Legendary Sheriff of McNairy

County from 1964-1970

Born on December 12, 1937, between Finger and Leapwood, Tennessee, Buford Hayse Pusser met each challenge of life head on and established himself as a man among men with a reputation that spread around the world. The second son and third child of Carl and Helen Pusser lived the first fourteen years of his life on a farm in rural northwest McNairy County. Buford attended grade school at Leapwood until his family moved to Adamsville, Tennessee when he was fourteen years old. While attending Adamsville High school he demonstrated his physical skills on the football field and in the gymnasium. Those who knew Buford remember his politeness and neatness.

Buford entered the service and was given a medical discharge because of his asthma. He then moved to Chicago where his physical strength and courage served him well in the wrestling ring. His wrestling prowess earned him the moniker "Buford The Bull" in the ring. It was during this time in Chicago that he met and married Pauline Mullins who was from West Virginia.

Chicago was a long way from McNairy County and in early 1961 Buford and his family moved to Adamsville where he took his first job as a law enforcement officer working with his father Carl. After serving three years as Adamsville’s Chief of Police, Buford entered the race for Sheriff of McNairy County in 1964 and was elected. This was the beginning of a road that would lead to tragedy and also make him a famous law officer. The illegal operations on the Tennessee-Mississippi state line which included gambling, prostitution and moonshine whisky had generated a reputation that invoked fear and caused others to take a hands-off approach when it came to making arrests and cleaning the state line of these lawbreakers. Buford took this in stride as the Sheriff of McNairy County and drew on his physical strength and courage. He began to clean up the State Line’s illegal operations. Because of his many encounters with violence, his reputation grew and spread throughout the country when the production of three "Walking Tall" movies and a television series were produced about the "Legend of Buford Pusser", an easy going, but take-no-lip Sheriff who did his job in spite of the threats and mean-spirited law-breakers he came in contact with. Buford’s reputation was one, which in the weekly newspaper reports, showed him to be a very present threat to anyone who broke the law in McNairy County. The paper ran stories very regularly showing Buford hauling in moonshine stills and the "Tennessee White Lightening" whiskey they produced, along with the whiskey makers who resided in the county jail. Buford’s reputation as depicted by the movies and TV show were embellished somewhat from reality, but most people who knew Buford will tell you that he was a powerful deterrent to crime and mayhem in McNairy County.

Buford is indeed a legend in law enforcement, but his many encounters with violence caused him and his family many heartaches. On August 12, 1967, on his way to the State Line, traveling New Hope Road in McNairy County, Buford and his wife Pauline, were ambushed near New Hope Church, leaving Pauline dead and Buford seriously wounded. Much of his physical endurance and idealism were compromised by this tragedy and Buford began touring the country promoting the movies and making guest appearances at special functions. His reputation as a person who cared grew through the many functions he supported dealing with children and other charitable organizations.

On August 21, 1974, Buford returned from a press conference in Memphis and stopped by the McNairy County Fair and Livestock Show before going home. On his way home from the fair, approximately six miles on Highway 64 West of his home in Adamsville, Buford’s Corvette left the highway and smashed into an embankment, throwing him from the car and leaving him dead. There are many tales and distortions of Buford’s life and rein as Sheriff, but one thing is perfectly clear... Buford Pusser is a Legend, his reputation as a "Law Enforcement Officer who took his job seriously" puts him in the company of many other American Law Legends from yesteryear.

Buford’s family includes his parents, Carl and Helen, and his brother John Howard Pusser who are all now deceased, a sister Gailya Pusser Davis and her family who lives in Collierville. Buford and Pauline had a daughter, Dwana Pusser Garrison who, with her husband, James Garrison, are the owners of Pusser’s Restaurant. Jamie and Dwana have three daughters, Tara, Atoyia, and Madison.

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