At various
times in his eventful life, Peter Cline Buffington was, by turns, a
surveyor, a bridge builder, a legislator, a merchant, a banker, a
more. In 1871, he secured his niche in local history when he was
elected the first mayor of Huntington.
Although
Huntington was a new town, the Buffington family roots in the region
already extended back for three generations.
In 1785,
Thomas Buffington took control of land granted to his father William
Buffington, for his service during the French and Indian War.
In 1800,
Thomas Buffington and his wife Ann Cline established a plantation on
a 434 acre tract of land just downstream from where the Guyandotte
River flows into the Ohio.
Thomas and
Ann Buffington had a son, named William after his grandfather, who
grew up to become the first official surveyor of lands in Cabell
County, a colonel in the Virginia militia and an important figure in
local politics.
It was
Williams’ son who would become the first mayor of Collis
Huntington’s new town.
Born in
Guyandotte in 1814, Peter Cline Buffington like his father became
county surveyor. In 1848, he was one of the incorporators of the
Guyandotte Bridge Company, organized to build a suspension bridge
over the Guyandotte River. The bridge was completed in 1852 and
remained in use for more than 50 years.
In 1858, the
Virginia Assembly designated the former Marshall Academy a college
and named P.C. Buffington one of its new trustees.
He twice
represented Cabell County in the Virginia General Assembly and
served as quartermaster in the Confederate Army during the Civil
War.
After the
war, P.C. Buffington resumed life in Cabell County with his second
wife, Lou Garland.
On December
31, 1871 he was elected the first mayor of the newly incorporated
city if Huntington.
Huntington
was still a very young town when, in 1879, P.C. Buffington’s oldest
son, Edward Standard Buffington, aka “Doc” was elected its sixth
mayor.
He saw his
fellow cadets in the battle of New Market, and he went on to serve
in both the Confederate Army and Navy. Following his graduation from
medical school he returned to Huntington, where he became one of the
new city’s first doctors, for more than 50 years until shortly
before his death in 1929.
Juliette
Buffington, daughter of P.C. Buffington, married Charles Warren
Baldwin. The only child of his parents, Charles Buffington Baldwin
attended the public schools of Huntington, and after his graduation
from the high school entered Marshall College where he graduated in
1913. He then enrolled in the law department if Washington and Lee
University, Lexington Virginia, and was given his degree of Bachelor
of Laws in 1916.
He would be
enlisted in World War I in Huntington on June 20, 1917 and suffer a
loss to part of his leg in battle and be granted federal permission
to use “MORPHINE”. He was mustered out and honorably discharged in
April, 1919, at which time he returned to Huntington and engaged in
coal and oil operation
June 20,
1930, Charles B. Buffington married Hazel Bronson Hatfield, the only
child of former Governor of West Virginia, Henry D. Hatfield at
Trinity Episcopal Church.
October 17,
1930 Juliette Buffington Enslow, the second wife of Frank Bliss
Enslow and the daughter of Mr. Peter Cline Buffington was found
dead, beaten and stabbed in the back of the head with an ice-pick in
on the second floor bedroom at 3:30AM.
Members of
the family were questioned about the diamond studded watch along
with the extraordinary 12-karat diamond rings from the Kimberly
Diamond Mines of North Africa Mrs. Enslow wore to bed with her.
After 8 hours
of questioning Charles Baldwin Buffington was released and no one is
under suspicion. No proof beyond a reasonable doubt was ever
provided Charles Buffington Baldwin walked away with the crown
jewels, and his portion of the family trust.
