Civil War Veterans Buried In Washington State - Jacob Huffman

93^rd ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
Organized: September, 1862 Chicago Cook County, IL
Mustered In:  10/13/1862 Chicago Cook County, IL
Mustered Out: 6/23/1865 Louisville, KY
Discharged: 6/25/1865 Chicago Cook County, IL

REGIMENTAL HISTORY:

 

The 93^rd Illinois was a three year, western theater infantry regiment. It was organized in Chicago, IL.
 

Having been mustered into Federal service on 10/13/1862, the 93^rd departed the state the following day and proceeded to Memphis, TN. From there it joined the forces of Union Gen. U.S. Grant as they moved into northern Mississippi. By year's end the unit had returned to Memphis. 
 

On 5/14/1863 the 93^rd received its baptism of fire at Jackson, MS. There, it lost three killed and four wounded. Two days later the battle of Champion's Hill cost the regiment one officer and thirty seven men killed, one hundred seven men wounded and one officer and ten men missing.
 

Next came the 5/22/1864 assault on the Rebel fortifications at Vicksburg. During the initial charge the 115^th lost ten or twelve killed and wounded. Later that same day, a second assault cost an additional five killed as well as one officer and forty nine men wounded.
 

In late November, 1863 the 93^rd was in front of Chattanooga, TN. There, it crossed the Tennessee River and threw up a “tete de pont”, occupying it until a pontoon bridge was built. The following day, at Missionary Ridge, the regiment lost twenty killed, forty two wounded and twenty seven missing.
 

At Allatoona, GA (10/5/1864) the 93^rd lost an additional twenty one men killed, three officers and forty nine men wounded and ten missing. The year concluded with the "march to the sea."
 

1865 opened with the 93^rd trekking northward through The Carolinas. That campaign ended and The War concluded the 93^rd travelled to Washington, D.C. where it participated in the grand review before moving to Louisville, KY for final muster.

 

REGIMENTAL LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded:  4; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 1; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 147*   ; Enlisted Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.:142 
 

* The 93^rd was one of but a few Federal regiments that, during the American Civil War, lost more men in combat than it did to disease, etc.

SOLDIER:
Residence: Dover Bureau County, IL   Age: 24.6 yrs.
Enlisted/Enrolled: 8/15/1862 Dover Bureau County, IL   Rank: Pvt.
Mustered In: 10/13/1862
Mustered Out: 6/23/1865 Louisville, KY
Highest Rank: Cprl.
Rank At Discharge: Cprl.

PERSONAL/FAMILY HISTORY:

 

NOTE: The birth - to - death biographical profile of Jacob Huffman was created in July, 2021 during the Covid-19 medical pandemic. It contains less depth of detail than many other biographies within this website because military service, pension and other veteran-related files housed in Washington, D.C.'s National Archives were not available. At a later time those documents may be obtained and the data contained therein added to the narrative which follows.
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Jacob W. Huffman was born 1/18/1838. The place of his birth was Tuscarawas County, OH.
 

Parenting Jacob were Isaac Huffman (b. 1812 PA - d. 3/10/1854 Stone Creek Tuscarawas County, OH and Fanny (nee Weible b. 6/21/1812 Westmoreland County, PA - d. 10/31/1899 Dover Bureau County, IL. Isaac and Fanny had married 9/16/1835 in Tuscarawas County, OH. Although it is not documented, the Huffmans were likely a farming family.
 

Isaac and Fanny produced eight children. Of the eight, Jacob was the second born and the eldest male. Older than he was Anne Huffman (b. 5/16/1836 OH). Younger than he were Elizabeth Huffman (b. 4/24/1839 Tuscarawas County, OH), Mary "Mollie" Huffman (b. 12/1842 Coshocton County, OH), Samuel Huffman (b. 10/1844 Tuscarawas County, OH), Lydia Jane Huffman (b. 10/24/1846 Dover Tuscarawas County, OH), John Jefferson Huffman (8/7/1849 Mt. Pleasant Tuscarawas County, OH) and Daniel Ward Huffman (b. 3/4/1850 Stone Creek Tuscarawas County, OH.
 

As noted, all of the Huffman children were Ohio born. The communities in or near which they were birthed vary, so it would appear that Isaac and family frequently moved around.
 

The U.S. Census of 1860 found Jacob working on a farm in Illinois. Two years later, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army, farmer Huffman listed his address as Dover, IL.
 

At the time of his military enlistment we gain a glimpse of Jacob Huffman the physical being. He was five feet six inches tall, had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and dark hair.
 

Without accessing his military service records we don't know much about Private- then Corporal - Huffman's period of enlistment in terms of any trials and tribulations he may have faced. We do know, however, that he survived The War and returned to civilian life.
 

It would appear that, with military life behind him, Jacob went back to farming in Dover, IL. It was there, in 1865 that he married.
 

Jacob's bride was Mary Eliza Jay.  Eliza had been born 11/19/1845 in Ohio.
 

During their years together Jacob and Eliza produced eleven children. Those children were Frank L. Huffman (b. 3/20/1865) Princeton Bureau County, IL. Amy Huffman 2/18/1867 Bureau County, IL - d. 10/28/87 Bureau County, IL), Allie (b. 2/18/1867 Bureau County, IL), George Edwin Huffman (b. 6/5/1868 Bureau County, IL). Ardilla Huffman (b. 4/7/1870 Atchison County, KS), Isaac Delphas W, Huffman (b. 9/4/1871 Bureau County, IL), Celia Elizabeth Huffman b. 1/4/1873 Bureau County, IL), Harry B. Huffman (b. 8/7/1875 KS), Charles Emmett  (b. 12/3/1877 Bureau County, IL), Leroy Henderson Huffman (b. 5/3/1880 Dover Bureau County, IL) and Edna D. Huffman (b. 4/23/1883 Bureau County, IL).
 

Between the birth of George (6/5/68) and that of Ardilla (4/7/70) the Huffmans quitted Illinois and took up farming in Grasshopper Atchison County, KS. They remained in Kansas at least through 8/7/1875 and yet, it appears that in the intervening years Eliza would return to Bureau County to birth her children. . Finally, by 1880 the entire family had reestablished residence in Dover Bureau County, IL.
 

It was also in 1880 that Jacob began the paper chase to receive a U.S. Government disability pension based on his days of Civil War soldiering. That process was begun on 6/24/1880. Interestingly, it appears he never completed the paperwork to receive a monthly stipend or for some other reason payments were never awarded. Without accessing his pension files only guesses can be made as to why he may never have received a pension.
 

We have no U.S. Census data on the Huffmans from 1890 because most of that tally was destroyed by fire. We do know, however that in 1888 the Huffmans had removed from Illinois to the Seattle, King County area of the Puget Sound region of Washington State. Why the Huffman’s were drawn here and exactly when they arrived are unknowns.
 

Tragically, on 10/27/1894 -Eliza, daughter Adelina as well as Adelina’s daughters - perished in a Seattle hotel fire. * * According to Northwest researcher Denis Ottoson the women "probably were in town for a "ladies' holiday, teaching the girls to shop and treating them to ice cream." At the time of the deaths the Huffman's were likely living in or near the eastern King county community of Fall City because it was in that community’s cemetery that Eliza was/is buried.
 

The U.S. Census for 1900 found Jacob still residing in Fall City. Perhaps he was still recovering from the grief of losing his wife, a daughter and granddaughters because the head of the household was not he, but married daughter Celia and her husband Harvey Norton.
 

By 1910 Jacob was back as the head of his Fall City residence. With him was son Frank and wife as well as a female servant.
 

Jacob W. Huffman died on 3/12/1912. The cause of his passing noted as "chronic valvular heart disease."  He was/is buried in the Fall City Cemetery with Eliza.
 

**MANY BURNED IN A HOTEL

NEARLY A SCORE OF DEAD IN THE RUINS AT SEATTLE.

Most of the Bodies So Charred as to be Unrecognizable-Thrilling Scenes as Guests, Awakened Shortly After Midnight, Leaped from the Windows---Pathetic Groups of Dead---List of Transient Guests, Some of Whom Perished.
 

SEATTLE, Washington, Oct. 27.----A fire which resulted in the death of at least sixteen persons and the injury of three more started in the West Street House, at Columbia and West Streets, at about 1 A. M. At 3 A. M. the fire was under control, and an investigation of the ruins was made.

Nearly all the dead were so badly burned as to be unrecognizable.

The Identified Dead.

By shreds of clothing the following have been identified as among the dead:

ANDERSON, C. WILSON.
BOLTMAN, F. W.
HUFFMAN, Mrs. J. W., and two daughters.
McDONALD, ANGUS.
OTTESEN, ANDREW.
OTTESEN, Mrs. ANDREW.
SORBY, M. C.
WILSON, C.

The Injured.

The injured are as follows:

ANDERSON, C. B., hand burned, body badly bruised.
GLASS, D. B., leg broken and back injured.
HAVLIN, Edward, badly injured about the head and neck by jumping.

The Transient Guests.

The following is a list of the transient guests, as shown by the register, which was saved:

BELLMAN, C. L.
BOLLMAN, F.
BOTHWELL, GEORGE.
CHASE, ALLEN D.
CHESTERMAN, JOHN.
CLARK, J. F.
COFFERY, W. P.
DEDRICKSON, M. G., Port Blakeley.
FRASER, D.
GIBB, C. L.
HICKS, F.
HUSEMAN, Mrs. J. W.
KINGSTON, JOHN, Seattle.
LAWSON, M. J.
McDONALD, D., Seattle.
McSORLEY, M.
MATHESON, WILLIAM.
McGUIRE, JOHN.
McNAIR, WILLIAM.
MERME, JAMES.
MOON, GEORGE J.
PETER, CHARLES A.
SCHMITT, REDMOND T. SIMONSON, R. D.
SMITH, Mrs. J., and friend.
WELSON, A.
JOHNSON, C. D.

The flames were so rapid that the occupants of the building were taken by surprise, and there was a wild panic, men and women jumping from the windows in their night clothing.

An explosion was heard in the kitchen in the rear part of the second story by S. F. Butler, a son of the proprietor, and immediately the flames began to spread through the dry inner timber of the corrugated-iron building, which was one of a range of two-story structures owned by J. N. Coleman on the east side of West Street.

Butler raised a cry of fire, which aroused the guests, with whom the house was crowded, and a rust for life followed. The flames were already roaring through the long, narrow halls. Finding exit by the stairways cut off, the people began to drop from windows on both sides of the building, the flames closely following them. W. C. P. Lewis, who was in Room A at the corner, dropped twenty feet to the ground and escaped unhurt. Joseph A. May, who was in room 64, tied the sheets together and used them as a rope to let himself down. D. B. Glass jumped out of a window, but not until his hair was burned. He struck on his back on the ground. He was picked up and carried to the passenger station, and, with two other injured persons, was taken to a hospital.

One man, whose identity is not known, was caught in the rush of the flames near the top of the West Street stairway, and sank down overcome with the smoke and heat. The firemen fought to keep the flames away from his body, but were driven back.

It was only after the Fire Department had got well to work that the full seriousness of the affair began to be suspected. There was some unaccountable delay in getting the water on, owing to the slowness of the fire boat getting up steam. When at last the pressure did come, the fire was raging furiously, and all that could be done was to confine the flames to the block where they started.

The first dead man was taken out from a room over the Hill Syrup Company's store, and was found with one leg in his trousers and his shoes half laced. The body was discovered with the head covered with the bedclothes under the bed. It was so badly burned as to be unrecognizable, as were all the other bodies.

Policeman E. E. Bryant had discovered the flames soon after they burst forth and he turned in an alarm, which brought the Fire Department. The officer then assisted in saving the people who appeared at the windows.

He found Mrs. Susan Allen and her two-year-old child at the window on the West Street side, the woman crying for someone to save the child. Bryant shouted to her to drop the child. She did so, and he caught it in his arms. Depositing it on the ground, he snatched a plank and set it against the window. The woman slid down the plank, landing without injury.

H. F. Butler, the proprietor of the hotel, was in bed when the fire was discovered, and narrowly escaped. His son, S. F. Butler, was night clerk. He says that the fire undoubtedly originated from a kerosene lamp in the kitchen, on the upper floor, near the rear wall.

The saddest sight in the ruins was in an inside room off the passageway which led to West Street. There, calmly lying in a charred and blackened bed, was evidently an entire family. The father lay on one side, the wife next to him, and their child beside her.

Crouched in a corner of a small inside room were two charred bodies, the first that of a man in the attitude of one fighting an impending danger, and immediately behind him, on bended knees, and clutching his wrist, the skeleton of a woman.

The New York Times, New York, NY 28 Oct 1894

The coroner's jury deliberated for an hour before returning the verdict early Saturday evening. Predictably, they found the victims died as the result of an accidental fire in the kitchen of the West Street Hotel which was caused by the explosion of a kerosene lamp. 

Comments

West St. Hotel Fire 1894

Tom Miller (not verified) - 26 Apr 2012 - 12:06

My 2 great-grandmother is the one listed as J. W. Huffman. Her name was Eliza "Jay" Huffman and she was married to Jacob W. Huffman, they lived in Fall City, WA. Their daughter Allie "Huffman" Hancher who lived in Rolf, Iowa was staying for about a month's time with her parents in Fall City. Allie was pregnant and had with her 3 small girls Erma 5, Pearl 3 and Amy 1. On returning to Iowa Eliza accompanied her daughter Allie and her grandchildren to Seattle, they were to spend the night at the Seattle West St. Hotel and Allie was to catch the train back to Iowa in the morning. All five of them are buried in the Fall City Cemetery.

Buried at Fall City Cemetery