Thursday, October 7, 2010

Who is James David Huff ???

I promised I would introduce you to the Huff family.  If I can locate a copy of the genealogy one family member put together around 1955 I will be better able to document actual dates and places.  As it is, this will be from memories of events passed down from Momma over the years.

Momma's grand parents came over on a sailing ship from Hessen Kassel on the Rine, Germany with several members of the family  Just before reaching the shores of the United States one of the girls in the family died and was buried at sea.  Two brothers of the Wolf family moved to Pennsylvania.. one in the Lancaster area and one to the Northeast part of Pennsylvania into the lumber woods.  Peter Wolf married Christina Klinstiver and from that union we came.

Catherine married Arlen Huff and they lived in Poverty Point. Momma used to joke that she "never got far from poverty".

Catherine had three children.  Melvin, Fay and May.  Melvin was killed in a hunting "accident" that was probably murder.  After being shot he laid in a cold creek bed for hours before being found.  His hunting buddy was found at home eating supper and claimed to have no idea what had happened to Melvin.

Fay died of quick consumption (tuberculosis) while in a sanatorium.

May survived to at least 60 years of age.  May married Cyril Best and resided in Atascadero, California.  She will be visited when Momma and I leave for California at my age five in the next page.

Momma also raised two of her sisters children.  Verys and Vedus were born as twins and their mother died in childbirth.  Catherine took them in and raised them as her own.  Vedus died mysteriously in a swimming accident in the bay of Presque Isle, on Lake Erie at Erie , PA.  Another unsolved death in the Huff family.  Vedus was an excellent swimmer and while in a dingy, while going to a yacht party on the bay, was lost overboard and drowned. 

Verys married Richard J. Smith and became my somewhat, sort of like, sister who was to influence my life dramatically.  Richard (Dick) was a Marine who was in the second wave to hit Okinawa in WWII and also served shortly in Korea Conflict and was the reason I chose the United States Marine Corps. 

Dick and Verys had two girls, Terry and Cindy who also played a roll in my life that will never be forgotten.

When I came along, everyone else had either died or got married and family of their own.  Momma and I were alone together and could not have been a better match.

I will pick up next, with me being five years old, as we leave for California.

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