Collection Summary

Creator: Buck, Gordon
Title: The Papers of Gordon M. Buck, 1881-1956
Accession: MSS 88-2
Description: 18 boxes; 7.7 linear feet
Location: SC - Basement
Photograph Collection: View 1 digitized photographs
Digitized Content: 1 objects
Use Restrictions: There are no restrictions.

Collection Description & Arrangement

The papers of Gordon M. Buck (7 linear feet in 16 boxes) consist of professional legal papers and a small collection of personal material. The papers range mainly from the early 1920s to the 1940s and contain records and briefs, memoranda, personal and business correspondence, court transcripts, and railroad trusteeship instruments. There are also several bound volumes of legal forms and documents, as well as case briefs and memoranda. Very thorough -- if not entirely complete -- records are included for the cases of Bogert v. Southern Pacific Co., Newark Plaster Co. v. Cross & Brown Co., the Pacific Oil Co. dissolution, and Young v. Southern Pacific Co.

The Buck papers might be useful for research of railroad and corporate litigation, or simply for insight into the workings of a Wall Street law firm in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Buck collection is separated into professional and personal papers. The professional papers are alphabetically sorted by case name and generally go from raw drafts of briefs, memoranda and correspondence to the printed materials. There is an extensive collection of general case correspondence in chronological order, as Buck kept it, and the folders list the names of the prominent cases within. The small collection of personal papers includes documents relating to cases against the I.R.S. and the Mexican government, a few pieces of correspondence, and material on the purchase and furnishing of Whilton, Buck's retirement home in the countryside west of Charlottesville.

Biographical & Historical Information

Gordon Mountjoy Buck was born in 1875. He earned a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Virginia in 1898, and was admitted to the bar in 1900. He is listed in Martindale's American Law Directory as working at 120 Broadway, New York City, in 1912, and at 165 Broadway two years later.

By 1921, Buck was working for the firm of Humes, Buck, Smith & Tweed. That firm became Humes, Buck & Smith the following year, and by 1930, Humes, Buck, Smith & Stowell, with offices at 50 Broadway in New York City. The firm had a general practice, with specializations in corporation, probate and financial law. Major clients included Southern Pacific Company and Pacific Oil Company, as well as many other railroad companies.

Buck retired from the practice of law sometime in 1936 or 1937, and returned with his wife to Virginia to live at his Greenwood estate, Whilton. His former firm survives today in New York City under the name of Humes, Andrews, Botzow & Wagner.

Acquisition Information

Date Received 1988
Donor Information The papers were given to the University of Virginia Law Library by Buck's daughter, Mrs. Charles LeGrand, in 1988.

Content List

 

Box 1:

  • 1920-24; Bogert v. Southern Pacific Co. - memoranda of law [2 folders]
  • 1919, 1923-24; Bogert v. Southern Pacific Co. - plaintiff's briefs and memoranda, U.S. District Court
  • n.d.; Bogert v. Southern Pacific Co. - defendant's briefs and memoranda, U.S. District Court [2 folders]
  • 1923; Bogert v. Southern Pacific Co. - plaintiff's and defendant's briefs, U.S. Circuit Court

Box 2:

  • n.d.; Bogert v. Southern Pacific Co. - records and briefs, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
  • 1925, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co.: plan of reorganization
  • 1931, Continental Trust Co. v. Seaboard Air Line Railway Co.: records and briefs
  • n.d., El Paso & Southwestern Co.: brief for appeal
  • 1943, Garland Manufacturing Co. liquidation: U.S. District Court documents
  • 1937-41, Guaranty Trust Co. v. Seaboard Air Line Railway Co.: correspondence
  • ca. 1930s-1940s, Guaranty Trust Co....: records and drafts for briefs

Box 3:

  • 1931, Guaranty Trust Co....: records and briefs
  • n.d., Haddad v. Southern Pacific Co.: records and briefs
  • n.d., Interstate Commerce Commission ex parte no. 81: agreement
  • 1931, New York Trust Co. v. Seaboard Air Line Railway Co.: records and briefs
  • n.d., Newark Plaster Co. v. Cross & Brown Co.: notes on briefs
  • 1932-40, Newark Plaster...: correspondence [3 folders]
  • n.d., Newark Plaster...: diary notes
  • n.d., Newark Plaster...: law clerk memoranda

Box 4:

  • 1931-33, Newark Plaster...: hearing testimony [4 folders]
  • 1931, 1934, Newark Plaster...: miscellaneous documents
  • ca. 1930s, Newark Plaster...: briefs [1 of 2 folders]

Box 5:

  • ca. 1930s, Newark Plaster...: briefs [2 of 2 folders]
  • ca. 1930s, Newark Plaster...: complaint and answer
  • 1933, Newark Plaster...: plaintiff's memoranda
  • 1932-35, Newark Plaster...: miscellaneous memoranda
  • 1931, 1933, Newark Plaster...: testimony and deposition of Francis Schwab
  • ca. 1931-34, Newark Plaster...: master's reports
  • 1935, Newark Plaster...: opinion
  • 1920, Pacific Fruit Express Co. equipment trust: memoranda
  • 1920, 1926, Pacific Fruit Express Co. equipment trust: memoranda of law

Box 6:

  • 1940-42, Pacific Mail Steamship Co. dissolution: correspondence
  • 1940, Pacific Mail Steamship Co. dissolution: auditors' report and account
  • 1920-21, Pacific Oil Co.: office file (correspondence, minutes, by-laws)
  • ca. 1920-21, Pacific Oil Co.: memoranda of law
  • 1920-21, Pacific Oil Co.: miscellaneous memoranda
  • 1921-26, Pacific Oil Co.: board meeting minutes and financial statements [2 folders]
  • 1928, Pacific Oil Co.: brief of protest re income taxes

Box 7:

  • 1921-26, Pacific Oil Co.: office manuals, numbers 1-5
  • 1924-25, Pacific Oil Co.: annual reports
  • 1929-30, Pacific Oil Co. dissolution: notes and drafts
  • 1927-30, Pacific Oil Co. dissolution: correspondence [3 folders]
  • n.d., Pacific Oil Co. dissolution: miscellaneous documents
  • 1930, Pacific Oil Co. dissolution: petitions for receivership, answer and order
  • 1928-30, Pacific Oil Co. dissolution: records
  • 1927-29, Pacific Oil Co. dissolution: Pacific Oil Co. final report
  • 1922-23, Rockaway Pacific Corp. v. New York: records and briefs
  • n.d, Seaboard Air Line Railway Co.: miscellaneous memoranda
  • 1921, 1930-32, Southern Pacific Co.: miscellaneous correspondence
  • 1920- Southern Pacific Co.: memoranda of law

Box 8:

  • 1917-18, Southern Pacific Co. v. Lowe: records and briefs
  • 1929-30, Southern Pacific Co.: office manual
  • 1913-15, 1923, Southern Pacific Co. equipment trust: correspondence
  • 1920, Southern Pacific Co. equipment trust: memoranda of law
  • n.d., Starring v. Kemp: brief
  • 1912, United States v. "Confidence": briefs
  • n.d., Venner v. Southern Pacific Co.: memorandum draft and notes
  • 1921, Venner v. Southern Pacific Co.: memorandum
  • n.d., Venner v. Southern Pacific Co.: defendant's briefs

Box 9

  • n.d., Venner v. Southern Pacific Co.: plaintiff's briefs
  • n.d, Venner v. Southern Pacific Co.: district court briefs
  • 1904, Ward v. City Trust Co. of New York: brief
  • n.d., Young v. Southern Pacific Co.: defendant's briefs [2 folders]
  • n.d., Young v. Southern Pacific Co.: plaintiff's briefs
  • n.d., Young v. Southern Pacific Co.: records and briefs

Box 10 

  • 1920-30, Diary of cases: Gordon M. Buck [2 folders]
  • n.d., Miscellaneous cases: notes and drafts for briefs

Box 11

  • 1924-26, 1928, Miscellaneous cases: general correspondence [8 folders]

Box 12:

  • 1930-32, Estates: correspondence and depositions
  • ca. 1920s, Forms: bonds, debentures and stock certificates
  • 1923, German bonds held by English trustee: correspondence
  • 1923, German bonds held by English trustee: memorandum for Southern Pacific Co.
  • 1897-98, 1901, Mortgages: documents and lists (railroad companies)
  • n.d., Notebook: legal work
  • 1911, 1914, 1920-21, 1928-29, Railroad trusteeships: agreements [2 folders]
  • 1913, Railroad trusteeships: deed
  • 1911, Railroad trusteeships: mortgage bonds
  • 1907-11, Railroad trusteeships: mortgages and indentures [1 of 4 folders]

Box 13:

  • 1917, 1930, Railroad trusteeships: mortgages and indentures [2 of 4 folders]
  • 1881-1924, Railroad trusteeships: mortgages and indentures [3 of 4 folders]

Box 14:

  • 1924, 1929, Railroad trusteeships: mortgages and indentures [4 of 4 folders]
  • 1912, Railroad trusteeships: registers of railroad directors and officers
  • 1917, 1930, Railroad trusteeships: release or resignation of trustee duties
  • 1911, 1930, Railroad trusteeships: reports
  • 1908-24, Railroad trusteeships: satisfaction of mortgage
  • 1930, Railroad trusteeships: Southern Pacific Co. correspondence and records
  • 1907-11, Railroad trusteeships: transfer of bonds
  • 1914, 1925-29, Securities: Southern Pacific Co. (correspondence, memos, I.C.C. orders)
  • 1912, Stock Transfer Guide (state statutes)
  • 1930, Stockholding papers: miscellaneous corporations
  • 1922, Trusts for Bernard and John Harrison: indentures
  • 1926, Wills for Elise Kruttschnitt and Josephine Vignaux

Box 15:

  • 1929, The Commercial & Financial Chronicle [2 issues]
  • 1943-56, Bond claim of Samuel H. Buck against Mexico: miscellaneous documents
  • ca. 1930s-1950s, Bond claim of Samuel H. Buck against Mexico: State and Treasury Department documents
  • ca. 1930s-1950s, Bond claim of Samuel H. Buck against Mexico: notes of Gordon M. Buck
  • 1935-56, Bond claim of Samuel H. Buck against Mexico: correspondence
  • 1943-55, Bond claim of Samuel H. Buck against Mexico: payment vouchers
  • 1935-36, Bond claim of Samuel H. Buck against Mexico: affidavits
  • ca. 1930s, Buck v. Commissioner of I.R.S.: miscellaneous documents
  • 1935, Buck v. Commissioner of I.R.S.: newspaper clipping
  • 1929, Buck v. Commissioner of I.R.S.: Anaconda Mining and U.S. Steel documents
  • 1931-39, Buck v. Commissioner of I.R.S.: correspondence
  • n.d., Buck v. Commissioner of I.R.S.: miscellaneous notes and drafts of briefs
  • 1935-37, Buck v. Commissioner of I.R.S.: records and briefs (docket no. 78422)
  • 1936-39, Buck v. Commissioner of I.R.S.: records and briefs (docket no. 86040)
  • 1936-37, Buck v. Commissioner of I.R.S.: exhibits

Box 16:

  • n.d., Cards and pamphlets: miscellaneous
  • 1920, 1922, Pelham Manor (N.Y.) property: deed, indenture and agreements
  • 1930, Personal correspondence: miscellaneous
  • 1930, Personal correspondence: Virginia and the University of Virginia
  • 1936-41, Whilton (Va.) estate: correspondence [2 folders]
  • ca. 1930s, Whilton (Va.) estate: miscellaneous paper

Mss 88-2a

Box 17:

  • 1920-1921; Personal Correspondence: Miscellaneous [4 folders]

Box 18:

  • 1926-1930; Personal Correspondence: Miscellaneous [4 folders]

Associated People

Use Policy

Access There are no restrictions.
Use Restrictions There are no restrictions.
Preferred Citation

Papers of Gordon M. Buck, MSS 88-2, Box Number, Special Collections, University of Virginia Law School Library
Unless otherwise stated, digital materials in our collections are available for use under a Creative Commons BY 4.0 License (CC-BY-4.0). For Use and Citation guidelines, see Special Collections Use Policy.