The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1867-05-29
A Biography Of Captain I. N, Buck.
by a Gentleman from Kane
County, who knows.

lie was Dorm Wnen quite yOung-ano IL Is
said that his parents were white people-a
fact that his complexion does not indicate.
He first appeared in public life as a Consta-
BILE in the City of Elgin, Kane County, Illinois
"a position that he secured by running on
Kangaroo Ticket, which means white
man at the head and-Buck at the tail.
After he was elected Constable, he sup
ported his familyand amused himself by get
ting Irishmen drunk, then knocking them
down, then arresting them for assault and
battery and having them fined from five to
ten dollars unless they would settle with him
by paying from one to three dollars This
enterprising business he subsequently aban-
doned for more genteel and elevating pur-
suit and turned up In the role of an auction
eer an avocation that requires impudencc
knavery, eloquence and wit. The last two
qualifications he unhappiy did not possess
in consequence of which he abandoned the
business.
He then started City in Central Illinois,
ION paper and went through the country
selling Lots, in the City that he had thus
laid out. He succeeded in selling several
Lots, tothe great misfortune of the purchasers.
We cannot now, with certainty, state from
whom the purchasers received their titles,
but suspect that it is now matter OF some
curiosity.
Becoming tired of rambling in the pursuit
Of wealth, he purchased Hotel at Dundee,
Kane County, Illinois, and moved into the
same. He had the Hotel and Barn insured
for two-thirds of their real worth but, ur-
fortunately for the Insurance Company,
some reckless cuss, without the fear of Goo
and with malice in his heart, set fire to the
premises, and they were burned to the
ground. He got his insurance money-but
Justice never got the 1ncendiary.
About this time the man that Horace Gree
ly went bail for-started the Southern Con-
federacy- and Beauregard started General
Anderson out of Fort Sumter; at which
event the Loyal North took up arms, and
Buck went with Company "a" Seventh Hi
| nois, to Springheld-not as an officer, nor a
| private, but as a hanger-on,-and he hung
| around the Head Quarters of the Company,
| waiting, like Wilkins Macauber, fo- some
| thing to turn up.
Fortune smiled upon his efforts, and he
| secured the position of a Clerkship to {.
| Quarter Master Seargant of the Seventh Hi
| nois.
The regiment was mustered out in August
| and he returned home. But, like Othelo,
"his occupation was gone"
Soon after this, the Seth Illinois Regiment
| was organized, at Aurora, and Buck, for
some unaccountable reason, was appointed
| Quarter Master, and remained with the regi-
ment about two years, during which time he
never exposed himself to the bullets of the
| enemy-although he was brave man.
| He would have fought for Country's Flag,
at Pea Ridge, but his courage, like Falstaf S,
| kept oozing out at his fingers ends, and at
| his posterior. Truths are sometimes indeli.
/ notn h,tch r,, h. Id
| At Pea Ridge, as military man, he re.
sembled General Grant. Gen. Grant smokes;
so did Buck.
He was detailed as Post Quarter Master,
at Camp Douglass, in Chicago. He was in
| office at that Post when it contained $4,000
rebel prisoners, and superintended the build
ing of large additions to the barracks, and
| purchased the lumber for the same /; at
which time he shipped several car loads of
lumber to Elgin, which he used in building
an elegant barn for himself, fencing his
land, and repairing his house-a fact highly
creditable to his enterprise and energy
| He was subsequently stationed at Little
| Rock, Arkansas, where he distinguished
| himself for his gallantry to the fair sex, and
his devotion to the .'Union"
| About this time the war closed after
which he was honorably mustered out of the
service, after satisfying the authorities at
Washington that all property which could
not be accounted for by Quarter Masters
| was lost in battle.
After leaving the army he started as a
Claim Agent-one of the most honorable
callings in the country. As to the charac.
ter of the men engaged in that business, see
John Wentworths speech in the Thirty
Ninth Congress.
The Claim Agency business did not paw.
and he sold out and commenced the life of
the Wandering jew" subsequently return
ing to his home.
The next we hear of him is in the charac-
ter of Spy-the most despicable calling
pursued by the most depraved men. The