Looking Closely--Part II

The "Atlas of Spencer County, Indiana 1879" has a wealth of information about the Huffman Mill vicinity, including the farm, the mill, and the extended Huffman family.  A reprint of the atlas is available from the Spencer County Historical Society, Rockport Indiana.  I published the line drawing showing the Huffman home taken from the atlas earlier in this blog, and here I have cleaned it up a bit with Photoshop.

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. 

A little bit of background.

This was just an idea I had.  I have hundreds of photos taken in and around Huffman Mill Indiana (or Huffman's Mill, or just Huffman) over the years.  As I get older I realized that I really don't remember much about the town.  The mill itself was gone years before I was born, but there are reminders of it and its time in history in many of the papers and other artifacts I have or have seen.  Like everyone else I wish I had payed more attention to my dad and my grandmother Huffman when they told what they knew about the history and legends surrounding Huffman Mill.  I decided to see what I can derive from the various photos and information that I do have.  This blog might not go anywhere, but then who cares!

The first thing to look at is where the mill was located.  I have always been a fan of maps and mapping, so this seems like a good place to start.  The mill is located on the Anderson River 7.5 miles from where it enters the Ohio River near Troy Indiana "as the crow flies".  If you were on a flatboat, the river distance is 17.5 miles. If you are a fan of GPS systems, the mill site is at 38^o 06' 10.19" N, 86^o46' 40.94" W.  The town is easy to locate on many maps since it had a Post Office back in the early days and is thus on many state and local highway maps. 

This first image shows the problems I am sure I will run into.  These are plat maps from the late 1800's of the area around Huffman.  I scanned the images from the historical atlas of each county and put them together as best I could using Photoshop.  Notice how the Anderson river has two rather different locations in 1879 and 1894.  While the river does meander over the years many of the changes are obvious errors since whole hills certainly don't move that drastically!  I note that the covered bridge in the later image appears to be in the wrong spot as well.  You can mouse click on this (and other images in this blog) to enlarge them for better visibility.

This next image is again two images combined in Photoshop.  In this case an image captured from Google Earth is superimposed on a topography map of the area. One would expect both of these to have a fair degree of accuracy, and indeed, the agreement is excellent.

The next two images show the above map with first, the Google Earth image highlighted, followed by the same image with the USGS topology map emphasized.

Finally, I generated the following with all of the above combined--all this shows is that you can't put too much faith in older maps (and you can't overlay more than two maps)!  It is a challenge to try to overlay the older maps (1800's) with the Google and USGS maps.  Not only are there problems with scaling, but even simple things like the section and range lines do not agree well.  If you click on the image below it will enlarge enough to see the bridge and roads.

The lesson here is that while early maps are interesting and can give tons of information, not all that information is correct.  About the only thing the above image tells us is that given the approximate location of the section lines, the river and roads run all over the place!

The Mill at Huffman--Part 1

Let us now look at some of the images that still exist of the Huffman Mill and see if we can determine not only where the mill was positioned in the maps, but from where the photos were taken.  This is a fun exercise, but has to be taken with "a grain of salt".  The image below was one my parents had, and is probably the same image that appeared on a calendar that was produced by Benj. F. Huffman. 

 

While I don’t have the actual calendar, there are some images of it in the Spencer County Library in Rockport (a gift of Louise Miller, 2007).  The title of the calendar is “HUFFMAN’S MILL DAM”, with the following description: 

     “This Calendar is a reproduction of a picture of a Mill Dam constructed in the year 1816 by George Huffman, a pioneer of Spencer County, Indiana.  He was one of a family group of brothers and sisters who left Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1804 seeking territory wherein to build homes.

     “On the trail from Corydon the Vincennes this family group camped at a ford on the Anderson Creek.  Later George Huffman, being impressed with the country round about, returned to the place to build his home and in the year 1809 he received a title to a part of this homestead.

     “During the year 1812, due to the hostilities of the Indians in the war of that year, he and his wife were required to leave this home and go to settlements in Kentucky.  He joined the army as a volunteer and served as a soldier in that war.  Following the war he returned with his wife and infant son , John Harrison Huffman, who was born in Kentucky in 1812, and made this his permanent residence.  In time he acquired a homestead of more than 1200 acres o land.

     “The Huffman family were millwrights and in the year 1816 George Huffman constructed a dam just above the ford and built the original water mill for grinding corn and sawing lumber.  The settlers in the country came to the original mill for many miles to get their grist of corn and wheat ground and for lumber to construct their homes.

     “George Huffman died in the year 1854 and the son, John Harrison Huffman, being the only child, succeeded to his father’s estate and continued the pursuits of his father in milling, farming and stock raising until he accumulated a competency second to none in the county.  He was married in the year 1840 to Delilah L. Stapleton, a native of Kentucky, and to them were born nine children, six of whom lived to their maturity.  George W., the eldest, enlisted in the 49^th Ind. Vol. and was killed at the siege of Vicksburg in 1863.

     “Prior to the Civil War John Harrison Huffman constructed a steam mill a short distance wet of the water mill.  This mill was burned in 1864 and he then reconstructed the dam and water mill which he and he son, L. Q. Huffman, operated until the year 1888, at which time the mill was taken over by his son John R. Huffman, and was operated by him until the year 1912, when it was sold and removed and the dam was destroyed.

     “This calendar is presented to you with the compliments of Benj. F. Huffman, son of L. Q. Huffman, and the great grandson of the pioneer, George Huffman.”

A calendar for 1940 has the same image of the mill dam (cropped) with the following notation:


     "A steel gravaure reproduction from a photograph as it appeared some forty years ago.
     "The dam and the water-powered sawmill was build by John Huffman, a Hoosier pioneer in 1820 on Anderson Creek, at a point where it serves as a boundry<sic>  for Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana, also located on the old Vincennes-Corydon Trail connecting the old territorial capitol of the Northwest Territory and Indiana's first state capitol (respectively)."

By playing with the controls in Google Earth it is possible to actually see from where the mill dam photograph was taken.  One of the options in Google Earth is to overlay the aerial photographs onto a "topography" of the view. The following shows a possible position:

Looking straight down gives a better idea of where we are with respect to the bridge and houses:

The main reason for this exercise is not actually "locate" the mill site (it is still easily visible), but to better understand where it lies with respect to the town.  It is obvious from the above overview image that the "heart" of Huffman was the triangle made up of the river and the two roads (which are more or less in the same place now as they were in the 1800's).

Another hint as to the position of the mill is given in the following three images.  The first is a photo taken of the mill from the opposite side of the Anderson Creek just downstream from the dam.  When you look at the Google Earth images, you can see that there is a natural bend at that point where one could stand to take a photo.  It is not surprising then that photos of the remains of the foundation can be best viewed from the same position, as shown in the second image below.

 

Finally, with a bit of Photoshop manipulation, one can overlay the foundation columns in the two images and get the following composite photo.

What is of interest is the fact that the many of the various buildings in the background are still in existence or can be seen in other photographs, allowing one to better understand the size and position of the mill.  One of my goals this spring is to try and get a "new" photo from the same spot and see what is left now.

The Brick and the Bridge--Part 1 the Bridge

Perhaps the best indication of the historic background of Huffman Mill is the covered bridge crossing the Anderson Creek and the red brick farmhouse that was the home for many generations of Huffman's from the early 1800's well into the late 20th century.  As children we all looked forward with anticipation to visiting our grandparents and enjoying the wonders of Spencer and Perry Counties.  Whether it was the fried chicken on Sunday or the swimming in the Anderson Creek, the memories will always be there--even as they grow fuzzy with age!  I can remember how we would often "announce" our arrival with my father turning on the siren (he was an Indiana State Policeman) in his police car when we went through the bridge as we approached from Bristow.  Although the road is no longer gravel, the trip is just as wonderful today, with the overhanging hardwood trees and occasional fields often punctuated with wild turkeys as we approach the bridge (actually, the wild turkeys are a recent event, having been reintroduced since my childhood).









I confess that I never appreciated the length of the bridge until I started making panoramic photographs.  The image below was made from 12 individual photos taken from the "new" concrete bridge located just 50 feet downstream from the covered bridge.   When I first stitched it together I thought I had done something wrong, but it is as long as it looks!  The bridge is actually 150 feet long.

The bridge was built in 1864 by William T. Washer at a cost of $5,700.  Made entirely of yellow poplar it is somewhat unique in that it is one of only a few that uses the “modified Burr arch” construction.  In this construction the vertical posts are inclined away from the center.   According to the Indiana Covered Bridge Society the Huffman Mill Bridge is unique because the trusses were all made locally.

I would hate to guess how many photographs I have taken of the bridge through the years.  I present a few of my favorites below.

The above photo was taken in 2008, after the new bridge was constructed. Traffic is now restricted to pedestrian traffic only.

This photo was taken when the road was mostly an oiled gravel road--probably about 1970.  The next photo shows that the bridge is a wonderful backdrop for gatherings of the "Huffman Clan".

The final two bridge photos show the interior with the angled trusses and evidence that the bridge has suffered through more than its share of graffiti and bad music!

The Brick and the Bridge--Part 2 the Brick

Next to the bridge, the most photographed structure in Huffman Mill has to be "The Brick" as we refer to the Huffman brick home.  The earliest "image" I have of The Brick is from the "Historical Atlas of Spencer Co., Ind. 1879".  While one can question the accuracy of the engraving, the general architecture of the house is certainly the same as it stands today, and the relative positions of the house, bridge, and mill are correct.

The earliest actual photograph I can find is shown below.  This was originally from my grandmother (Anna Huffman) and given to Helen (Huffman) Butler's girls.

The next photograph was probably taken in the 1930's, before the fire that nearly destroyed everything.

In 1937 the house was nearly destroyed by fire, with only a few of the brick walls remaining.  Several photographs exist that were probably taken just before the fire and the aftermath of the inferno.  The next two photos are from the O.V.Brown collection in the Spencer County Library and show how one can use photos for a bit of "detective" work. 

The photo on the left shows Riley Huffman (holding wooden box) with my father (Millard W. Huffman), his brother .  Note that the columns on the second floor of the house are turned wood, the same as the columns on the house shown above.  The surveying instruments that Millard and Riley are holding were severely damaged in the house fire.  My father was able to retrieve them from the ashes and when I became interested in maps and surveying as a youth he gave them to me.  The instruments belonged to Daniel R. McKim who will be the subject of a later chapter.  Another indication of the relative times the photographs were taken comes from the small evergreen shrub just to the left of the front door of the house above.  The shrub, grown larger, is seen in the same position in photos after the fire (see below, with Lorene (Patmore) Huffman, Millard's wife) standing in the ruins..

Another indication that the photo shown earlier is pre-fire is the wooden porch under the summer kitchen entrance (to the left in the photo below).  Note that it is identical to that prior to the fire.

There are hundreds of photos of the house taken in the years after it was rebuilt.  The one below is one I took in about 1965.  Notice that the columns on the second floor are square!