Buckley Creek, which flows into Crab Orchard Creek a short distance from the juncture of that stream with its lesser branch, keeps alive the name of William M. Buckley, who once farmed along its banks.
Mr. Buckley was a native of Otsego County, New York, and came to Freeport, Illinois, as a young man. Then he moved to Alabama, where a younger brother was postmaster at Montgomery. When the time came to educate his children he returned to Illinois, selected the Southern Illinois Normal at Carbondale as a suitable school, and established his family on the farm four miles northeast of Marion in section 9, East Marion Township. His residence there began in October, 1877, and ended with his death in April, 1893.
The farm passed into the hands of Rev. and Mrs. Frank M. Alexander, the latter a daughter of Mr. Buckley. After years of service to many of the Presbyterian churches in southern Illinois, they are now retired and spend their summers at the family homestead. They continue their work by teaching in the Sunday school of Crossroads church.
Buckley creek was once called Brown’s creek, from a settler who lived further up the stream. It rises some distance to the northeast, near the village of Corinth.
(Extracted from Pioneer Folks and Places, Barbara Barr Hubbs, 1939, on sale at the Williamson County Museum)