From the
Marckel Scrapbook...
JONATHAN P. BUFFINGTON
“LIFE WORK FINISHED FOR J. P. BUFFINGTON
Like a tall and mighty oak in the great forest which the
sturdy pioneers cleared to make way for what is now Defiance, J. P. Buffington,
one of the pioneers of early Defiance, has fallen to rise no more off this
earth…
Surrounded by his family and friends, who mourn his sudden
death, who will ever cherish his memory, Mr. Buffington breathed his last
Wednesday night at 7:30 o’clock, aged 82 years, 4 months and 17 days.
He had been over town during the day and
remarked about how well he felt. At
about 4:30 in the afternoon, he fell on the walk in the rear of his home. He was picked up and carried into the house. Physicians were summoned who found that his
entire right side was paralyzed. Death
ensued several hours later…
Jonathan P. Buffington was born Nov. 12, 1828, on the old
homestead of the family in Brandywine township, Chester county,
Pennsylvania. He descended from a
sturdy, honest and God-fearing stock, remotely natives of England and members
of the Society of Friends, who formed part of the colony that came with Wm.
Penn and founded the city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania. There his ancestors were farmers and with strong
arms, industrious and steady habits, helped to lay the foundation of a mighty
nation. The ancestral home in Chester
county, Pennsylvania, covered part of the ground on which the Revolutionary
‘Battle of Brandywine’ was fought.
Mr. Buffington was about four years old when his parents
moved to Ohio. He was reared a farmer
boy, attending the neighborhood schools and the high school at Springfield, O.
and later his education was completed by a three years’ attendance at Granville
College in Licking county, at which college he had as classmates and fellow
students, Geo. H. Williams, afterwards district attorney of the United States
for Oregon under President Grant; Geo. R. Sage, once judge of the U. S. court;
Geo. L. Converse, member of Congress; Wm. H. Corwin, who became a prominent
physician.
On leaving college, Mr. Buffington was 23 years of age, and
he once became engaged in buying and selling cattle. In 1853 he removed to Defiance, O. and
engaged in the drug business in a store on First street which he occupied for
eight years when he removed to Clinton street where he remained till he retired
from business a short time ago. In 1854
he established a drug store at Bryan, conducting both stores for two years, and
they at that time, had the distinction of being the only drug stores in three
counties, Defiance, Williams and Paulding.
Mr. Buffington was a member of St. Paul’s M. E. church, in
the building of which he was a large contributor. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity,
being Knight Templar.
Politically he was originally a Whig, and when the Whig
party was merged into the Republican, he went with his party and has always
remained an advocate of the political principles represented by that
party. He was chairman of the first
Republican Judicial convention ever held in the Northwest, which convened at
Defiance, O. in 1855 and represented six surrounding counties; he was also
chairman of the first Republican Legislative convention held in the same year.
At this convention, every county had a candidate, but the
delegates could not agree, and had started to go home without nominating a
candidate when Mr. Buffington arrested their attention by calling from a window
to them and suggesting the name of a man who had not before been mention(ed) as
a candidate – Judge Haymaker of Brunersburg.
The name was unanimously accepted, the delegates returned to the hall
and Haymaker was nominated and duly elected.
Mr. Buffington, during his career in public affairs,
numbered among his friends and acquaintances many prominent men in State and
Nation, among whom may be mentioned Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Governor of Ohio,
Secretary of the Treasury under President Lincoln’s administration and Chief
Justice of the United States; Hon. James A. Garfield, member of Congress and
President of the United States, accompanying both of these distinguished men in
their campaigns through this section of Ohio.
He formed a strong affection for Mr. Garfield whom he described as one
of the most lovable and companionable of men.
Mr. Buffington was associated in different campaigns with Hon. Columbus
Delano General Jas. Ashley and others.
One notable trip was made with Salmon P. Chase, from Defiance to
Antwerp, (18 miles through rainy, disagreeable weather), where Chase was to
speak. They secured a canoe or pirogue,
a pair of horses and driver , which towed them on the canal, arrived at Antwerp
at 12 noon, took dinner at the little hotel, and left to return about 4
o’clock, but on arriving within three miles of Defiance, at Schooley’s lock,
the canoe got fast and the team gave out, compelling the party to abandon the
boat and walk through the rain and mud to Defiance, where they arrive a little
after midnight.
In 1857, Mr. Buffington was married to Harriet C. Piper of
Clifton Springs, N. Y., to which union three children were born: Florence M.,
who married John D. Lamb; Alice M. and Carrie, who including Mrs. Buffington,
survive the husband and father, all residing in Defiance.
During the war of the Rebellion, Mr. Buffington was warmly
loyal to the Union cause. He was
secretary of the military committee of Defiance county through the entire war;
was Deputy United States Provost Marshal of the Northern District of Ohio, and
assisted largely in raising two companies of men for the One Hundred and
Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and one company for the Thirty-eighth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry. He never applied for
any compensation for his services, but after the war the government, through
its bookkeeping and accounts discovered that compensation was due him, and the
amount was sent, though through no solicitation on his part. Mr. Buffington has been identified with the
business interests of Defiance in different ways: was formerly a director of
the Merchants’ National Bank and a stockholder in the Turnbull Wagon Company.
The last sad rites will be said Saturday afternoon at 2
o’clock from the home. Rev. Lance of St.
Paul’s M. E. church will officiate. The
funeral will be in charge of Defiance Commandery, Knights Templar. Burial in Riverside.”
And so, it did go to court - a jury trial. This was Dr. Rohn's reputation on the line and she was going to defend herself. Dr. Rohn was, until this disruption, a valued member of the community, serving in numerous organizations and on many committees. She could not afford to have herself besmirched by gossip.
