The name of David Barton, Missouri’s first Senator, is overshadowed by the name of Thomas Hart Benton, our second Senator. But Barton’s name is a household word compared to the number of people who have heard of the third man to serve in the United States Senate from Missouri. Buckner was a Southeast Missouri resident, a prominent lodge leader and lawyer who was chosen in a compromise move that actually kept a Governor from moving up to the U.S. Senate.
