[1] Buskirk began to study law in the office of the county circuit court clerk, then attended a year of college at Indiana University in Bloomington.
During the Civil War he was commissioned as a Colonel in the Indiana Legion and given the post of Judge-advocate.
His brother Samuel, a Democrat, was a representative at the time and had served as Speaker of the House in 1863.
In 1871 Buskirk organized the First National Bank of Bloomington and served as its president until his death.
On July 15, 1857 he was involved in a altercation with opposing counsel James Hughes in court, swinging a cane at him.