Philo Beecher Buckingham (1820- ), son of Aurelius and Laura (Beecher) Buckingham, was born in Oxford, Conn., on 6 June 1820. After receiving his education, he engaged in farming and school teaching until 1849. In the spring of 1849, he moved to Seymour, Conn. and was employed by the Naugatuck Railroad as a station agent until July 1862. Between 1849 and 1862, he was also chairman of the board of school visitors, treasurer of a savings bank, receiver of the Bank of North America, and state senator of the 5th district of Connecticut in 1855. Buckingham was extensively engaged in manufacturing interests.
In August 1862, he raised a company of volunteers to fight for the Union and soon after was commissioned a major of the 20th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. During his service in the Civil War, Buckingham was an assistant inspector general and a commander of the 20th Connecticut Volunteers. He was involved in several of the Civil War's major battles and spent much of his service in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. At the war's end, he was made a brevet colonel. After the war, Buckingham worked for the Freedmen's Aid Society for several months and from 1866 to 1881 was employed as superintendent and agent for the American Chemical Company near New Haven, Conn. In 1881, he suffered a severe "paralytic shock" and became an invalid. No record of his death has as yet been found.
Buckingham married Sally Caroline Perkins (1823- ) on 12 October 1842. They had three sons: Franklin P[erkins?] (1843-1852); Frederick Lewis (1846-1900); and George Beecher (1848-1906).
From the description of Papers, 1862-1892. (American Antiquarian Society). WorldCat record id: 191259212
