Part of an old map of the San Jacinto area from the Texas Revolution

Veteran Bio

Texian Location:  Participant

The Kemp Sketch

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BUFFINGTON, REV. ANDERSON -- Born in South Carolina, February 14, 1806. His mother died while he was a boy and he was raised by stepmother. He attended school but three weeks of his life and with his brother, John, ran away from home and settled at Nashville, Tennessee, where Anderson secured a job in a newspaper office, and there secured an education. He wag married October 1, 1834 to Parolee Cornelia Cobler. In 1835 he gave up his work as a printer and with his wife and baby, John F., left for Texas in an ox wagon, applied for land in Robertson's Colony, and settled at Washington-on-the-Brazos. There he built a home and erected a saw mill.

In Service Record No. 715 it is certified that Mr. Buffington served in the army from March 15 to June 15, 1836. He was a member of Captain William Kimbro's Company and on December 2, 1850 was issued Donation Certificate No. 239 for 640 acres of land for having participated at the battle of San Jacinto. He was issued a Headright certificate for a league and labor of land by the Washington County Board. Mr. Buffington helped to organize the first Texas Missionary Baptist Church at Washington in 1837. He and Reverend Z. T. Morrell were the two first Texas appointed missionaries.

Mr. Buffington was ordained a Baptist Minister, October 19, 1841. The following is copied from a report made by Rev. James Huckins at Houston, November 14, 1841 to the Corresponding Secretary:

".....On October 19 I was called to Washington to assist in the ordination of Brother Buffington, who for years had stood like a light in a dark place in one of the most desperate and bloody portions of this Republic. The services were full of interest and exciting in the extreme. Brother Buffington is now in our Home Missionary field, laboring under the direction of our board. He will be employed solely as a pioneer to collect God's scattered flock, and to prepare the way for some other brother. His field for this year will be Montgomery County, where, with a common blessing, we hope to organize four churches."

Reverend Buffington served in the campaign against Indians in 1839. In 1841 he began the publication of a paper, "The Tarantula," at Washington. During the Civil War he served in the Confederate Army.

Mrs. Buffington, born March 11, 1813, died October 7, 1900. Reverend Buffington died December 20, 1891, while a member of the Texas Veterans Association. Both are buried in marked graves in the Odd Fellows Cemetery at Anderson, Grimes County, Texas.

Children of Rev. and Mrs. Buffington, were John; Thomas C., who married Martha Blake Patrick, daughter of George M. Patrick; Isabella, who was born in the house where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed, and was married to John E. Herbert; Cornelia; Paralee and Emma Buffington.



Written by Louis W. Kemp, between 1930 and 1952. Please note that typographical and factual errors have not been corrected from the original sketches. The biographies have been scanned from the original typescripts, a process that sometimes allows for mistakes in the new text. Researchers should verify the accuracy of the texts' contents through other sources before quoting in publications. Additional information on the veteran may be available in the Herzstein Library.


Battle Statistics

  • Died in Battle: No
  • Rank: Private
  • Company: Capt. William Kimbro

Personal Statistics

  • Date of Birth: 1806 Feb 14
  • Birthplace: South Carolina
  • Origin: Tennessee
  • Came to Texas: 1835
  • Date of Death: 1891 Dec 20
  • Burial Place: Odd Fellows Cemetery, Anderson, Texas
  • Comments: Civil War?
  • Donation Certificate: 239
  • Profession: Minister, printer, storekeeper, hotelkeeper
  • Wife: Parolee Cornelia Cobler
  • Children: John Buffington; Thomas C. Buffington; Isabella Buffington Herbert; Cornelia Buffington; Paralee Buffington; Emma Buffington