My Genealogy Hound

Judge William W. Buford, a resident of Miller Township, and judge of the Western District of Scotland County, was born in Macoupin County, Ill., March 11, 1837, and is the son of Henry P. and Emily E. (Murley) Buford. The Buford family is of French descent. During the time of the expulsion of the Huguenots from France, the ancestors of our subject crossed the English channel to England, and their descendants came to America, and were among the first settlers of Virginia; their family distinguished themselves for gallant service rendered the United States during the struggle for independence. Since that time the Buford family have been noted politicians and soldiers. Thomas Buford the grandfather of our subject, was a native Virginian, and died while on his return from the army during the war of 1812. He was a lieutenant, and was a resident of Kentucky at the time of his death. Henry P. Buford was born in Lincoln County, Ky., June 2, 1798, and is now living in Schuyler County, Mo. A few years after his marriage, and when a young man, he moved to Morgan County, Ill., from there to Macoupin County, Ill., afterward to Macon County, Mo., in 1840, and to Schuyler County, Mo., in 1842. While a resident of Macoupin County, Ill., he served several years as magistrate, and while in Schuyler County held the same position from the time the first court was held in that county until the breaking out of the war. Of his father’s family he is the only one now living, and is not only one of the oldest settlers of the county but one of the oldest men, and can tell many interesting anecdotes of the early settling of Missouri. His first presidential vote was cast for Monroe, and since then he has been strictly Democratic in principle. In March, 1824, he married Emily Murley, a native of Cumberland County, Ky., born in 1801, and died in Scotland County, Mo., in 1879. While living in Kentucky both were members of the Christian Church, but after coming to Missouri, there being no church of that denomination, Mrs. Buford joined the Baptist Church. Thomas J. and our subject were twins and the sixth and seventh of a family of eleven children, eight now living. Our subject received a very liberal education during youth, and afterward made a tour of a number of the Western States. December 5, 1862, he returned and married Miss Margaret E. Hays, a native of Greene County, East Tenn., born in 1839, and died in Schuyler County, Mo., January 12, 1881. She was a daughter of Aaron and Catherine Hays, and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Three children were the fruits of this union — all living, viz.: Thomas L. Mary C., and Elma C. Our subject rented land for three years after his marriage, after which he purchased land in Schuyler County, where he resided until 1881, when he sold out and purchased a large tract of some of the best land in Scotland County. In 1886 he was elected judge of the Western District of Scotland County. He is a member of the Christian Church, and is Democratic in his political views.