The Huffman/Hoffman Kinexxion :: Susannah & John

Twelve years ago I received an email from Maggie Evans in response to my Genealogy Forum query regarding the parents of Susannah Huffman who married John D. Berlin (my 4th great grandparents). Maggie is a descendant of Susannah's sister, Elizabeth. A second email from Maggie included some family group sheets that had been prepared in 1987 by a 2nd cousin of her father. They provided the names of Susannah's parents (John and Catherine Coy Hoffman) as well as her grandparents (Detrick and Susannah Alder Hoffman) and her great grandparents (Michael and Maria Engel Hoffman). I was thrilled while at the same time a little disappointed - the information on the family group sheets was not documented and Maggie didn't have any additional information.



There was no doubt on my part that Susannah's maiden name was Huffman since family Bible records and her obituary (published May 6, 1880 in the Nappanee Weekly News of Elkhart County, Indiana) provided that information: “Mrs. Susan Berlin, wife of John D. Berlin deceased, died at the residence of her son-in-law, L.B. Winder in Locke, Elkhart County, Ind. April 22, 1880, aged 76 years, 1 month and 13 days. The deceased was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, March 9, 1804. On the 16th of February 1826, she was married to John D. Berlin, her maiden name being Huffman...” Death records and obituary notices for some of her children corroborate that information.



It should be noted that the “Huffman” surname has been found in documents with various spellings such as Hufmon, Hafman, and Huffan but more commonly as Hoffman. I will be using the spellings as found in the documents.



In the intervening years I was contacted by another Hoffman/Huffman descendant, Kathy Foster, who among other family documents, provided copies of the estate file for John Hoffman. John's will (probated in 1860 in Columbiana County, Ohio) only named a daughter Catherine, and two sons, Jacob and John. The latter two were appointed administrators of his estate.








The will of John Hoffman dated January 26, 1860

Columbiana County, Ohio Estate Packet 4992

I John Hoffman Snr of The Town of Washingtonville County of Columbiana in the state of Ohio. (Being weak of Body but sound of mind and memory.) Do make and Publish this my last Will and Testament in manner and form as Follows.



First it is my will and I hereby order that my body be decently buried and that Suitable Tomb Stone with inscriptions be put up at my grave, and that all my just debts and funeral Expenses be duly paid as soon as conveniently can be done after My decease.



Second I give and bequeath unto my daughter Cathrine Hoffman all that certain House and lot with the buildings and appertenances thereunto belonging in the town of Washingtonville and marked Number (29) Twenty Nine in the original Town plat and I further will unto my said daughter Cathrine One White heifer now in my possession (and if said heiffer should not live after my decease, My Executor shall furnish one of Equal Value out of my Estate. and I further will unto her all my household and Kitchen Furniture now in my possession.



Third I will that my Executors herein after named. Sell at public sale Two Lotts of ground Lying North of Town adjoining the A. & N. Rail Road and also all other property not herein before devised and the proceed thereof to be added to the remainder of my Estate.



Fourth, 4th) I will that the remainder of My Estate both Real personal or mixed, after the above bequest be satisfied and paid shall be Equally Divided among all my children Share and share alike And it is my will that the amounts already received by my children for which I Hold their notes shall be deducted out of the share due them severally and individually.



And Lastly, I nominate and appoint My sons Jacob Hoffman & Jacob D. Hoffman to be my Executors - of this my last Will & Testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and seal this (Twenty sixth. 26) Day of January AD one thousand Eight hundred & sixty.



Johan Hoffman Senr [seal]"

Uriah C. Helman, John Ryan {witness present at signing & Sealing}

John's will named his executors as his two sons, Jacob Hoffman & Jacob D. Hoffman but his sons were actually named John and Jacob D. as shown in the Letter of Administration dated February 13, 1860.







Although John's will did not list all of his children, there was a document in the estate file that listed the amounts paid to the heirs: Mary Walker, Susan Berlin, Elizabeth Stauffer, Catherine Huffman, Margaret Weikart, Hannah Ruckman, Henry Huffman, Sarah Pfeiffer, Jacob Huffman, and John Huffman, Jr.








All three images are from Columbiana County, Ohio Estate Packet 4992

Family History Library Microfilm 2033366, scanned May 26, ..


As with my Rupert and Switzer families in Columbiana County, I did very little research on the Hoffman family since receiving those documents - primarily due to lack of easily available resources. But having spent “a little” time at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City in the past year I've been able to follow up on the information provided by other researchers.

Freshwater Spring

Cool, clear water emits from the ground at this spring. The water comes out from under the rocks in the top right-hand portion of the photo.

Port Angeles

A few miles above Lake Crescent we came to the city of Port Angeles. Port Angeles is one of the northern most citys in Washington. From there you can catch a ferry, cross Strait of Juan de Fuca, and dock in Victoria, Canada. Regretably we did not have the time to take the ferry to Canada. I will save that trip for another time. (Remember it is another country, and now you need a passport to go there. Even for just a day visit.) In this photo you can see one of the ferrys. They were huge. We wern't able to get real close but did get some shots as some came in on there return from Canada. We visited some gift shops, had a bite to eat, and decided we would spend the night in Port Angeles as it was to late in the day to see Hurricane Ridge in Olympic Park, which was to be the high point of the whole trip.

Mt. Rainier, Ptarmigan Ridge

Tina drove Mark and I around to Mowich Lake and dropped us off. We would have to climb Ptarmigan Ridge and descend the easier Emmons Glacier to get to the other car waiting at the White River Campground. This picture shows the northwest side of Mt. Rainier. Ptarmigan Ridge is on the left.
Moss covered rocks by a small creek.
The "entrance" to Spray Park.
Kids playing on the snow at Spray Park.
Colorful rocks and Indian paintbrush on the lower slopes of Ptarmigan Ridge.
This is what we came to climb! A steep 2,000' face, the icy chute below the buttress and a short rock climb.
Our route is shown in red.
The snow was absolutely perfect. It was firm, but not too hard for crampons or ice axes.
The air was about 40 degrees and calm. There wasn't any rock or ice fall while we were climbing.
Mark swinging his ice tool near the top of the face.
The sun rising near the Stuart Range as seen from 12,000'.
After climbing the face, we had two options. One was to go left and cross below a large ice cliff and get right on the Liberty Cap Glacier. We chose to go right, break out the ice screws and climb the icy chute below the rock buttress.
The ice was also in great shape.
The views looking down on the glaciers and valleys were amazing.
The last obstacle was this exit gully. It was a bit of a challenge to climb rock wearing crampons and carrying a large pack.
Our shadows projected onto the rock as we head towards Liberty Cap.
Climbers moving over the sun and wind sculpted snow at about 13,500'.
Mark checking out a bergschrund near the summit.
Doug and Mark on Liberty Cap.
A black bear at Glacier Basin.
It was a nice change to approach a climb on Mt. Rainier from a new area. It was great to finally make it up Ptarmigan Ridge. This is one climb we will never forget!

Bjørn-Eivind Årtun interview with Rolando Garibotti

"We need to allow ourselves room to be more daring. Too often by over-analysing and over-intellectualising climbs we confuse fear for real danger. It is important to learn to distinguish one from the other. There is a big difference between getting intimidated by the steepness, difficulty or length of a climb, and real dangers such as avalanches, rock-fall, limited options of retreat, cold, etc. Venas Azules is a good example, an intimidating line that is reasonably safe, with little objective danger. Being brave and open minded without compromising your safety is the fine line we walk in our hunger for adventure."





Bjørn-Eivind Årtun



Great interview with one of the leading alpinists in the world today. More here:



http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=38981



And the online guide book with more info here:



http://www.pataclimb.com/



Torre Egger, Patagonia Photo by archivio Bjørn-Eivind Årtun

Venas Azules, Torre Egger, Patagonia.







Torre Egger, Patagonia Photo by Rolando Garibotti



The south face of Torre Egger in Patagonia and the line of the route established by the Norwegians Bjørn-Eivind Aartun and Ole Lied in December .





Thanks to Bruno for the heads up on this one!

Passiflora caerulea

Blue crown passionvine in bloom in my garden during June.

Budweiser Clydedale Horses

A day or so before I let for Las Cruces I saw on Facebook where a friend of a friend had seen the big red trucks with the Budweiser Clydesdales going down the freeway in Oklahoma so I checked their website to see where they were going and a mircle. They were to be in Las Cruces at the same time I was with a stop in El Paso, Texas for Thanksgiving parade. Dustin and I got in a quick trip to a mall where the horses would be on display for a few hours one afternoon for the public to see and photograph. That is me in the hat and pink shirt. It was very crowed but I expected that. you could get up near the horses for photos. Had to say back 5 feet and lots didn't seem to know how far 5 feet was. Then they would drive the horses in a big circle around the parking lot and the trucks, then stop for more photos.





I love this one. One driver looks bored, maybe napping, as does the dog and the other driver is yawning.







































































































From the back of the wagon.






















Big feet.