sketch excerpted from:
Adams & Wells History
Tyndall and Lesh 1918
Vol II pp 515-17

Francis Marion Buckner has for a number of years carried heavy business responsibilities , as a banker, stockman, farmer, and his own career and that of his family deserve special mention in any history of Wells County.

Mr. Buckner was born in Liberty Township, this county, October 9, 1867, and is a son of William N. and Amelia M. (Yelton) Buckner. Both parents are now deceased.

The late William N. Buckner was born in Bracken County, Kentucky, September 13, 1827, a son of Thomas and Matilda (Hanson) Buckner, also natives of Kentucky. Thomas Buckner was a son of Philip and Tabitha Buckner, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Maryland. William N. Buckner spent his early life on a farm, attended a log cabin subscription school, and on January 15, 1851, married Miss Amelia M. Yelton, also a native of Kentucky and daughter of Charles and Amelia (Gosney) Yelton, the former a native of Virginia. William N. Buckner came to Wells County from Kentucky in 1855 and bought forty acres of heavily timbered land in section 16 of Liberty Township. Later he bought eighty acres in section 18, and cleared and improved this and from the fruits of his prosperity built up a fine estate comprising over half a section of land. He was an active democrat and he and his wife were members of the Disciples Church. They had nine children: John T.; Charles N.; Millie J., widow of Joseph Thrailkill; Missouri E., who has never married; Martha Ann, now deceased, who married Byron H. Prible; George W., who graduated from a veterinary college of New York City and is now deceased; Francis Marion; and Benjamin F. a resident of Liberty Township.

Francis M. Buckner has had a very busy and strenuous career. He spent his early life on his fatherÂ’s farm, attended the district schools and also spent some time in Purdue University studying veterinary surgery and taking the agricultural course. For ten terms he was a successful teacher in the district schools of Liberty, Rock Creek and Harrison townships.

Mr. Buckner married Miss Stella Doster, the only living daughter of the late Dr. Hezekiah Doster. Mrs. Buckner is a graduate of the Bluffton High School and is a woman of many talents and more than ordinary abilities, and with all her duties at home has cultivated those interests and studious occupations which keep a woman in close touch with the social life around her. She was also a teacher for ten terms. Mr. and Mrs. Buckner have three children. George D., born April 7, 1892, graduated from the Bluffton High School, took the degree A.B. from the University of Indiana in 1916, and is now a student in the Indiana Medical College of Indianapolis, and a member of the Bluffton Lodge No. 145, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Dale, the second child, born September 21, 1895, is a graduate of Bluffton High School, now teaching at Poneto, and married February 13, 1918, Arch S. Davis. Joy F. is a graduate of the Bluffton High School and is now a student in the State University.

Dr. Hezekiah Doster, father of Mrs. Buckner, was born in Somersetshire, England, July 6, 1843, and died May 10, 1910. He came to the United States with his parents in July, 1848, and became a resident of Wells County, Indiana, in August 1852. In addition to his advantages in the common schools he attended a high school known as Liber College near Portland in Jay County, Indiana, from 1860 to 1865, and taught in the intervals of his student career. In 1865 he began the study of medicine at Bluffton and in 1867 entered the medical department of the University of Michigan and in 1868 received his MD degree from the Western Reserve Medical College of Ohio. In that year he began his country practice in the southern part of Wells county. In 1871 he received a diploma from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York. For many years he was successfully engaged in looking after a large country practice in and around Poneto and at the same time managed a large farm. This farm comprised over five hundred acres, and an unusual feature of it in early times was a large artificial lake well stocked with fish. Doctor Doster married September 27, 1866, Sarepta Tewksbury, who was born October 2, 1846, a daughter of Simeon Tewksbury. The two daughters of this union were Stella, born October 19, 1867, now the wife of Mr. Buckner, and Victoria, born November 19, 1883, and now deceased.

Mr. Buckner and family have the responsibility of cultivating and managing seven hundred acres of land in Nottingham and Harrison townships. The Doster farms have long been noted for their fine livestock. Mr. Buckner breeds and raises the standard Percheron horses, the Shorthorn cattle, the Oxford Down sheep, and handles the better grades of hogs. He has laid out a race track for the training of his harness horses. Mr. Buckner was one of the active organizers of the Bank of Poneto in 1912. He has always been vice president and active head of the institution. Mr. and Mrs. Buckner are members of Chesterfield Camp of the Spiritualists in Madison County.