Samuel T. Bufford was born on November 26, 1815, in Tennessee. He married a woman named Sarah, and they had at least five children: Mary, born around 1837; William, born around 1840; Ann, born around 1842; Elizabeth, born around 1845; and Martha, born around 1848. They lived in Collierville, Tennessee, and he served as a postmaster from December 1839 until May 1840 and again from February 1845 until May 1848. The family moved to Marshall County, Mississippi, in the late 1850s. He worked as a saddler and mechanic there, and by 1850, he owned $200 of real estate. His wife died on December 11, 1859. By 1880, he was living in his daughter Martha’s household in Jacksonville, Tennessee. He died on December 11, 1893.