HUFF (or Hufft), Philip, of Wayne Co KY

Philip Huff was born about 1785, probably in Tennessee,[1] although Virginia or Kentucky is possible.[2] He died 1 Mar 1857 in Wayne Co KY at the home of his youngest daughter Minerva and her husband, Samuel Hensley.

About 1810 or 1811, Philip married Hannah Spencer (or Spenser),[3] probably in Wayne Co KY. Hannah was born in 1785 in Virginia or in Tennessee.

Several yDNA studies show Philip was not descended in the male line from the other known Huffs. But a great many autosomal DNA tests show he was closely related; my hypothesis at one time was that he was the son of a daughter.

• A Philip Huff of an earlier generation was married to Rachel Jackson or Rachel Harmon and left an 1823 will in Montgomery Co VA; among his children was his son Philip. Many family researchers have tried to connect our Philip to this family; others have been emphatic he is not the same Philip Jr. At this writing, I believe the son of Philip and Rachel was the Philip Huff, born ca 1775, who married Jemima Thurman and died ca 1820 in Cumberland Co KY.[4] No yDNA has ever linked our Philip Huff to other Huff/Hoff/Hough families.
• More recently, several other yDNA results suggest a German origin for a family named Huff or Huft or even Hoeft. This agrees with earlier indications Philip may have been related to Jacob Huff of Casey Co KY or to Benjamin Huff/Hough of Montgomery Co VA.

Granville W Hough stated in print that the Wayne Co KY Philip was born 1765, but later retracted and agreed that 1785 was the correct date.[5] He also wrote me on 18 Jul 1988 that “It is my present belief that Phillip Huff was son of Phillip and Rachel (Miller) Huff of VA or possibly a grandson. Circumstantially, this fits better than anything I know.”[6] He also stated the details of some of Philip’s children’s marriages, plus other data. Philip and Rachel had a son Philip, b ca 1785, who moved to Indiana, and Granville was “willing to consider the possibility that we have the two Phillips reversed in some way.”[7] He, of course did not have access to DNA or the results it can produce.

In summary, the connection, if it exists, between our Philip Huff and the Philip Huff who left an 1823 will in Montgomery Co VA naming his son Philip, is unclear.

There were two Philip Huffs living in the southern tier of counties in Kentucky around 1820. One lived in Cumberland County and was married there on 1 Feb 1796 to Jemima Thurman; they were divorced in 1819, and she is the head of her household in the 1820 census, age 26-45 with four sons and three daughters. Her husband does not appear again in Cumberland County records. The two recognized children of this couple were Mahala Huff, born ca 1805, and Jefferson Huff, born ca 1807, died 1881 in Utah.

Our Philip Huff was in Wayne County, Kentucky, as early as the 1816 tax list and in the 1820 census with a wife the same age and four sons and four daughters. His wife in 1850 was named Hannah, and the youngest daughter’s death certificate calls her Hannah Spencer. Children of this couple and their spouses were William Radolphus Huff (Esther Calhoun), Elizabeth Huff (Benjamin Denton), George Washington Huff (Malinda Denton), Philip Newton Huff (Catherine Shearer), Mary Ann Huff (John W Spann), Sarah Catherine Huff (William Wallace Waddle), Nancy Ann Huff (Jeremiah Calhoun), Robert M Huff (Margaret Shearer[8]), Jesse Huff (possibly Elizabeth Abbott), Minerva Jane Huff (Samuel Monroe Hensley), and two older daughters.

The question of whether these references are to one man or two has been raised in the past but generally rejected. Since my ancestor George W Huff was born in 1816, I want to know if his mother was Jemima Thurman or Hannah Spencer.[9]

I have Autosomal DNA matches to the DNA of several descendants of the following son and daughters of one or the other Philip Huff:

• Mahala (Huff) Kemp[10] (1806-1870) 5 matches, 6-10 cM
• Elizabeth (Huff) Denton[11] (1812-1876), 4 matches, 6-21 cM, some in two segments
• Mary Ann (Huff) Spann (ca 1820-bef 1865), 1 match, 6-35 cM in 3 segments
• Sarah Catherine (Huff) Waddle (1822-1880), 13 matches, 6-21 cM
• Nancy Ann (Huff) Calhoun (1823-1913), 15 matches, 6-16 cM
• Jesse Huff (1829-1885), 7 matches, 7-15 cM
• Minerva Jane (Huff) Hensley (1831-1916), 8 matches, 8-17 cM

However, yDNA tells a different story. Descendants of Jefferson Huff (Q-M242) have a different haplogroup than descendants of George W Huff and Philip Newton Hufft (G-M201).

For now and pending the discovery of an earlier wife for Philip of Wayne County, my George W Huff’s mother appears to have been Hannah Spencer.

Another time, Granville Hough wrote: “These were in Wayne County before 1822: Phillip Huff and Hannah family; Isaac Huff family; John [Huff] & Sarah (Kelsey) family (to Pulaski Co MO); Samuel Huff family (to Jackson Co AL); Wiley Hoff; Daniel Huff and Polly [Huff’s] family (Polly married [2] John Stinson. Or maybe it was Polly Stinson married [2] Daniel Huff by 1834.) “It seems quite probable that some of the above are descended from Phillip and Rachel, but not all. There must have been another early Huff or Hoff family passing through [Wayne Co KY]. Some of these used Dutch given names: Delemaris; Cemecus; Deadamica; Tunulia; Tilemaus. I suspect this was a Hoff family of PA or NJ origin who wound up in the area. Also, some of the later records show Hufft, and that name must be considered.”

What does appear from the records is that Philip was a poor man at least at the end of his life. The Wayne County Court authorized medical attention for his last illness.[12]

His census record follows:

1820, Wayne Co KY p 85: 310010/31010.

1830, Wayne Co KY, p 227: 1021001…/121011001… [2 females 30-40 & 40-50 were erased] (no slaves).

1840, Wayne Co KY, p 167, Philip Huff: 00101001…/01021001…

1850, Wayne Co KY, p 303. Phillip Huff 65 m farmer $50 VA, Hannah Huff 65 f VA.

Census and other records suggest two older daughters plus the following children for Philip and Hannah[13]:

1. William Rodolphus HUFF was born about 1810 or 1812 in KY. On 31 Dec 1845 in Wayne Co KY William married Esther CALHOUN, the sister of Jeremiah Calhoun, who married Nancy Ann Huff, and the widow of Joel Wright.[14]Born ca 1815 in KY. Esther died possibly in Oct 1883. The 1880 census ties William to a grandson of Philip Huff: William Hough, born 1810 KY, resided with James, 34, and Elizabeth Denton, 31, and their four children. The household also included Jane Morris, 72, grandmother; William’s relationship was not stated. The censustaker checked KY for all birthplaces, using ditto marks, except Elizabeth’s father, who was born in NC. Ancestry.com has James Denton, born ca 1846, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Huff) Denton, and Elizabeth, born ca 1849, daughter of Thomas J & Jane Morris, and their 4 children, residents of Wayne Co KY. William and Hetty had the following children:
   • Sarah J (ca1848-)
   • James Radolph (ca1850-)

2. Elizabeth HUFF was born on 29 Dec 1812 in KY and died on 10 Apr 1876. On 3 Nov 1831, with Philip Huff as surety, Elizabeth married Benjamin DENTON, son of Isaac DENTON & Mary S –?–, in Wayne Co KY. Born in 1802 in NC, Benjamin probably died in the 1850s. One of their descendants was named Spencer Denton, possibly for Elizabeth’s mother’s family. They had the following children:
   • Martha A (ca1832-)
   • Marion (1834-)
   • Isaac Newton (1837-)
   • Phillip (1840-1914)
   • Mary S (ca1844-1886)
   • John W (1845-1924)
   • James W (1845-1935) 
   • William M (1847-)

3. George Washington HUFF[15] was born on 28 Feb 1816 in KY and died in Hart Co KY, on 22 Jul 1902. About 1834 George Washington married Malinda DENTON, daughter of Isaac DENTON & Mary S –?–, in Wayne Co KY. Born on 10 Jan 1812 in Stokes Co NC, Malinda died in Hart Co KY, on 30 Dec 1901. They had the following children:
   • Clayton M (1836-1928)
   • Lorenzo Dow (1839-1912)
   • William A (1842-1919)
   • Isaac Newton (1845-1925)
   • Hannah Cathern (1847-1891)
   • John W (~1850-)
   • Hardin Thomas (1855-1943)

• Philip Newton HUFF was born about 1819. Philip died in Placerville, El Dorado Co CA, on 7 Feb 1878. On 24 Dec 1840, he married Catherine SHEARER in Wayne Co KY. Born ca 1816 in Ashe Co NC, the daughter of William Christian and Sallie Walter Shearer, Catherine probably also died in CA. They had the following children, according to their 1870 census in El Dorado Co CA, all born in California:
  • George W (1842-)
  • Margaret Angeline (1846-)
  • J W (1849-)
  • William N (1851-)
  • Hattie L (1853-)
  • Joseph Benson (1854-)
  • Isaac N (1856-)
  • B F (1859-)
  • Charles E (1862-)
  • Thomas J (1864-)

5. Mary Ann HUFF was born about 1820. On 4 Oct 1843, she married John W SPANN in Wayne Co KY. Born in 1818 in Rutherford Co TN, John W died in Poplar Springs, Monroe Co KY. They had the following children:
   • Verlinder (1844-)
   • George A C (1846-)
   • William A (1848-)
   • James (1850-)
   • Sarah (1854-)
   • John W (1856-)
   • Shelby N (1859-)

6. Sarah Catherine HUFF was born on 1 Oct 1822 in KY. Sarah Catherine died in 1880. On 29 Jul 1849, with Philip “Hufft” and John B Waddle as sureties, Sarah Catherine married as his second wife William Wallace WADDLE in Wayne Co KY. Born on 30 Aug 1821 in Tellico or Grainger Co TN, William died in Waynesborough, Lincoln Co KY, on 28 Jul 1893. They had the following children:
   • Sarah Jane (1849-)
   • Isaac Newton (1850-)
   • Thursa Caroline (1852-)
   • Gaelon William T (1853-1836)
   • Martha Arzelle Belle (1855-1939)
   • Mary A (Died as Child) (1856-1856)
   • John Alexander Campbell Samuel (1858-1933)
   • James Robert (Died as Infant) (1860-1860)
   • Minerva Catherine (1860-)
   • 2 children (1864-)
   • Angeline (1868-1939)

7. Nancy Ann HUFF was born in Apr 1825 in Wayne Co KY. She died in Pulaski Co KY in 1913. In Nov 1845, she married Jeremiah CALHOUN in Wayne Co KY. Born in 1819 in KY, Jeremiah was living in 1880 in Pulaski Co KY. They had the following children:
   • Philip Ephraim (1852-)
   • Hannah C (1854-)

8. Robert M HUFF was born in say 1827. On 2 Sep 1847, he signed a bond indicating his intention to marry Margaret SHEARER in Wayne Co KY; Margaret was the sister of Catherine Shearer who married Robert’s brother, Philip Newton Huff. Robert has not been found in found in the 1850 or 1860 census. Margaret was listed as “Margaret Shearer” in her parents’ household in 1850, so the marriage must not have taken place. Perhaps Robert died in 1847.

9. Jesse HUFF was born in about 1828 and died in 1885 in McCreary Co KY. He married Elizabeth ABBOTT and had three known daughters:
   • Matilda Jane (b 1847)
   • Luverna (b 1856)
   • Nancy Emerine (b 1861)

10. Minerva Jane HUFF was born on 13 Sep 1831 in Wayne Co KY and died in Hart Co KY on 30 Jan 1916. Minerva Jane married as his second wife Samuel Monroe HENSLEY. He was born about 1825 in VA and died before 1900. Children of his first marriage, according to the 1860 census were John W, Marshall E, Harriet L, Mary Jane. Minerva’s 1900 census says she had not children; nonetheless, it is likely she and Samuel had the following children:
    • Samuel Thomas (1859-1935)
    • Frank W (1861-)

© 2008, 2019 Kathy Alvis Patterson

[1] In 1880 and 1900 George W Huff said his father had been born in TN. Nancy Ann (Huff) Calhoun said her parents both born in KY. Minerva Jane (Huff) Hensley said TN and VA in 1880, KY and TN in 1900. Many researchers at Ancestry.com have Samuel and Sarah (Hix) Huff as Phlip’s parents; this has no known evidence.

[2] Early letters to us from Luther Huff said the family went first to Clinton Co in KY before setttling permanently in Wayne Co.

This Huff family might be related in some way to Philip Newton of Harlan Co KY, 1830.

[3] The 1916 death certificate of Minerva Jane (Huff) Hensley gives her mother’s maiden name as Hannah “Spenser.” Several gedcoms at Ancestry.com say she was a grandaughter of Nathan and Hannah (Loofborough) Spencer, of Loudon co VA and Belmont Co OH, a daughter of either Nathan and Ann (Smith) Spencer or of John and Lydia (Phillips) Spencer, but both of these couples had daughters named Hannah who have been identified along with their husbands. It would be better to look for Hannah in a family near Wayne County.

There was a John Spencer in 1820 Wayne Co KY, p 94, 000001/33110. That’s a lot of daughters. He was on the same page as Phillip Huff in 1830: 00110001/0001001. He was born in the 1770s, before ca 1775, and was probably too young to have been our Hannah’s father.

[4] Ferhuson, Jack. “Early Times in Clinton Co KY,” Vol I, p 124, reads: “The Huff brothers—Daniel, Philip and William—were early settlers in this territory. According to the 1799 list Daniel had 200 acres and William 100 acres, both on ‘Spring Creek.” The Huff brothers were sons of Philip Hoff  who came to Philadelphia from Rotterdam, arriving December 30, 1768. He died in Montgomery Co VA ca 1823. William Huff purchased the 200 acre tract of Stephen Robinson, for which he received a patent form the state in 1809. He also patented John Robinson’s farm when the latter moved to TN. In 1814 he sold 112 acres to Robert Cross and 87 1/2 acres to Gibbons Cross, apparently keeping 1/2 acre. He bought 100 acres from Preston Back on Smith Creek the next year.” Note reads: “Phillip Hoff of Cumberland Co KY”—Robert Allen Huff, 1972. Daniel Huff was commissioned a lieutenant May 20, 1800 in the ‘Cornstalk’ militia, assigned to the First Battalion, 46th Regt, Cumberland Co, and was promoted to Captain Sep 5 1802. The regiment was organized 24 Dec 1799.”

[5] Granville W Hough, Hough and Huff Families of the US: 1620-1820 Southeastern States, Vol III, 1974, p 72.

[6] Hough, op cit., Vol III, p 61. In 1992, Granville Hough wrote that he had discarded the theory that this Philip was part of the family of Philip and Rachel (Jackson) Huff. “Another negative factor is the tradition of having come through Harlan Co. None of Phillips’s children are known to have done that. “Phillip was in Wayne Co [as were] Isaac and John in the 1810-1830 era. Neither Isaac nor John can be traced. All may have a common origin.”

[7] I believe this states he had at present in mind two couples who could have fit Philip as parents: Philip and Rachel (Miller) Huff  or Philip and Rachel (Jackson) Huff.

[8] Margaret was listed as Margaret Shearer in the 1850 census, residing with her parents. Robert is not seen in any other known records so may have died after the bond was posted in 1847. There is no marriage record on file in Wayne County.

[9] See my speculation from a few years ago about Hannah’s family at https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=alvispat5&id=I19034. However, my DNA matches to descendants of Samuel Spencer of Barren Co KY might come from his wife, Susan Bagby, my first cousin five times removed from a different line.

[10] Her husband John Evan Kemp is not from the family of my Polly (Craighead) Kemp. John E Kemp was born in Iredell Co NC, where his grandfather John moved from Stafford Co VA. Polly’s husband John Kemp was from Bedford Co VA. They are not my ancestors anyway.

[11] Her husband Benjamin Denton was the son of my Isaac and Mary S (–) Denton, so her children may share Denton genes with me in addition to Huff genes.

[12] Wayne Co KY Vital Records, Vol. 5, 1978, p. 171: “County Court Claims. 1857 January 29th. It appears to the undersigned that Phillip Huff is laboring under serious indisposition and that he wholly is unable to pay a Physician for waiting upon him, therefore John B. S. Frisbie is hereby authorized and directed to administer and attend him during his sickness at the charge of the Court to the amount of $20 if he needs it. M. P. Buster.”

[13] “Huff Family Tree” at Ancestry.com lists a son Jesse, b 1830 TN. But there was no son born ca 1830 in this family’s 1840 census. I have not found Jesse in 1850.

He did have a possible oldest son John P Huff, who married Sarah Woolbridge in Wayne Co KY ca 1834.

[14] From Wilburn Dennis Wright (wdw62539@comcast.net) 12 Sep 2007: Jesse Emerson Wright was the first child born to Joel Wright & Esther “Hetty” Calhoon ca.1835 in Wayne County. Jesse E(merson) Wright birth was followed by a sister Elizabeth J(ane) Wright b-1838 then a brother, Joel S. Wright born Dec. 5, 1840. Their father Joel Wright died in 1842/3 and their mother Esther “Hetty” (Calhoon) Wright married 2nd William R. Huff December 31, 1845 in Wayne County. While his siblings are shown in the 1850 census in the household of their step father William Huff & mother “Hetty” (Wright) Huff, Jesse E. Wright is shown living in Union County and working as a laborer. Jesse Emerson Wright married Margaret Elizabeth Wright (2nd cousin) May 25, 1858, at the home of William Huff (step father) & mother “Hetty” (Wright) Huff.

Mr. Wright may be the origin of my previous posting:

Joel Wright & “Hetty” had four children: 1st Jesse Emerson Wright born 1835, Elizabeth J. born 1837, Mary Jane born 1839 and Joel S. Wright born 6 Dec 1840, before Joel Wright (Sr) died in 1843. Joel’s son Joel died 25 Dec 1858, Wayne Co KY. Jesse Emerson Wright married Margaret Elizabeth Wright, a second cousin, at William’s Huff’s house in 1858, with Jesse “Right,” who may have been her father, as witness. Joel and Hetty also had daughter Mary Jane, probably dead by 1850. [This statement has been edited Jan. 2016, due to uncertainty as to my sources and questions about the people involved. KP]

[15] Malinda Denton’s parents were living with their family in 1850 and with son Lorenzo in 1870. The proximity of father-in-law Isaac Denton to Philip Huff in various census years is the only evidence of his father. Apparently George’s sister Elizabeth married Malinda’s brother Benjamin; their granddaughter wrote that her mother was a cousin of my family.

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