The Hosea B. Buck Papers contains the business and personal papers of Hosea Ballou Buck (1871-1937), a manager of Maine timberlands who supervised lands owned by the estate of E.S. Coe and the heirs of David Pingree. The papers contain administrative records, which detail the management of those lands, as well as some material related to Buck’s personal life.

Some material in the collection postdates Buck’s death. These materials likely appear in the collection because successor organizations, such as The Seven Islands Land Company, interfiled their own records with Buck's when they shared a subject. Material preceding Buck’s tenure, such as leases, were likely inherited by Buck from previous managers. To preserve the original order of the materials, they have not been moved. The collection has been divided into three series.

Series I. Correspondence contains business correspondence sent or received by Buck. The correspondence covers a variety of topics, including land sales, the negotiation of leases, scaling methods, and other related topics. The series has been divided into two subseries.

Subseries A. Received contains correspondence received by Buck. The subseries is organized by subject and date. Correspondence received from David Pingree (1841-1932) from 1910-1929 is organized chronologically. Correspondence received in 1934-1935 is organized by subject. Subseries B. Letter Books is comprised of letter books, which contain copies of correspondence sent by Buck. The subseries is organized chronologically, with two books related to the Maine fire patrol and one book related to the log scale commission included at the end of the subseries.

Series II. Operational Records contains operational records kept by Buck. The series holds a variety of materials, including bills and receipts, tax materials, checks, leases, scaler’s returns, permits, deeds, and other records. The series has been divided into nine subseries.

Subseries A. Bills and Receipts contains bills and receipts received by Buck. They document expenses incurred in various land management projects, including receipts for surveyors, land scaler bills, road maintenance bills, and bills for other operational costs. Subseries B. Tax Receipts contains records of federal, state, and local taxes paid on Pingree lands. Subseries C. Checks and Account Statements contains checks, checkbooks, and account statements from Maine-based banks used for the management of Pingree and Coe lands. Subseries D. Township Leases contains private and commercial leases issued by Buck and his predecessor on lands owned by the Pingree heirs and Coe family. Subseries E. Scaler’s Returns contains Scaler’s Returns, records produced by log scalers, which document the total amount of timber removed from lands during logging expeditions. Subseries F. Permits contains permits issued by Buck for Pingree and Coe lands. Permits generally concern the sale of stumpage on lands. Subseries G. Titles, Deeds, and Land Purchase Records contains abstracts of titles and deeds for various Pingree and Coe lands, as well as materials related to a land sale deal with the Somerset Timberland Company and reports on the Cyr Plantation in Aroostook County Maine. Subseries H. Land Value Figures contains land value figures for Pingree and Coe lands. Materials included in this subseries were removed from their original binders due to preservation concerns. The covers of the binders were photocopied and placed with the figures. Subseries I. Other Records contains various other records not directly related to any of the other subseries. These include records related to a lawsuit over land ownership, records from a 1907 commission on scaling in Maine, and other materials.

Series III. Personal Papers contains personal records created or owned by Buck which do not directly relate to Pingree and Coe lands. The series contains a number of photographic prints and negatives of nature scenes, individuals, and buildings. Other materials include: clippings related to Buck’s philanthropy within the University of Maine, and correspondence related to the ownership of shares.