroad trusteeship instruments. There are also several bound volumes of legal forms and documents, as well as case briefs and memoranda. Very thorough—if not entirely complete—records are included for the cases of Bogert v. Southern Pacific Co., Newark Plaster Co. v. Cross & Brown Co., the Pacific Oil Co. dissolution, and Young v. Southern Pacific Co.

The professional papers are alphabetically sorted by case name and generally go from raw drafts of briefs, memoranda, and correspondence to the printed materials. There is an extensive collection of general case correspondence in chronological order, as Buck kept it, and the folders list the names of the prominent cases within.

The small collection of personal papers includes documents relating to cases against the I.R.S. and the Mexican government, a few pieces of correspondence, and material on the purchase and furnishing of Whilton, Buck's retirement home in the countryside west of Charlottesville.

Biographical / historical:

Gordon Mountjoy Buck was born in 1875. He earned a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Virginia in 1898, and was admitted to the bar in 1900. He is listed in Martindale's American Law Directory as working at 120 Broadway, New York City, in 1912, and at 165 Broadway two years later.

By 1921, Buck was working for the firm of Humes, Buck, Smith & Tweed. That firm became Humes, Buck & Smith the following year, and by 1930, Humes, Buck, Smith & Stowell, with offices at 50 Broadway in New York City. The firm had a general practice, with specializations in corporation, probate, and financial law. Major clients included Southern Pacific Company and Pacific Oil Company, as well as many other railroad companies.

Buck retired from the practice of law sometime in 1936 or 1937, and returned with his wife to Virginia to live at his Greenwood estate, Whilton. His former firm survives today in New York City, under the name of Humes, Andrews, Botzow & Wagner.

Acquisition information:
This collection was donated by Buck's daughter, Lucy Wheeler Buck LeGrand, in April of 1988.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard