Buxton Family History & Genealogy

Henry Buxton, born in Stanfree, England in 1794, orphaned at the age of 7 found himself working as a manservant with the Sitwell family at age 23. In 1820 his life changed abruptly. He fathered a child by one Mary Turner. Henry was appalled by his own actions as he did not wish to be wed to mary and fled to Mansfield. On the 17th of May, 1821, Henry embarked the Hudson Bay ship, "Prince of Wales" at Gravesend, bound for Canada. He signed a five year contract with the Hudson's Bay Co. as laborer at the annual rate of 15 pounds. The voyage was eventful since ice flows were far to the south that spring. The "Prince of Wales" and the "Eddystone" became stuck fast in the ice along with the three ships of Captain Parry's arctic expedition. Upon his arrival at York factory in August 1821, Henry went at once to the Upper Red River (Winnipeg, Manitoba) where he worked out his contract. Before 1828 he began working as a clerk for Thomas Thomas, a surgeon/officer of the Company. Thomas and his wife, Sarah (a Cree Indian) agreed to allow their daughter Frances to marry Henry when he requested her hand in 1828. That same year Thomas died and left a large estate to each of his six daughters. Now Henry and Frances had wealth beyond their wildest dreams. They would have continued farming in the fertile Red River Valley had it not been for an irresistible offer made by the British and American governments jointly. Fifteen head of cows, sixteen ewes and sufficient work oxen or horses for farming were promised to pioneers willing to brave the wilds of the Washington and Oregon territories. In June of 1841 Henry, Frances, and their son Henry Jr. joined twenty-two other Red River carts heading westward along the Carlton Trail. They followed the Bow River up into the Rocky Mountains where they abandoned their carts and made the remainder of the trip to Fort Walla Walla on horseback. At some point on the journey Frances fell from her horse while fording a river and was critically injured. She never recovered and was one of the first settlers to be buried near the modern city of Tacoma. Puget sound area was unfavorable to Henry Sr. and his young son Henry Jr. and the next spring found them heading south to Tualatin Plains (now Forest Grove area in Oregon) where Henry took up a donation land claim of 640 acres.
Meanwhile a Reverend Asahel Munger and his wife Sarah came to Oregon from Illinois as missionaries to the Indians. He worked on the side as a blacksmith and his ministry to the "heathens" was unsuccessful. His lack of success bore heavily on Asahel's heart and he took it to mean that he had insuffieient faith. One fateful day in 1841 he decided to put his faith to the test and threw himself onto his blazing forge in order to bring about the miracle that would releaase God's power to save the Indians. no miracle came about that day and poor Sarah Munger found herself widowed. Not long after that Henry Buxton Sr., himself a widower, wed the unfortunate Sarah who already had one daughter, Sarah E. In 1849 Henry Sr., a man of vision and industry, along with the Smiths, Clarks, and other early settlers founded Pacific University at Forest Grove. Henry Sr. died in Forest Grove, Oregon in 1870 at age 77.