Francis Pierce Buck (1844-1911): An eminent businessman from Farnham to Lennoxville and to Sherbrooke
In 1955, the City of Sherbrooke opened Buck Street, north of Prospect Street, to remember a businessman who stood out among his fellow citizens in Lennoxville and Sherbrooke.
Francis Pierce Buck was born in Farnham in 1844. He was the son of Lucy Smith and of Joseph Buck, a farmer and pioneer of Farnham settled between 1825 and 1831. Francis began working in his eldest brother Lyman’s general store in East Farnham. In 1867, he came to settle in Ascot Township. In the center of Lennoxville, he ran a general store, The People’s Store, also known as F. P. Buck and Co. In 1868, in the Compton Anglican Church, he married Alice Lucy (Lora) Blossom. They had a least three children: Daisy Maud (died in infancy), Howard and Clifford. In 1874, his general store burnt along with all of downtown Lennoxville. Buck then sold his business to other local merchants, the Brooks brothers. In 1874, he had bought Clarke’s Hotel which was also swept away in the fire later the same year. For several years, Buck then owned the Magog House in Sherbrooke. From 1882 to 1897, he lived in a home still standing today at 268 Court Street.
From 1886 to 1889, Francis Buck was a Sherbrooke City councillor. He also belonged to the Sherbrooke Protestant School Board. In 1882, he became a partner with William Angus in the William Angus & Co. sawmill and pulp and paper plant in East Angus. In 1891, the company was restructured to become the Royal Pulp and Paper, the partners then being Frank Pierce Buck, William Angus, William Bullock Ives, George Van Dyke and Rufus Henry Pope. In 1895, the company was named the Royal Paper Mills Company. In 1899, Buck becomes chairman and general manager. In 1898, the company had bought the Brompton Falls St. Francis Lumber Co., thus taking over a forest area of over 100 000 hectares in the upper St. Francis river basin. The company was bought in 1907 by the Brompton Pulp and Paper.
Francis Buck was among the promoters of the Eastern Townships Agricultural Association launched in 1885 and to hold fairs on the exhibition grounds. Since 1994 this site was named Sylviedaigle Park. From about 1889 until 1905, Buck was general manager and treasurer of the Dominion Lime Company. From 1905 until his death in 1911, he was president and general manager of the company. From 1906 to 1911, he was president of the first insurance company in the Townships, The Stanstead & Sherbrooke Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 1911, he was also vice-president of the Sherbrooke Power, Light and Heat Company, director of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company, president of the St. George’s Club and governor of the Sherbrooke Protestant Hospital.