The Benjamin Huffman of the last two notes was a son (probably eldest) of Jacob Huffman and (according to my notes, but uncertain as to the source) Barbara Souther, or Sauder. Jacob was a son of 1714 John Huffman and his second wife Maria Sabina Volck. He appears to be the only Benjamin Huffman of the approximately correct age. B. C. Holtzclaw, who wrote about the family, seemed to be unaware of the Rev. War pension statement of Benjamin in support of Martin Deer, but suggested a birth year close to what Benjamin himself gave, which was 1757.
It is unfortunate that Benjamin Huffman did not enter his wife's name into his Bible record, for we are not positive who she was. Her given name was Caroline, and there is evidence that she was a Lipp. This suggestion arises because Jacob Lipp and Margaret, his wife, assigned 33 acres of land to Mary, daughter of Benjamin and Caroline, in trust for the use of Caroline. Another daughter of Benjamin, Sally, married Thomas Lipp; however, the connection may be through Margaret, not Jacob Lipp.
The Bible Record (of which Holtzclaw was not aware) and Holtzclaw agree on four children: Diana, Mary, Elizabeth, and John Godfrey. In addition, Holtzclaw gives Sally and Susanna. Marriage records for Sally and Susanna suggest that they may have been younger children, and perhaps the entry of their names into the Bible was neglected.
The two Early twins in the Bible record are a mystery. Perhaps they were the daughters of Mary by a first husband. Mary married Jonas Good in 1827, and the James Good entry suggests the Bible was in her possession. The date for James Good is very suspect as it was extremely hard to decipher and the 1811 given is probably in error.
The big mystery is, "Who is Heinrich Slaith?" Was he a first born son who died? Was Slaith a middle name or a surname? The reason I am nervous is that a Sleit occurs as a surname in the Baptismal Lists (“Hebron”), and this Sleit is associated with Huffmans.
Benjamin Huffman was a Revolutionary War soldier, but he never filed for a pension. He did file an Affidavit in support of Martin Deer, from which the information here is taken. For this reason, the information may have been overlooked by Huffman researchers.
I thank Gene Dear, who found this information and submitted it for publication in Beyond Germanna in Volume 3, the Number 1 Issue of January 1991. Not only does his information fill some gaps in history, but it has a human interest side as well. (I believe it also answers the questions here recently about a Diana Huffman, whose ancestor, i.e., father, was in the Revolutionary War.)
[I am sending this early; it would normally be sent Saturday morning.]
(25 Apr 03)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.