James Needham Buffum (May 16, 1807 – June 12, 1887) was a

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

politician who served as the 12th and 14th

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

Early life

Buffum was born in

North Berwick, Maine North Berwick is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The town was set off from Berwick in 1831, following South Berwick in 1814. North Berwick's population was 4,978 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portla ...

on May 16, 1807 to Samuel and Hannah (Varney) Bufum.

Career

Buffum was the Mayor of

from 1869 to 1870 and from 1872 to 1873. He was a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

. He was a presidential elector in 1868.

Abolitionist

When

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

was dragged out of a train car on the

Eastern Railroad The Eastern Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine. Throughout its history, it competed with the Boston and Maine Railroad for service between the two cities, until the Boston & Maine put an end to the compe ...

, Buffum helped Douglass fight off the mob. In 1845 Buffum went to Scotland with Douglass to protest against the Free Church of Scotland keeping money donated from American slaveholders.

Death

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

References

External links

New York Times obituary; June 13, 1888.
*
Massachusetts Historical Society

1807 births 1887 deaths Mayors of Lynn, Massachusetts American abolitionists Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives People from North Berwick, Maine 19th-century American politicians {{Massachusetts-MARepresentative-stub