Daniel Buck was a prominent Minnesota jurist, civic leader, Civil War veteran, and author, best remembered for his service on the Minnesota Supreme Court and his role in the development of Mankato’s public institutions.

Born on September 28, 1829, in Boonville, New York, to Jonathan Matthew Buck and Roxanne Buck, Daniel came from Revolutionary War lineage. He received a legal education in New York and was admitted to the bar before relocating to Minnesota in 1857. He first settled in South Bend, a small community near Mankato that was then thought to have great promise. He worked as a surveyor and early legal practitioner.

As Mankato emerged as the regional hub, Buck moved to the city in 1862. Over the following decades, he played a major role in shaping its civic and educational institutions. He was elected to the Minnesota Legislature in the late 1860s, where he became instrumental in founding the state's second normal school, which later evolved into Minnesota State University, Mankato. For this, he was affectionately known as the "Father of the Normal" and took great pride in that legacy.

Buck also served as Blue Earth County Attorney for four years and was elected to the Minnesota State Senate in 1876. In 1894, he was elected as an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, serving until 1900, when he resigned due to declining health.

During the Civil War, Buck enlisted at age 34 in Company L of the 9th New York Heavy Artillery on December 30, 1863, at Onondaga, New York. He was later transferred to the 2nd New York Light Artillery in 1865. He was honorably separated from service on June 27, 1865.

He married Lovisa Ann Wood in Elgin, Illinois, in 1858, and together they had seven children, several of whom predeceased him, including Charles, Adell, Frankie, Charles Delos, and Annie. His surviving children included Mary Lucretia Buck Perkins and Laura Mary Buck Abbott. His wife Lovisa passed away in 1899.

Judge Buck was known throughout southern Minnesota as a man of deep integrity and compassion. His honesty earned him the nickname "The Old Roman", a tribute to his steadfast principles and conservative influence within the Democratic Party. Though some noted that he had grown less active in legal circles as younger attorneys rose in prominence, he remained a beloved and respected figure until his death.

In addition to his legal and political work, he was also an accomplished author. He published a widely read book on the Dakota War of 1862, which drew from his personal experiences and legal knowledge, and contributed meaningfully to Minnesota’s historical record.

His later years were marked by personal sorrow, including the sudden disappearance of a son under scandalous circumstances that reportedly affected him deeply, both emotionally and financially.

Judge Daniel Buck died on May 21, 1905, in Mankato, from heart failure, following a long period of nervous prostration. He was 75 years, 7 months, and 23 days old. His funeral was expected to be organized by the Old Settlers’ Society and the Blue Earth County Bar Association, groups in which he held deep connections.

He is buried in Mankato, remembered not only as a legal figure but also as a key founder, historian, and moral leader in Minnesota’s early statehood.