Buford-Salter House

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Historical Marker #2273 is located on the lawn of the house that was built by Thomas Buford around 1820. Buford was the son of William Buford, the founder of the county seat of Garrard County, Lancaster. William donated the land for the town, which was around Revolutionary War Major Andrew Wallace’s settlement of Wallace Crossroads.

Thomas Buford was one of the first trustees of Lancaster in 1797. After his years serving first as sheriff of Garrard County (elected in 1803), a member of the Kentucky Legislature (1806-1809), and serving in the War of 1812, Buford purchased the bond to the lot the house stands on sometime in 1815. However, because he only purchased a bond from William Bryan, he did not receive the deed until about 1821 after the other man’s death. Buford paid $900 for lot number 46. That same year, Buford sold lot 46 to Augustine Jennings for $500; he also grants a mortgage on his property and household goods, including dining tables, cut glass pitchers, brass candlesticks, tea boards, and set of silver spoons. It is unclear as to what happens to Buford following this, although the history of the house is still known. In 1826, Jennings sold the house to Daniel O’Bannion, who then sold it to Michael and Ocee Reed Salter in 1846.

Salter was an Irish immigrant who settled in Connecticut and the New Jersey before moving to Kentucky. As a young man, Salter apprenticed to become a tanner, but after possibly being abused he ran away at the age of seventeen. At that time, he enlisted in the Army as a drum major and was a member of Hazen’s Regiment. Salter and his wife had operated the tavern at Quantico on the Kentucky River in Garrard County before retiring and living the remainder of their lives at the house. Salter is the only known Revolutionary War solider buried in the Lancaster Cemetery.

The house features Flemish bond brickwork on all four walls with shuttered recesses on both sides of the front door. The shutters are original, and the interior retains the original mantle and woodwork. It was purchased and restored to its original condition by Charles and Patricia Ballard, but it is now used as a research room for the Garrard County Historical Society.