William F. Buckley Sr.

William Frank Buckley, Sr. is most well known as the father of William F. Buckley, Jr., the founder of the National Review magazine.

Buckley made his name as a lawyer to oil wildcatters in Tampico, Mexico during the 1910s. When revolutionaries began to demand taxes from them and attack the Catholic Church, Buckley joined the counterrevolutionaries, who attempted to stage a coup in Mexico City. They were not successful.

Kicked out of Mexico, he bought the Great Elm mansion in Sharon, Connecticut, built in 1763. One distinguishing feature was the Great Elm, the largest elm tree in the state. Later, in the 1930s, he hit a rich oil deposit in Venezuela and nearly doubled the size of his house.

Buckley's faith and desire to educate his six children were strong features of his life. He was a staunch Roman Catholic who raised his children in the same tradition. He also encouraged (and forced) them to learn Spanish, taught to them by their Mexican maids, as well as French, and brought in professors to teach them about different subjects. He then sent all of his sons to Yale.