William Buffham (1801-1871) was born in London. He emigrated to the USA, settling in Millburn (Lake County, Illinois) with his wife and six children in 1850 and set up an optical instrument shop. His mother's family in England had been active in abolition and prison reform.
Buffham is noteworthy for being a maker of optical and astronomical equipment at a time when there were only a few manufacturers of scientific instruments in the United States.
William and his eldest son, William Sharpe Buffham made microscopes and telescopes.
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An unusual set of taps for threading, made by Buffham in Rosedale (England) in 1845, were preserved by George Gorton of the George Gorton Machine Co of Racine, Wisconsin, and featured in the American Machinist in 1913 [2]