HUFFMAN, Ivan
Ivan Huffman
Source: Weik's History Of Putnam County, Indiana
Illustrated 1910: B. F. Bowen & Company, Publishers Indianapolis, Indiana
Author: Jesse W. Weik page: 548
Conspicuous among the enterprising farmers and stock raisers of Putnam County is the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch, a man whose life-long residence in the township honored by his citizenship and his success in the vocation to which his energies have been devoted have gained for him a prominent place in the ranks of those to whom Indiana is so deeply indebted for her honorable position among her sister states of the Union. Ivan Huffman belongs to one of the old and respected families of Putnam County, being the fourth son and the sixth child of Edmund and Louisa A. (Rightsell) Huffman, who were among the early pioneers of Washington township and a notice of whom appears elsewhere in this work. On the old family homestead in the above township, where his brother Jack Huffman now lives, the subject of this review first saw the light of day, the event having occurred on July 31, 1859. In common with the majority of country lads, his early experiences amid the bracing airs and healthful exercises of outdoor life were conducive to sound and symmetrical physical development and he grew up strong in body and able while still a vouth to bear his proportionate share of the labor of the farm. Reared under excellent home-training, he contracted good habits and his life was exemplary and, like a dutiful son, he assisted his father in the cultivation of the farm until his twenty-second year when he took to himself a wife and helpmate and began making his own way in the world. The young lady who agreed to share his labors and his fortunes and to whom he was united in the holy bonds of matrimony in 1881, was Mary, daughter of Michael Baumunk, a native of Owen County, and twenty years old at the time of becoming the subject's wife. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Huffman moved to the farm on which he still lives and which with certain other lands fell to him upon the division of his father's property in 1896. The place is locally known as the Athey farm from the fact of its having been entered by James Athey, grandfather of Lawrence Athey, the present recorder of Putnam County, the patent, which was issued in October, 1825, bearing the signature of John Quincv Adams, at the time President of the United States. The locality is not only the scene of one of the earliest settlements in the County, but is interesting from a historical point of view as well, the first court after the County organization went into effect having been held in an old sheep-shed on the Athey farm which had been cleared out and fitted up for the purpose. From his marriage until the division of the estate, as noted above, Mr. Huffman managed the farm for his father, but since that time he has carried on agriculture and stock raising for himself and with such success and profit that he is today one of the leading men of his vocation in the township. Originally he received as his share two hundred acres of the above place and an additional hundred acres of land on the opposite side of the river. Later he sold forty acres of the home farm. The residence which the family now occupy was erected by a former owner of the farm, but about five years ago Mr. Huffman rebuilt and remodeled the edifice, furnishing it with all the modern improvements and converting it into one of the most beautiful and attractive rural homes in the County. Standing on an imposing eminence about eighty feet above the bottom land skirting the river, the building is a noticeable structure and from it one can obtain a view of the surrounding country for many miles. Nothing has been spared in making it a comfortable and first-class home in every respect. Mr. Huffman raises a great deal of corn which he feeds to his livestock, and his high-grade cattle, hogs and horses are among the finest and most valuable in this part of the state. From the sale of his domestic animals he derives the large share of his income which for a number of years has been quite liberal and, as stated in the preceding paragraph, he is fortunately situated, being independent financially and among the substantial men and progressive citizens of the township in which he has always lived. Mr. Huffman takes little interest in political matters, although well informed on public questions and ever ready to give his support and influence to enterprises having for their object the welfare of his fellow men. He stands high in the Masonic order, belonging to the blue lodge at Knightsville, and the chapter and commandery at Greencastle. Mr. and Mrs. Huffman are the parents of three children, the oldest being Roscoe, who married Beulah Pallom and lives in the township of Washington; he is a farmer by occupation and a member of the Masonic fraternity; they are the parents of one son, Lawrence Edmund. Glem G., the second of the family, married Jessie Ozment and they have one child, Dorothy; he is interested with his father in agriculture and stock raising and lives on the home farm. Lois Clara, the youngest of the family, is a graduate of the public schools and lives at home assisting her mother with the duties of the household.