SAMUEL W. PUFFER, engaged as a lumber merchant at Winchester, came to this place in the fall of 1860 with only $15 in his "inside pocket" and besides was $75 in debt. He now transacts several thousand dollars worth of business annually and is generally considered well-to-do. He owns and occupies a comfortable home in the northeast part of the town and is known to a large proportion of the people in this locality.

The subject of this notice was born in Colerain, Franklin County, Mass., Jan. 8, 1837, and is the son of Dr. Chenery and Lucy T. (Alden) Puffer, the former a native of Sudbury, Mass., and whose paternal ancestor, John Puffer, the first representative of the family in America, came over from England in the "Mayflower." The mother was the daughter of John Alden, a descendant of John Alden of olden times who was principally distinguished as the friend of Miles Standish, the Captain of Plymouth. She was born in Ashfield, Mass., and was the mother of four children, three of whom are living, viz: Henry M., an Attorney of Shelburne Falls, Mass.; Samuel W., our subject, and Charles C., of Rochester, N.Y.

Mr. Puffer and his brothers received a good education - all being graduated from the Rochester University - Samuel W. and Henry M. in 1860 and Charles three years later. In 1860 our subject came to Scott County and for some time afterward followed the profession of a teacher; he occupied the position of Principal of the Winchester schools for two years. In the meantime he devoted his leisure hours to the reading of law and was admitted to the bar in 1863, but instead of engaging in the practice of law embarked in mercantile business. He became interested in the lumber trade in 1868.

The marriage of Samuel W. Puffer and Miss Mary C. Powell occurred on the 22d of May, 1866. Mrs. Puffer was born in Winchester Dec. 6, 1843, and is the daughter of Starkey R. Powell, an old settler of this place. This union resulted in the birth of four children, only two of whom are living, viz: Starkey Powell, born July 10, 1874 and Chenery Willis, March 31, 1878. Mr. Puffer religious matters is identified with the Baptist Church while his estimable wife belongs to the Presbyterian Church. Our subject, politically, votes the Republican ticket but steadily declines to take upon himself the responsibilities of the office holder. Socially, he belongs to the Masonic fraternity.