Buford, Munson Monroe, 1846-1930

Munson Monroe Buford was born in Union County, S.C. He was a Confederate soldier, enlisting in 1862 in Company K, 5th South Carolina Cavalry. He accompanied General Wade Hampton's chief of staff in delivering dispatches arranging for the surrender of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston. After the war, Buford became a farmer, landowner, trial justice, and sheriff of Newberry County, S.C. In the 1870s, Buford participated in the activities of the Red Shirts, a Democratic Party movement. He was the only member of the Ku Klux Klan ever brought to trial from Newberry County, S.C., in the United States Court. This trial (1872) ended in a hung jury and a mistrial. He was a member of the United Confederate Veterans, the Masons, and the Knights of Pythias and advocated for pension increases and tax exemptions for Confederate veterans, including securing pensions for slaves who went to war with their masters.

From the description of Munson Monroe Buford papers, 1865-1968. WorldCat record id: 261345898

Munson Monroe Buford was born 13 February 1846 in Union County, S.C., the son of James Chesley Buford (1815-1874) and Caroline Hedgepeth Buford (1820-1898). He was a Confederate soldier, enlisting in 1862 in Company K, 5th South Carolina Cavalry. In 1865, he alone accompanied Colonel J. Rawlin Lowndes, General Wade Hampton's chief of staff, in delivering dispatches arranging for the surrender of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston to Union General William T. Sherman. After the surrender of Johnston, Buford and other soldiers attempted to join up with General Kirby Smith's forces west of the Mississippi, who had not yet surrendered. When they discovered that Smith had also surrendered, Buford returned home to Newberry County, S.C., and later travelled to Columbia, S.C., where he took the oath of allegiance on 27 July 1865.

On returning home after the Civil War, Buford became a farmer and landowner and married Sallie A. Bell (1850-1910) of Laurens County, S.C., on 15 March 1870. They had nine children: James R. (1872-1876), Willie T. (1874-1950), John Boothe (1877-1878), George Fair (b. 1879), Mary Elizabeth (b. 1882), Robert Hayne (b. 1884), Pope Lee (b. 1886), Munson Lafayette (b. 1888), and Sallie Bell (b. 1890). In the 1870s, Buford participated in the activities of the Red Shirts, a Democratic Party movement. Buford commanded one of the companies of the Mollohon section of the county. He was the only member of the Ku Klux Klan ever brought to trial from Newberry County, S.C., in the United States Court. The trial (1872) ended in a hung jury and a mistrial. From 1879 to 1883, Buford was a trial justice for Newberry County, S.C. He ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of the county in 1892, but was successfully elected in 1896 and was reelected three more times, holding the position until 1913.

In his later years, Buford attended Confederate reunions and was active in the United Confederate Veterans, holding the post of Adjutant of the James D. Nance Camp. Buford was also a member of the Masons and the Knights of Pythias. He advocated for pension increases and tax exemptions for Confederate veterans, including securing pensions for slaves who went to war with their masters. Buford died 7 August 1930 at his home in Newberry County, S.C.

This biography includes information from: The Annals of Newberry: Historical, Biographical and Anecdotical (1982) by John Belton O'Neall, page 756; Men of the Time: Sketches of Living Notables. A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous South Carolina Leaders (1902) by J.C. Garlington, page 61; and Buford's obituary in Confederate Veteran, Volume 37, number 9, September 1930, page 353.

From the guide to the Munson Monroe Buford Papers, 1865-1968, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)