There is always the question of how much "artistic license" the artist used in the drawing (i.e. "how accurate is this?"). An idea of the artists ability can be obtained by looking at family portraits we have for J.H. Huffman and J.R. Huffman.
One could almost suggest that the two family photos were used for the artist's rendition shown in the family page from the atlas. Good evidence for this is that the children in the John Riley photo are Millard Clifton Huffman (b 1870) and Lola May Huffman b 1874). It is apparent that the photo was taken in the same time frame as the sketches made for the 1879 atlas.
Knowing this, one would assume that the same care was taken in the drawings showing the home and mill site. Examining the various family photos I have, the earliest actual photograph of the Huffman house is that shown near the bottom of this blog--one that had been handed down to my cousins. Here it is cleaned up and sharpened a bit:
This can be compared to the same view in the sketch from the atlas cropped to show the same general area:
What is remarkable is that the sketched image is amazingly accurate--note the extension to the Huffman house to the right (south) which is no longer present. Even more compelling is the large tree in the front yard which is remarkably similar to the one in the photograph, and the fences shown around the house.
Knowing this it is now possible to identify most of the individuals in the photograph. On the far right, under the large tree are most likely John R. Huffman and his wife Rhoda Helen (Butler) Huffman, and in front of the house are John Harrison Huffman (b 1879), his first son John Henry Huffman (b 1903), and his wife Anna Antoinette (Hess) Huffman (b 1882). Based on the birth dates and assuming the identification of John Henry is correct, one can assume that the photo was taken about 1907-1909. There is no indication as to the identity of the individual on the left side of the photo. What is satisfying is that I now know that I have a photograph of my paternal grandparents taken when they were quite young.
Based on this evidence, we can look at the plat maps in the atlas to try to determine the layout of Huffman Mill. The following is a "cleaned up" version of the vicinity around the mill and farm:
There are several interesting observations. In 1879 (the date of the above map), the mill was apparently used as a grist mill ("G Mill") instead of a saw mill (although it could have been used for both). The church and school were north of the Huffman-Fulda road. We know that the Huffman-Fulda road (which passes by the cemetery) was relocated since 1879 (probably more than once). The following USGS topographic maps give us an idea of what changes were made. The first image is copied from the 1910 USGS map, while the bottom USGS map shows the current location of roads, buildings, etc.
Although the scales are not identical, it appears that as late as 1910 the road to the mill and other buildings was only a short dead end road, and it was extended some time after that to its current location.
No comments:
Post a Comment