Genealogy of Bufords of
Reynolds County
Richard Beauford in 1635 was examined by ministers of the Church of
England as to his loyalty to the king, Charles I and at age 18 emigrated
on the ship Elizabeth, from Garvesend, England, to settle in Lancaster
County, Va.
Coming on down for five generations, to the Revolutionary War time,
there were John and Judith Beauford, who had six sons and all were
officers in the Revolutionary War. These sons were Captain Thomas,
who was killed at Point Pleasant while fighting the Indiana, Captain
James; Captain William; Colonel Abraham; Captain Henry; and Ensign
Simeon. All have war records fully established.
Thomas Jr., son of Thomas Sr. and Mary Beauford, was born in 1682, and
died in 1776. He lived in Christ's Church Parish, Middlesex
County, Va. John, son of Thomas Jr., and Elizabeth Beauford, was
born in Lancaster County, Va., in 1717. He was married to Judith
Early. They settled in Bromfield Parish, Culpepper County, Va.,
Captain John Thomas Buford was born in 1746 and married Anna
Watts. He had six sons. He served as a sergeant under
Braddock; also served under Col. George Washington as a
lieutenant. He was discharged in 1756. He also served as a
lieutenant colonel under Col Byrd and was discharged in 1759. He
served in another regiment under Col. Byrd, and for these services was
given land warrants 663 to 667, issued March 11, 1800 for several
thousand acres.
Captain John Thomas
Buford ( or Thomas, as he was usually called) also had other bounty
lands which were entered by James Buford, as guardian of Thomas'
children, for services performed in the last war. Besides serving
under the above named gentlemen, he was also captain of the company from
Bedford County, which he commanded, together with two companies, one
from east of the Ridge and the other west of James River, under Col.
William Christian in General Andy Lewis' expedition against the
Indians. Captain Thomas Buford was killed in the fierce battle at
Point Pleasant, by the Indians, October 10, 1774, at the mouth of the
Kanawho River.
William Buford, son of
Captain Thomas and Anna Watts Buford, born in 1768 in Bedford County,
Va., married Anna Pate October 20, 1791. In 1810, he moved to
Breckenridge County, Ky., and settled on a farm near the post office of
Prince of Wales.
William Buford moved from
Kentucky to Missouri in 1812 and settled in what is now known as the
Belleview Valley, in Iron County. His farm consisted of several
hundred acres, and there is a beautiful Ozark mountain called Buford
Mountain in this valley named in his honor. He was a very wealthy
man and owned hundreds of slaves. William had seven children:
John, Abraham, Mary, Nancy, William Jr., Pate, and James M.
John Buford, son of
William and Anna M. Pate Buford, was born May 28, 1793, and was married
to Mrs. Elizabeth Irvin (nee Davis), the widow of Alec Irvin. He
and his wife settled on Black River near what is now known as
Lesterville, in Reynolds County, in 1825. John and his wife had 13
children. Of these, born on May 1, 1840, were twins, Abraham and
Lucy. John Buford is thought to be the first white settler in
Reynolds County. If others were settled here at that time, there
is no established record to that effect. John Buford donated free
the grounds for a site for the county seat at Centerville and
represented the county in the Missouri legislature from 1850 to
1854. He also was a surveyor and served as justice of the
peace. At that time he owned several hundred acres of land at the
three forks of Black River near Lesterville.
Abraham Buford, first
Buford to settle in Barnesville, before it became Ellington, was a son
of John and Elizabeth Buford. He married Miss America Moore in
1865. To this union was born eight children: Mollie who
married W. Z. Carter; Dr. James H. who married Lina Smith; Blanche who
married Dr. James Copland and had one daughter Erna. After Dr.
Copeland's death she married John R. Johnson and had two sons, John Jr.
and James. Both of the Johnson sons were well known in this area.
John Jr. was a state senator and James (Jimmy) to all who knew him, was
a well known business man who until his death just last year owned and
operated Johnson Lumber Co. and was the largest stock holder in a local
loan company as well as operating a farm and many other interests.
Carter M. Buford was a well known and respected senator and the builder
on the large stone Buford home in Ellington, who married Carrie Copeland
and was the father of Anthony A., Wilbur C. and John V. Buford, whose
stories will be carried in part two of the Buford story; Cora, who
married John M. Delcour; Walter, who married Emma Inman; Otto, whose
first wife was Mary Dean by whom he had two daughter. After Mary's
death Otto was married to Laura Vallery and had three sons, James,
Winston, and Pascal, and her sons' stories will be added to the others
of their generation of the Buford family in the next installment of the
Buford genealogy; and Ethel, who was married to Dr. T. T. O'Dell and had
two children Fay and Buford.
Abe Buford was for many
years involved in several businesses in Ellington, together with his
sons, Dr. James Buford and Walter. He was a very prosperous stock
buyer and raiser and owned a large farm on Dickens Valley just outside
of Ellington.
Dr. James Buford got his
primary education in Ellington and later attended school at Farmington
and graduated in 1898 from Missouri Medical College in St. Louis.
He, however, gave up the practice of medicine and began raising, buying,
and selling of livestock. It was claimed, at one time that he had
bought and shipped more cattle than any man in the county. Being
successful in this, in a financial way, he began the purchase of timber
lands in Reynolds County, and in a short time, he owned some of the
finest tracts of pine on the ridge. He owned several sawmills in
different sections of the county, cutting off his timber. He
owned, at one time, 2,650 acres of virgin timber in Reynolds County and
1,336 in Shannon County. He also owned in the two counties 6,420
acres of cut and partially cut timberlands. In addition to this he
had many other business interests in his home town. He was
president from the time of its organization of the Bank of Ellington,
owned several food farms in the vicinity; and was also a partner of his
father in the general merchandise business.
This store was managed
almost entirely by Walter Buford, another son of Abe Buford. The
merchandise branch of the Buford family business interests was very
successful under Walter Buford's management. As were his brothers,
he was educated at home and at Cape Girardeau College. His
judgment in general merchandise was considered extraordinary, not having
had training in this line before entering the business.
From
newspaper story
by
Kathryn Vickery
Reynolds
County Courier 1977
Ellington,
Missouri
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