Puffer, John M

Puffer, John M.

a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was born in Richford, Vt., Jan. 29, 1835. From a child he was noticeably correct in his habits, and thus well fitted for a life of self-reliance. His mother died when he was about six years of age, and his educational opportunities were limited to the district school and a few terms at the academy. He was converted in 1852, and united with the Methodists. He was licensed to preach in 1856. The following year he entered the Troy Conference, and filled the following appointments: Johnson and Hyde Park, under the presiding elder; Essex, Milton, and Pittsford, one year each; Essex, N. Y., two years. By a change of conference boundaries he went into Vermont Conference in 1862, and was stationed at Grand Isle two years; at St. Alban's Bay, one year; at Highgate, Waterbury Centre, Randolph, and Chelsea, two years each; and at Barre, his last appointment, which he served only the fraction of a year, when called from toil to reward. He died Jan. 7, 1874. Puffer labored with great acceptance, and almost literally "ceased at once to work and live." His last sermon was upon a funeral occasion, while ill himself, on the text, "If a man die, shall he live again?" — Conference Minutes, 1874, p. 96.