Constantine W. Buckley was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 who served two non-consecutive terms as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives

Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives

The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives. The Speaker's main duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees, and enforce the Rules of the House...

 between 1861 and 1863.

Buckley was born 22 January 1815 in Surry County

Surry County, North Carolina

Surry County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010, the population was 73,673. Its county seat is Dobson.- History :The county was formed in 1771 from Rowan County...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, but had moved to Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

 by 1828 where he began working as a store clerk. In 1834 in Columbus

Columbus, Georgia

Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...

, Buckley opened a store of his own, which closed after the Panic of 1837

Panic of 1837

The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...

. After losing everything, he moved to Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

 in the Republic of Texas

Republic of Texas

The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...

, where he was a clerk in the State Department. While Buckley worked there, he was tutored in law by Attorney General

Attorney General

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

 John Birdsall, which allowed Buckley to be admitted to the bar

Bar association

A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...

 in November 1839.

Gov. James Pinckney Henderson

James Pinckney Henderson

James Pinckney Henderson was a United States and Republic of Texas lawyer, politician, soldier, and the first Governor of the State of Texas....

 appointed him a District Judge in 1847, but Buckley resigned in 1854 in order to resume private practice. Buckley was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives

Texas House of Representatives

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

 from Richmond

Richmond, Texas

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,081 people, 3,413 households, and 2,628 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,975.4 people per square mile . There were 3,595 housing units at an average density of 965.3 per square mile...

 in 1857. He represented Austin

Austin County, Texas

Austin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas adjacent to the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 28,417 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Bellville. Austin County is named for Stephen F...

 and Fort Bend

Fort Bend County, Texas

Fort Bend County is a county located along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. In 2000 its population was 354,452, while the 2010 U.S...

 counties in the Seventh

Seventh Texas Legislature

The Seventh Texas Legislature met from 2 November 1857 to 16 February 1858 in its regular session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1857.-Senate:...

, Eighth

Eighth Texas Legislature

The Eighth Texas Legislature met from 7 November 1859 to 9 April 1861 in its regular session, a first called session, and an adjourned session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1859....

, and Ninth

Ninth Texas Legislature

The Ninth Texas Legislature met from 4 November 1861 to 7 March 1863 in its regular session and one called session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1861.-Sessions:...

 Legislatures. On 4 November 1861, at the beginning of the Regular Session of the Ninth Legislature, Buckley was elected Speaker and served until he apparently resigned on 7 December 1861. After Buckley’s successor, Nicholas Henry Darnell

Nicholas Henry Darnell

Nicholas Henry Darnell was an American politician in Tennessee and Texas. He was the only person to serve as Speaker of the House of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives and the State of Texas House of Representatives...

 resigned sometime in 1862, Buckley was elected to the vacant office of Speaker for the First Called Session that convened on 2 February 1863, defeating Reps. Robert Turner Flewellen and John Smith, 54 votes to 5 and 1, respectively.

Buckley was married twice, the first time in 1840. He had three children with his first wife, but she had apparently died by 1852 when Buckley married Mrs. Ann R. Nibbs. Buckley drowned in the Brazos River

Brazos River

The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers , is the longest river in Texas and the 11th longest river in the United States at from its source at the head of Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a drainage...

 near Columbia, Texas

West Columbia, Texas

West Columbia is a city in Brazoria County in the U.S. state of Texas within 50 miles of Eastern Columbia. The population was 4,255 at the 2000 census....

on 19 December 1865.