James Monroe Buckley

Background

James Monroe Buckley was born on December 16, 1836 in Rahway, New Jersey, the son of the Rev. John Buckley. The latter, a native of Lancashire, England, emigrated to this country in 1827, became a Methodist preacher, married Abbie Lonsdale Monroe, and soon died of consumption, as had both his parents, leaving behind James, not yet six, and another son still younger. The boys were brought up in the home of their grandfather, Judge Monroe, at Mount Holly, New Jersey, their mother helping to support them by teaching.

Education

Because of his slender means and poor health, his schooling was limited to several years of preparatory work at Pennington Seminary, and a year in Wesleyan University where he enrolled in 1856.

Career

After having taught several schools, and supplied a Wesleyan Methodist church at Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1859 he was admitted to the New Hampshire Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was immediately appointed to the church at Dover, one of the largest in the state.

After pastorates in Manchester, New Hampshire, Detroit, Stamford, Connecticut, and Brooklyn, in 1880 the General Conference elected Buckley editor of the Christian Advocate, which office he held for thirty-two years, during which time the paper became one of the best-known religious journals in the country.

Though but twenty-seven when he first went abroad, in 1863, his patriotic addresses had made him known to national leaders, and he carried letters from Horace Greeley, Charles Sumner and others to members of the British Parliament, certifying his fitness to explain the Constitution with reference to the Civil War. Many accounts of his travels appeared in his own and other periodicals, and he published The Midnight Sun, the Tsar, and the Nihilist (1886) and Travels in Three Continents (1895).

Although a conservative and opposed to many changes that were finally effected, he left a decided impress upon the laws and institutions of his church.

Achievements

• Buckley's principal publications include Christians and the Theater (1875), Oats or Wild Oats? (1885), containing much sane discussion of the problems of young men; Faith Healing, Christian Science, and Kindred Phenomena (1892); A History of Methodists in the United States (1896), being vol. V in the American Church History Series; The Fundamentals and Their Contrasts (1906); The Wrong and Peril of Woman's Suffrage (1909); Theory and Practice of Foreign Missions (1911); Constitutional and Parliamentary History of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1912). A resourceful, logical debater, well informed on everything pertaining to Methodism, Buckley was a power in ecclesiastical councils, being a member of eleven General Conferences, and of the Ecumenical Conferences at London (1881), Washington (1891), and Toronto (1911).

Works

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  • Christians and the Theater

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • A Hereditary Consumptive's Successful Battle for Life

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • A History of Methodism in the United States, Volume 1

    (This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)

  • Faith-Healing: Christian Science and Kindred Phenomena

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Oats Or Wild Oats?: Common-sense For Young Men

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Travels In Three Continents, Europe, Africa, Asia

    (This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)

  • A History of Methodism in the United States, Volume 2

    (This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)

  • Faith-Healing: Christian Science and Kindred Phenomena

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • A History of Methodists in the United States

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • Oats Or Wild Oats? Commonsense For Young Men (1885)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • The Midnight Sun, The Tsar And The Nihilist: Adventures And Observations In Norway, Sweden And Russia (1886)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • The Wrong And Peril Of Woman Suffrage (1909)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • A History of Methodism in the United States, Vol. 2 of 2 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from A History of Methodism in the United States,...)

  • Travels in Three Continents, Europe, Asia, Africa. With plates.

    ( Title: Travels in Three Continents, Europe, Asia, Afric...)

  • ...theory And Practice Of Foreign Missions

    ( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)

  • A History Of Methodists In The United States... - Primary Source Edition

    ( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)

  • Ingersoll Under the Microscope: Col. R. G. Ingersoll's Reckless Misstatements Exposed and His Mental and Moral Characteristics Analysed (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Ingersoll Under the Microscope: Col. R. G. I...)

Religion

In his religious affiliation James Buckley was a Methodist.

Views

James early displayed a restless energy, quickness of mind, varied interests, ability as a public speaker, and skill in debate, but also a tendency to the family malady.

Quotations: In his "Christians and the Theater" (1875) he holds that:

"No habit which does not imply a positive renunciation of morality is more pernicious than that of theater going. "

Personality

When a young man the doctors told him his days were numbered, but by keeping much in the open air and by taking long walks and breathing exercises, he held the disease in check.

In his physical appearance he was small of stature and slight of frame, but had a massive head, almost entirely bald. Dark, thin whiskers and mustache covered his face. His eyes were round, dark, and steady. However, he was possessing a virile and versatile mind, a retentive memory, and the ability to read with great rapidity, he acquired knowledge of extraordinary extent and variety.

Interests

• Requirements of health, calls for lectures, and an acquisitive mind, made Buckley a traveler, and he visited almost every place of interest in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and parts of Asia and Africa.

Connections

He was married three times: first, on August 2, 1864, to Eliza A. Burns of Detroit; second, on April 22, 1874, to Mrs. Sarah Isabella (French) Staples, a widow of Detroit; and, third, on August 23, 1886, to Adelaide Shackford Hill of Dover, New Hampshire.

3rd wife :

Adelaide Shackford Hill Buckley

1846–1910

1st wife:

Eliza A. Burns

2nd wife:

Sarah Isabella (French) Staples

mother :

Abigail Lonsdale Monroe Buckley

1818–1892

Son:

Monroe Buckley

1876–1931

father:

John Buckley

1805–1842

References

• James Monroe Buckley (Classic Reprint)
• James Monroe Buckley
• James Monroe Buckley