Schuyler County Missouri Biographies

An AHGP Project

Schuyler County Missouri

James E. Buford

James E. Buford was born in Missouri, in 1853, and is now a well-to-do young farmer of Chariton Township, and owns 160 acres of good land, well cultivated and improved. In 1880 he married Eliza Lasley, a native of Schuyler County, and to that union two children have been born: Carrie and Marvin. In politics he is a Democrat, as are his brothers and father.

His parents have been residents of Schuyler County forty-three years. William, the father, was born in Bedford County, Va., in 1822, and when young worked in the woolen factory of his father. When eighteen years of age he came to Schuyler County, Mo., and built a woolen mill for John Jones, which he at first managed, and afterward purchased. It was located one mile east of Tippecanoe, and was the first woolen mill in the county. Mr. Buford also introduced the first reaper, mower, steam engine and sewing and knitting machines used in that region. He began life in Missouri with $6, which was all that remained of the money he received from a sale of a horse he rode from Virginia to St. Louis. He was an enterprising and industrious man, however, and at the time of the late war owned 4,500 acres of land, which the ravages of war swept from him. In 1849 he went to California, and from there to Nevada City, where he engaged in business, and built the first store of the town. He also successfully engaged in mining. In 1851 he returned home, and for several years sold goods in Lancaster and Glenwood.

In 1843 he married Mary A. Jones, a daughter of John Jones, and born in Virginia, in 1828, and to them the following children were born: Henry, Mildred, Liza, James, Jane, Maryette, Don, William and Nellie. In 1861 Mr. Buford raised a regiment of 1,100 men, of whom he was elected colonel. While home visiting his family at one time he was taken prisoner, but was finally released upon giving a $22,000 bond to not engage further in the Rebellion. He also served some time as a recruiting officer. In 1867 he built the large woolen mill at Glenwood, and managed it for ten years. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity of the Royal Arch degree, and one of the oldest and most respected citizens of the county.

Source: History of Adair, Sullivan, Putnam and Schuyler Counties, Missouri, Volume 2, Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1888

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