Taken from pages 334-335 of the Biographical Memoirs of Wells County,
Indiana

JOHN M. BUCK

This prominent manufacturer and head of one of one of BlufftonÂ’s leading
industrial enterprises is a native of Indiana, born at Alexandria,
Madison county, on the 2d day of June, 1853. His father, Henry Buck,
formerly a land owner and farmer of the above county, was of German
descent, and the mother, whose maiden name was Jemima Chamness, comes
from a long line of Quaker ancestors. For many years Henry Buck was not
only one of the leading agriculturists of Madison county, but also
achieved prominence as a local politician of the Republican party,
having been one of the first men in his part of the state openly to avow
and defend what was then the political heresy of abolitionism. He
acquired some property, was twice married, and departed this life in the
year 1867. His second wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch is
still living (note: this biographical sketch was written in 1903).

John M. Buck was the oldest of the children born to his fatherÂ’s second
marriage. He was reared to maturity in close touch with nature and as a
farm hand early learned by experience the true meaning of honest toil.
His means for acquiring an education were such as a few monthsÂ’
attendance each year at the public schools afforded, consequently, he
was not a learned man in the sense of the term as generally understood,
although possessing a fund of valuable practical knowledge such as
schools and colleges do not impart. Young Buck assisted in cultivating
the home farm until his twenty-fourth year, when he started into the
world for himself, first directing his attention to buying and selling
lumber and later taking up the trade of wood turning. He started, in
1890, a small establishment of his own in the town of Geneva. He spent
about five years at the above place, when he found it necessary to
secure a more favorable location, consequently he moved his
establishment to the city of Bluffton.

Since moving to the latter place in 1895, Mr. Buck has built up an
extensive business and, as stated in the initial paragraph, the
enterprise has become on of the largest and most important of the cityÂ’s
industries. In addition to the plant at Bluffton, which gives
employment to about twenty-five men and from three to five teams every
working day of the year, he operates a branch factory at Auburn, this
state, which, under his direction, has steadily increased its output and
grown in public favor. Mr. Buck manufactures wooden tool handles. His
weekly payroll at Bluffton alone will average about two hundred and
fifty dollars, in addition to which he pays every week to the farmers in
the vicinity who furnish him, very satisfactorily, with raw material the
sum of four hundred dollars.

Mr. Buck began manufacturing in a very small way and the large measure
of success which has attended him is due entirely to his own energy,
superior management and wise business foresight. At the outset, he
encountered many difficulties and numerous obstacles calculated to
impede and discourage, but with an inborn determination which hesitated
at none of these impediments to his progress, he persevered, gradually
removing everything in his pathway and gaining favor until he found
himself upon a well established basis which made ultimate success a
certainty. That he has achieved his aim is abundantly attested by the
place his plant occupies among the industries of Bluffton, in the
business circles of the city and throughout the state. The constantly
increasing demands for his products necessitates the running of his
several establishments at their full capacity, and , judging by present
prospects, their enlargement or the building of additional plants is
only a matter of time.

Few men in Wells County stand higher in the esteem of their fellow
citizens than Mr. Buck and none have better records for energy, honesty
and sterling integrity. He is a man of actions rather than words,
attends strictly to his own affairs, at the same time being not
unmindful of the duty which every citizen owes to the public. He is
essentially a business man and as such ranks with the most enterprising
and progressive of his contemporaries, deserving of great credit for
what he has done for this city in the way of giving employment to labor
and providing a good market for the farmers with timber to dispose of.
Mr. Buck supports the Republican party, but aside from voting for the
regular nominees, takes little interest in political matters, having no
ambition to gratify in the way of public distinction or official
honors. He owns a beautiful and attractive home on the corner of Wabash
and Market streets, where he welcomes and entertains his friends with a
genuine hospitality.

Mr. Buck was married in 1880 to Miss Caroline Pugh of Alexandria,
Madison county, this state, a union blessed with three children: Roland
C., the eldest, was born on the 20th day of June 1881, served with
Company M, Twenty-eighth Regiment, United States Infantry, in the
Philippines, and was shot and killed from ambush by native robbers on
July 13, 1902; Clyde, the second of the family, was born December 7,
1883; Alline, the youngest, is a student in the Bluffton high school.
Mrs. Buck is a member of the Methodist church and well known in the best
social circles of the city. While not identified with any religious
organization himself, Mr. Buck believes in the church as a great moral
force among men and is liberal in his contributions to its support.

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CONTRACT AWARDED FOR $8,000 MANSOLEUM [spelling as printed]

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HANDSOME MONUMENT OF BARRE GRANITE ON J. M. BUCK'S LOTS IN ELM GROVE

_________

A contract has been awarded by J. M. Buck of this city, for a handsome mausoleum, to be erected in the ELM GROVE Cemetery which will be one of the finest in the state of Indiana, and will be entirely unequalled by anything of the kind in Wells County. The stately family sepulchural [spelled as printed] monument will be erected by the firm of McDonald & Son, of BARRE, Vermont, and will be constructed of the finest grade of gray BARRE granite the kind from which most of the fine monuments are built. The total cost will be $8,000.

The mausoleum will be erected in the plat of lots owned by Mr. Buck in ELM GROVE cemetery where his son, Carl, who was killed in the U.S. army in the Philippines, is buried. It will be twelve feet wide, seventeen feet long, and will be fifteen feet in height. It will be decorated in sculpture
work, will be finely polished and will be one of the most complete works of art in granite work in Indiana. The contract calls for the completion of the mausoleum by June, 1908. It will no doubt attract hundreds to ELM GROVE upon its completion for the purpose of viewing the stately monument.

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Note: My inflation calculator shows $8,000 in 1907 would convert to $139,323.49 in 1997!