J. M. BUFFINGTON

J. M. Buffington, an old honored pioneer of the Pacific coast and one of the most influential of the early settlers of Stockton, was born in Somerset, Bristol county Massachusetts, February 15, 1818. Originally of English descent, and in the old Massachusetts Colony, his ancestry dates back to the early settlement of Salem, when three brothers—John, Joseph and Jonathan—immigrated to that place about 1660. The subject of this sketch attended school in his native State, and at the age of fourteen he took a thorough course in English, mathematics and the Latin classics at the State Normal School of Rhode Island, and after reaching manhood he entered the business of manufacturing boots and shoes at Providence, that State.

On the breaking out of the gold excitement from California he came hither, by the isthmus, landing at San Francisco June 13, 1849, from the steamer Oregon on her second trip. He joined the throng of miners and searched for gold over a year, averaging fifteen ounces per day. Coming then to Stockton he started a bakery, when flour was $12.50 a barrel; in a few months it advanced to $50 a barrel, and bread sold for fifty cents a pound. But Mr. Buffington was not the man to be limited to an underling’s life. Being public-spirited, he made his mark in the “city of the plains,” which is yet strikingly visible. He organized the public schools of Stockton, was elected superintendent and served as such from their organization until 1853, when he was elected Alderman. In April, this year, he was elected Mayor of Stockton, and held this office one term of two years. Being also actively interested in the political interests of the country, he organized the first Republican club and was chosen it first president. He also served as superintendent of the Sunday-school for several years.

In 1857 he removed to San Francisco, and since then, for over a third of a century, he has been actively engaged in business and prominently identified with commercial and mining interests. He was elected member of the Board of Education at San Francisco, and served in this position several years. For a time also he was registrar of voters, when the enrollment was in the different wards. In 1884 he changed his residence to Oakland.

He has been prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity for over thirty-six years, having become a member of Morning Star Lodge, in Stockton, in 1854, and he is a Knight Templar and a thirty-third degree Mason, Scottish rite.

March 8, 1843, Mr. Buffington married Miss Mary West Eddy, daughter of one of the oldest families of Providence, Rhode Island, and they have had two sons and three daughters.

Transcribed Karen L. Pratt.

Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 1, pages 668-669, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.

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