James Needham Buffum (May 16, 1807 – June 12, 1887) was a Massachusetts politician who served as the 12th and 14th Mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts.

Buffum was born in North Berwick, Maine on May 16, 1807,[1][4] to Samuel and Hannah (Varney) Bufum.

[5] When Frederick Douglass was dragged out of a train car on the Eastern Railroad, Buffum helped Douglass fight off the mob.

[4][6] In 1845 Buffum went to Scotland with Douglass to protest against the Free Church of Scotland keeping money donated from American slaveholders.

This article about a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives is a stub.