acres of land, comprising the old Sime homestead adjoining Nevada on the south, and here he devotes his attention to general agricultural pursuits. His farm presents a neat and thrifty appearance and everything about his place indicates his supervision and progressive methods. He has been a member of the Lutheran church during much of his life and he also holds membership with the Modern Woodmen of America. He is recognized in the community as a man of sterling worth and high regard is entertained for him by all who know him.
JOHN WILLIAM HUFFMAN.
One of the best farms in Indian Creek township belongs to John William Huffman, who has been a resident of this county for the past six years. He is a native of this state, having been born in Iowa county on the 31st of March, 1859. His parents, David S. and Rachel (Ford) Huffman, were both natives of the Buckeye state, the father coming from Belmont county and the mother Harrison county. They were married in Smyrna, Ohio, in 1856 and immediately thereafter came to Iowa, locating on a farm of eighty acres, which two years previously the father had entered from the government. They had driven across the country from Ohio, bringing their few household goods with them, and on arriving here Mr. Huffman, with the assistance of his brother-in-law, J. P. Moore, cut the timber from which, after it had been sawed, they erected a house, which was little more than a shanty but they continued to live in it until they could secure a better and more comfortable home. During the Civil war when the call came for more troops to go to the front in 1864, the father responded and on the 21st of February enlisted in Company I, Twenty-second Iowa Volunteers. The exposure and privations, together with the long marches and hardships of camp life, undermined a constitution inured to the hard life of the frontiersman and on the 25th of July, 1865, he returned home, discharged on account of disability, and here on the 11th of October, 1866, he died of quick consumption.
Much was required of John William Huffman after the death of his father, as he was the oldest member of the family, but he was fully equal to all demands and at the age of fourteen years was practically running the home farm. For eighteen years he continued to operate the farm for his mother, but in 1888 he rented it and for eleven years worked independently.
On the 12th of December, 1888, Mr. Huffman was united in marriage to Miss Ida Huntsberger, of Iowa county, a daughter of John and Mary (Addinger) Huntsberger, who came from their native state of Pennsylvania to Iowa in an early day and after living for several years in Muscatine county they removed to Iowa county, where they resided up to the time of their deaths.