Florence was born in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Her parents, Samuel P. and Lucy Reasoner Buck, raised her as a Methodist. After studying at the Baptist College in Kalamazoo she was a science teacher at Kalamazoo High School. She became head of the science department and eventually principal.
In 1890 Buck attended services at the Unitarian church in Kalamazoo, where Caroline Bartlett and Marion Murdoch were ministers. Buck was drawn both to the liberal theology of the church and to Murdoch. Their friendship developed into a devoted partnership that lasted the rest of Buck's life.
MoreMelissa Ziemer is currently preparing for ministry at Meadville Lombard Theological School. She graduated from Smith College in 1995 with a B.A. in Women's Studies. More