James N. Buffum

James Needham Buffum (May 16, 1807 – June 12, 1887) was a Massachusetts politician who served as the 12th and 14th Mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts.

James Needham Buffum[1]
14th Mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts
In office January 1, 1872[1] – January 6, 1873
Preceded by	Edwin Walden
Succeeded by	Jacob M. Lewis
12th Mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts
In office January 4, 1869[1] – January 3, 1870[1]
Preceded by	Roland G. Usher
Succeeded by	Edwin Walden
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives[2][3]
In office 1873 – 1873[2]
Personal details
Born	May 16, 1807[1] North Berwick, Maine[4]
Died	June 12, 1887 (aged 80)[1][3] Lynn, Massachusetts[3]
Signature

Early life

Buffum was born in North Berwick, Maine on May 16, 1807[1][4] to Samuel and Hannah (Varney) Bufum.[2]

Career

Buffum was the Mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts from 1869 to 1870 and from 1872 to 1873. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was a presidential elector in 1868.[5]

Abolitionist

When Frederick Douglass was dragged out of a train car on the Eastern Railroad, Buffum helped Douglass fight off the mob.[4][6]

In 1845 Buffum went to Scotland with Douglass to protest against the Free Church of Scotland keeping money donated from American slaveholders.[4]

Death

Buffum died on June 12, 1887 and is interred at Pine Grove Cemetery (Lynn, Massachusetts).[7]

References

1. Hurd, Duane Hamilton (1888), History of Essex County, Massachusetts: with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Volume 1, Issue 1, Philadelphia, PA: J. W. Lewis & CO., p. 261
2. Essex Institute (1889), Bulletin of the Essex Institute, Volume XX, Salem, MA: Essex Institute; printed by the Salem Press and Printing Co., p. 156
3. The New York Times (June 13, 1887), JAMES N. BUFFUM DEAD.; A COLLEAGUE OF GARRISON AND PHILLIPS AND A FRIEND OF DOUGLASS., New York, NY: New York Times Company, p. 1
4. Friends' Intelligencer United with The Friends' Journal (June 18, 1887), JAMES N. BUFFUM, Philadelphia, PA: Friends' Intelligencer Association, Limited, p. 398
5. "James N. Buffum". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
6. "Resistance to the Segregation of Public Transportation in the Early 1840s". primaryresearch.org. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
7. "James N. Buffum". Find A Grave. Retrieved September 26, 2012.

External links

• New York Times obituary; June 13, 1888.
• James N. Buffum at Find a Grave
• Massachusetts Historical Society
• The Political Graveyard