Frank Henry Buck (September 23, 1887 – September 17, 1942) was an American heir, businessman and politician. He served as

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

from 1933 to 1942.

Biography

Early life

Frank Buck was born on a ranch near

Vacaville, California Vacaville is a city located in Solano County in Northern California. Sitting approximately from Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is within the Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, Vacaville had a population of 102,386, making it t ...

on September 23, 1887.United States Congress biography
/ref> His grandfather, Leonard W. Buck, was the founder of the Buck Company, a fruit-growing company, who had been elected to the California State Senate in 1895. He attended the public schools. He was a member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, and graduated from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

in 1908 and from the law department of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1911. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

the same year and commenced practice in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Business

He was involved in business ventures including fruit growing, oil refining, and lumber, partly thanks to his inheritance. In 1900, together with Burton E. Green (1868-1965), Charles A. Canfield (1848-1913),

Max Whittier Max H. Whittier (1867–1925) was an American real estate developer and a pioneer in the early California petroleum industry. Biography Max Whittier (born Mericos Hector Whittier), was born to Charles G. Whittier and Ruth Keech, came to California ...

(1867–1928), William F. Herrin (1854-1927), Henry E. Huntington (1850-1927), William G. Kerckhoff (1856–1929), W.S. Porter and Frank H. Balch, known as the Amalgamated Oil Company, he purchased

Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas was a land grant in present day Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California given to María Rita Quinteros Valdez de Villa in 1838. Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas (Ranch of the Gathering Waters), is named for the streams ...

from Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker and renamed it Morocco Junction.Marc Wanamaker, ''Early Beverly Hills'', Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2005, pp. 17-1

/ref> After drilling for oil and only finding water, they reorganized their business into the Rodeo Land and Water Company to develop a new residential town later known as Beverly Hills, California. Addendum: This purchase could not have been made by 13 year old Frank H. Buck Jr. It must refer to Frank H. Buck Sr, his father. Frank H. Buck (Sr) married Anna Stevenson in 1886, and their first son, Frank H Buck Jr was born the following year. Frank H. Buck (Sr) was the son of Leonard W Buck (1834-1895) and Anna Bellows Buck. (This info is based on "History of the State of California and Biographical Record of coast counties...by James Miller Guinn, p. 348-349.Google EBook.) He became the leader of the newly founded California Grower's and Shipper's Protective League, a lobbying organization to protect the rights of fruit and vegetable growers. In 1933, he sold the Buck Company, his grandfather's company, to the Pacific Fruit Exchange.

Politics

He served as delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1928, 1936, and 1940. In

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...

, he was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. He served in Congress from March 4, 1933, until his death in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

on September 17, 1942. He is credited with naming the

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

program.

Personal life

He married Zayda Zabriskie (daughter of Christian Brevoort Zabriskie) in 1911 and they had four children, Frank Henry Buck III (1912-1993), Margaret Ann Buck(1913-), Christian Brevoort Zabriskie Buck (1914-1995) and Edward Zabriskie Elvis Buck (1917-1964). After they divorced, he married Eva Mathilde Benson in 1926, and they had two children, William Benson Buck and Carol Franc Buck (1936-). He died on September 17, 1942, while still in office. He was interred in Vacaville-Elmira Cemetery, in

. His wife, Eva Benson Buck, founded the Frank H. Buck Scholarship, which is awarded each year to eight to 16 high school seniors, who have to live in his former congressional district. She was an active philanthropist until her death in 1990.

References