Buford Wilson 1921 – 1989

Buford Wilson, the second oldest child of Money and Lloyd Wilson was born on September 17th, in Grenada County, Mississippi. He was born on a farm and spent his childhood working in the fields and attending school (Grenada County Elementary and Granada City High). Buford, being very ambitious and high strung individual, started setting his goals early in life. He was raised with a strong religious background and the knowledge of the importance of advancement in education. His parents were very respectable leaders in the black community and had taught all of their children to first be servants of God and then the community. Buford, having a mind of his own and having a Type A personality, quickly realized the Granada Mississippi was no place for an ambitious black man to advance in the 1940s.
I asked my father what made him decide to move to Ohio and he told me a story about four young black boys. He said,
“One day, myself and four young black boys went to town. We were just hanging around and doing some window-shopping; you know… just having fun. Well, we were walking down the sidewalk talking and joking around and this pretty white girl came walking toward us. Back in the 40’s when a white person is walking on the sidewalk at the same time as a black person, the black person has to get off the sidewalk and walk or stand in the street until the white person passes by. So, my friends and me did that, but when the young lady passed by, one of the boys whistled at her because she was pretty. We all laughed and went home and the next morning someone found my friend hanging in a tree. Mama was so scared that day that she packed a change of clothes and some food in a sheet and told me that I was going to Ohio to live with my Aunt Mary and Uncle James Clinton.
That was a long train ride, but finally I got to Cleveland, Ohio. When I arrived, I got off the train and boy was I mesmerized. I stood there with my mouth open looking at all the tall high-rise buildings. I was holding onto my things and just staring up at the building and my food began to fall out of the sheet onto the ground. My tomatoes hit the ground and split wide open, and my apple began to roll away. I held onto my bread and cheese and I chased my apple in to the crowd of people. When I got my apple, I put my stuff back together and found me a nice counter to sit in; I sat there and looked at all the fancy people and buildings until my Uncle James found me. I had never seen buildings like that. It was a new and different environment for me. That was the first time I had ever seen downtown Cleveland.”
As a result of all of that, Buford moved to Painesville, Ohio to live with his Uncle James and Aunt Mary in 1942. His first job was at the Nickel Plate Railroad Co. and he worked there until he was drafted into the Army on September 15th. The Army was just the beginning of Buford’s bright future.
He was first stationed at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and then transferred to Fort Devour in Virginia. Then he was transferred to Alabama and placed in an all black division (the 92nd Division). It was there that Buford was trained to be a combat engineer, but their number one duties were building bridges and roads. Later Buford was sent to Fort Huachuca in Arizona and was classified a sergeant in his division. In Arizona for fun he did light weight boxing and his nickname was Sergeant Pee Wee. His boxing career came to an end when his division was transported to Italy. Buford received many awards from the Army: He received an award for a hero in action, an oak leaf cluster, a bronze star, three stripes, a gold “T” for (technician) and three battle stars. As a result of Buford’s outstanding performance in the army, he received a bust statue of himself and in three years time he received enough points to leave the Army with an honorable discharge in 1945.
In 1946-1958, Buford started to work for the Industrial Rayon and at the same time he started their own construction company on the side. Construction was one of Buford’s favorite pastimes. Later in the 60’s he shared a partnership in a construction company with his brother Charles Wilson.
In 1947 thru 1960, Buford was married to his first wife, Annie Mae Puckett; to this union no children were born. In 1963 Buford married his second wife, Mary Eliza Webb and soon following they were blessed with the birth of their son, Kenneth Wilson. In 1964 they were honored with the birth of their daughter Trudy Wilson.