William Thomas Huff Sr. (abt. 1785 - 1876)

Born about 1785 in Wilkes, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Joseph) Huff — married 20 Nov 1808 in Knox, Kentucky, United States

Descendants

Died 25 Nov 1876 at about age 91 in Norton, Wise, Virginia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Creed Huff [send private message]

Biography

William "Billy" Huff was born in about 1783 in North Carolina, possibly in Wilkes County which was formed in 1778. Wilkes County had been formed from parts of Surry County and Washington District (now Washington County, Tennessee. Billy passed away in 1871, most likely in or near Wise County, Virginia, where he resided. Wise County was formed in 1856 from Lee, Scott, and Russell counties. According to his great-grandson, Billy was buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery, Norton, Wise County, Virginia (see below).

Marriage

In Knox County, Kentucky, on 20 Nov 1808, William Huff married Sarah Joseph. The marriage was performed by George Brittain.^[1] Note that the marriage was recorded among 1812 marriages, but does appear to read 1808.^[2]

Sarah was born about 1783-1790. She is said to have been born in St Mary County, Maryland. She is alleged to have been a daughter of William Jospeh, said to be of Assyrian Jewish extraction, but born in Maryland.

It is supposed that Sarah died in Kentucky, possibly in Knott County, in about 1890.

Biographical Sketch

Excerpt from "Who Were the First Settlers of Norton"^[3]

"William Huff," as recounted by by his great-grandson, Patton Beverly of Norton, in 1941.

William Huff, born in North Carolina in 1783, and his wife, Sarah Joseph, born in Maryland in 1783, were very early settlers on Clear Creek [in an area apparently now in Wise County, Virginia, although Wise County was not formed until 1856. Wise County was formed from Lee, Scott, and Russell counties.] - prior to 1815. This Huff family through intermarriage were closely associated with the Hamiltons, Dotsons, and other early settlers at Ramsey [apparently now an unincorporated community in Nelson County, Virginia, east of Norton, Wise County, Virginia]. Also this Billy Huff was the great-grandfather of the late Mr. Patton Beverly of Norton.

In 1941, the writer had an interview with Mr. Beverly and was told the following story:

"Old Billy Huff lived on Clear Creek. He was my great-grandfather. One day he told his folks he had found a fine chestnut tree - just loaded. He took his axe to cut it down. He was very old, but active as he could be. He was gone so long his family became uneasy about him and went to search for him. He had the big tree about half down. There stuck his axe in the notch he had just cut and he had just pitched back from it - dead.

"Where he had cut a sprout down to get it out of the way, his breeches leg had caught on it, and as he fell it tore a hole in the leg of his trousers. That was on the top of Wagon Track Ridge, between the two prongs of Clear Creek. I was just eleven years old then, (Patton Beverly was born 1860, so old Billy Huff died in 1871) but I remember I helped carry him up the hill above where Laurel Grove Cemetery now is. His wife was a Joseph - Sally Joseph. She outlived Billy and went to Kentucky with her sons, James and Billy, Jr., and died there."

William and Sarah Joseph Huff had sons, Charles (1812-1862) who married Mary (Polly) Dotson, a daughter of Simon Dotson, James and William Huff, Jr. The latter married Phoebe, the oldest child of Schuyler and Susanna Dotson Hamilton. After the marriage of William and Phoebe they settled at West Norton which was then called Little Stone Gap. Their home stood at or near where the Dorchester Depot once stood.

Billy Huff, Jr., was a Primitive Baptist preacher and while living here at Little Stone Gap, a church was organized in his home on the 2nd Saturday in April, 1852, the first church ever organized in the present Norton corporate limits. The L & N Railroad took the site of the church building when it moved into Norton, after which the church built a house near the Coca Cola Bottling plant and held services there until around 1914, when it was sold and the church was moved to Esserville, where it is still active today, the first church organized in Norton and the oldest active church now in Wise County. Billy Huff, Jr., and his brother, James, moved to Knott County, Kentucky before the Civil war and lived there the remainder of their lives. He later organized several churches in Knott County.

Children

1. John (1809 VA - 18 Aug 1855 VA) was a Primitive Baptist minister who md Elizabeth WELLS (1810 VA - ) and lived in VA and KY. Their ch incl Rebecca; William Thomas; Cassandra "Cassy"; Sarah; Leanora; Mary; John; and Elizabeth.
2. Charles (1812 VA - 1862VA) md Mary "Polly" DOTSON (1817 - 1877), dau of Simeon and Phoebe (HOLLINGSWORTH) DOTSON, and lived in Wise Co, VA, in 1860. Ch incl Loucinda; William; Phoebe Jane; Elizabeth; John; Sarah "Sally"; and Julia A.
3. William (1815 KY - ) md Phoebe HAMILTON (1815 VA - ), dau of Schuyler and Susanna (DOTSON) HAMILTON and lived in KY as a Primitive Baptist minister. Ch incl Susanna; Charles; Nathan; Sarah; Malinda; Anna E.; William; and Robert.
4. James "Jim" (1819 KY - after 1870 prob. KY) was a Baptist minister in Pine Top, Letcher Co, KY, who on 20 Mar 1844 md Aurora WELLS (1826 VA - ) and lived in Letcher Co, KY. Ch incl Rebecca; Lorenzo Dow; Sarah; Cassandra; Phoebe Jand; Mary E.; Vina; Malinda; and Charles.
5. Lorenzo Dow ( Sep 1826 VA - after 1916, bur Bear Branch, Powell River, Wise Co, VA) md Patience HUNSUCKER (1833 VA - ) and lived in Wise Co, VA. Ch incl Sarah A.; Mary Elizabeth; twin Cassandra "Cassie"; twin Margaret "Peggy," ; Jasper Newton; and Lafayette.
6. Mary "Polly" ( ) md Jack GILLY.

Possible relatives

1. James Huff (c. 1765 Virginia - aft 1860 Harlan, Kentucky) the son of William Huff Sr and his wife Mary Hungate lived in Lee, VA at the same time.
2. William Huff Sr

Lineage and Y-DNA Analysis

Many descendants of the New Amsterdam Hoffs moved to Virginia according to historian and researcher Granville Hough^[4]. Most of the records in this profile were originally published in his book.

Paternal descendants of the New Amsterdam Hoffs (sometimes listed as Huff, Hough or other name variations) have a Haplogroup of Q-M242.

Censuses / Notes

• 1808 Knox Co, KY, William Huff md Sarah Joseph.

• 1810 Lee Co, VA, James Huff, Charles Huff, and William Huff on tax list.

• 1814 Lee Co, VA, One William Huff taxed for 60 acres on Powell Run.

• 1820^[5] Lee Co, VA, p 130 A, William Huff 000001-00102, Probable relative Charles Huff 100010101-100000 on following page,

• 1830^[6] Lee Co, VA, p 305, William Huff 1021001-0200001. Son John Huff also on same list.

• 1840^[7] Lee Co, VA, William Huff, 1M - 10 thru 14, 1M - 20 thru 29, 1M - 50 thru 59, 1F - 15 thru 19, 1F - 50 thru 59.

• 1850^[8] Western District, Scott, Virginia; William Huff 65, Birth Year: abt 1785, Birthplace: North Carolina; Sarah Huff 60, Birth Year: abt 1790, Birthplace: Tennessee

• 1860^[9] Wise Co, VA, p 358, William & Sarah, alone.

• 1870^[10] Gladeville, Wise, Virginia; William Huff 88, Birth Year: abt 1782; Birthplace: North Carolina; with wife Sarah 87 and family of apparent gson John & Rachel Huff.

Sources

1. ↑ possibly the George Brittain of https://sites.rootsweb.com/~seky/famfile/brittain/brittain.html
2. ↑ Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q28C-1T3W?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=L8B4-W7Z
3. ↑ "Who Were the First Settlers of Norton." Wise County Virginia Genealogical Research Site. http://vagenweb.org/wise/sketches/NortonSettlersMA.html
4. ↑ Granville W. Hough, "Hough and Huff Families of the United States, 1620-1820: The Southeast", Hertitage Books, Copyright 1972
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1820," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLC-7L9 : accessed 5 October 2019), William Huff, Lee, Virginia, United States; citing p. , NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 130; FHL microfilm 193,689.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH54-F9L : 17 August 2017), William Huff, Lee, Virginia, United States; citing 305, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 191; FHL microfilm 29,670.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHT2-WG7 : 20 August 2017), William Huff, Lee, Virginia, United States; citing p. 95, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 566; FHL microfilm 29,689.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8D5-VF9 : 12 April 2016), William Huff, Scott county, part of, Scott, Virginia, United States; citing family 901, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHM7-87Y : 13 December 2017), William Huff, 1860.
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFGX-7QB : 12 June 2019), John Huff, 1870.

• Max Huff, William and Sarah (Joseph) of NC, KY, and VA, file dated 20 Mar 1995

• Research by Michelle L. Tucker, Fords, NJ

• "William Huff and his Descendants." http://vagenweb.org/wise/sketches/WilliamHuffMA.html

• The Howards of Eastern Kentucky and Related Howard Families," by Mary Green and the Magoffin County Historical Society. Salyersville, KY : Magoffin County Historical Society, 1992, ©1987.

• "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q28C-1T3W : 29 November 2018), William Huff and Sarah Joseph, 20 Nov 1808; citing Marriage, Knox, Kentucky, United States, various county clerks and county courts, Kentucky; FHL microfilm 533,674.

See also:

• "Chronological Record of Wise County's Earliest Settlers." Clipping from Kingsport Times (Kingsport, Tenn) 7 Jul 1943, Wed. Page 6. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5069612/kingsport-times/
• https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L8B4-W7Z/rev-william--thomas-huff-sr-1785-1876 [unreliable family tree]
• Tree with 7 sources: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L8B4-W7Z