THE HUFFMAN HOMESTEAD
Franklin Township
The builder of this house, John Huffman, was a soldier in Lord Dunmore's
army in 1774.
John Huffman, the builder of this 8-room, two-story brick house, was a soldier in Lord Dunmore's army and was one of the 240 men who, under Colonel William Crawford, marched to the forks of the Scioto in October 1774 to attack a band of Indians who were seeking to escape.
At the the close of the war, Huffman returned to his home in Washington County, Pennsylvania, but in 1800 he returned to the Scioto and purchased 300 acres of land. Four years later he returned with his family and built a cabin near the site of the present Huffman home. In 1805 he erected a distillery near his cabin and shipped the product by flatboat down the Scioto to Portsmouth. He also engaged in farming and prospered in both businesses. In 1825 he built the present substantial structure which still maintains practically all of its original characteristics both interior and exterior. Its formal dignity, however, is relieved somewhat by the change in the road. What was formerly the front of the house is now the rear, a change which resulted from a complete relocation of the highway. This 125-year-old homestead, including a large part of the original farm, is still in the Huffman family, direct descendants of the original pioneer. It is located on Jackson pike, three miles south of Columbus in Franklin Township.
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