HUFF Family

Map: North Georgia
Map: North Georgia
Cass County was renamed Bartow County.
This is my old research map. Bartow is the county below Gordon county which I had filled in with red marker.
Map: Cherokee Nation
Old Map of Cherokee Nation
  • 1.Rome: Known as 'Head of Coosa'.
  • 2.Cartersville: Known as Hightower Town.
  • 3.Cassville: Not on map but would be just to the left of the capital 'C' on Canton.
  • 4.Dahlonega: Known as 'Lick Log'. Fort Dahlonega was one of the most infamous of the removal forts also called Fort Embry, it housed most of the area Cherokees prior to removal marches.
  • In Cass County (now Bartow) was Fort Means at Kingston. Between Cassville and Cartersville.
  • In Floyd County was Fort Rome.
  • In Murray County was Fort Hoskins.
  • Martha may have been born in any one of these Cherokee Villages: Two Ruins, Red Bank, Long Swamp or Hickory Log.

1840 US Census, District 827, Cass Co., GA
Roll 38 Page 112
John Huff b. abt 1800 Listed: Head of Household married Martha A. (Maiden Name Unknown)-Huff age 27 b. abt 1813 Cherokee Nation Georgia. d. abt 1880-85 Texas. Marriage about: 1832-1833.

  • Males:
    • 1 under 5yrs (Richard)
    • 1 five to 10yrs (Benjamin)
    • 1 40 to 50yrs (John Huff )
  • Females:
    • 1 under 5yrs (Elizabeth)
    • 1 five to 10yrs (Amanda)
    • 1 20 to 30yrs (Martha A.)
    • Harriet and John W. not yet born. Twins: b.1844.
    John Huff also had 4 Slaves as listed under Number of Slaves Only in the 1840 census. I checked the 1850 Slave Schedule under 'John Huff' and found:
      No Names or Ages of Slaves are recorded in the 1840 Census. The 1850 Schedule does list Ages and Number:
    • One Female, age 37
    • One Male, age 23
    • One Male, age 13
    • One Male, age 8
    Although John Huff is Deceased or left the Family, as he is not in the 1850 Census, the slaves would still be in his name on the Ownership Schedules. I believe all of them left Georgia with Martha Huff's party to Arkansas. I would not doubt that they took the surname Huff also. I found interesting that Martha and the female Negro Slave are the same age and all the kids are close to the same age. I hope to stumble onto clues to find them in the other census' or records.

    1850 US Census, Cassville, Cass Co.,GA
    Enumerated: October 5, 1850
    Dwelling: 1068. Family: 1058

    Martha A. Huff age 37 b. abt 1813 Cass Co .,GA

    Children:
  • Amanda age 16 b. 1834
  • Benjamin age 14 b. 1836
  • Elizabeth age 13 b. 1837
  • Richard age 9 b. 1841
  • Harriet age 6 b. 1844 (Twin)
  • John W. age 6 b. 1844 (Twin)

1850 Census,Cass Co.,GA compared to the 1840 US Census: Confirm same family.

  • Martha Huff, Head of Household (age: 37yrs1850/27yrs1840).
  • John Huff (Not Listed:1850) Died.
  • Amanda Huff (age:16yrs 1850/6yrs1840)
  • Benjamin Huff (age:14yrs 1850/4yrs1840)
  • Elizabeth Huff (age:13yrs 1850/3yrs1840)
  • Richard Huff (age:9yrs 1850/1yr1840)
  • Harriet M. Huff (age:6yrs 1850)Twin
  • John W. (age:6yrs 1850)Twin

All Right cousins here's a ancestral history brief as of 2007 referenced from many years of historical and genealogical research on our maternal Grandmother, Edna Maybel Covington-Shawbell's ancestral lineage. Our Great Grandmother, Effie 'Ma' Smith-Covington to her Mother, Harriet Matilda 'Mattie' Huff-Smith and to her Mother, Martha A. (Maiden Name Unknown)-Huff and is, of course, subject to change as I continue my research:

As kids we heard the story that Ma's (Effie Smith-Covington) mother, (whom I have identified as Harriet Matilda Huff-Smith) was on the Trail of Tears from Georgia when she was five years old. No one knew Ma's mother's name nor of her grandparents until late in my forty plus years of family genealogical research primarily because the clues were few, but the Huff name always surfaced through the incident the Huff brother's caused at Muskogee Court House over Ma's Indian Claim about 1907 or 1909. The Huff brother's were Ma's Uncles, whom research has identified as Ben and Richard Huff. Research has found that Ma's Mother was not on an original 'Trail of Tear'smarch which began in May of 1838. She was five or six years old when her mother, sister's and brother's left Georgia for Arkansas in about 1851-1852 following a Cherokee removal route that I believe was Belle's Route from Cassville to Memphis to Little Rock and then down the Trammel's Trace to eventually Texas. The Huff Family lived in the center of the most turbulent times of the Cherokee Nation.

The Native American Indians were systematicaly forced to Indian Terriory, Arkansas and Kansas. First the eastern United States, then the Ohio Valley, then the Great Lakes, then the South and eventually moved from even the lands they were moved to in Kansas and Indian Territory/Oklahoma. Still, even today it ranks as one of the most unforgivable deeds ever brought by politiicans and clergy for greed and power in the United States of America. Every Indian Nation in the United States had the same basic name for it's suffering on the removal trail: Trail of Tears or The Trail Where We Cried. Many died along the way and were buried on the side of those trails.

Reference to Read:'The Trail of Tears' by Gloria Jahoda. Story of the American Indian Removals 1813 - 1855.

On May 17,1838 the wagon train of Cherokee's 'Trail of Tear's' began the exodus from northern Georgia to Oklahoma Territory via five routes: Hildebrand's Route, Taylor's Route, Benge's Route, Bell's Route and The Water Route on the Tennesse, Mississippi and Arkansas rivers. They were to be joined on the same land with the Cherokee's called 'The Old Settler's' were already occupying. This group of Cherokee's followed The Ridge, his son John Ridge and Elias Boudniot ten years before. Ma's Grandmother, Martha A. Huff was about 25 years old, (born in 1813 near the TN and GA border, she was either full or part Cherokee) and living with/or married to John Huff in Cass County, Georgia.

Martha's, parents and childhood will remain to the ages. My research for many years has created some assumptions, as assumptions until proven or closely relates to a historical record. I continure to follow this path of discovery until either it has exhuasted or am gone to the ages.


Many Cherokee's had intermarried for many years prior to the removals. Another of our old family stories was reguarding a famous Cherokee who saved our Great Great Grandfather Robert Smith from hanging during the Civil War, which I will get to later on. This story has yet to be proved. Perhaps Martha A. was indeed related to a famous Cherokee who saved her son-in-law in North Texas / Indian Territory during the Civil War. Robert 'Archie' Covington Jr. was told this story and showed a picture in a book taken of a group of famous Cherokee men in 1890 to his son, Robert 'Archie' Jr.,who told me about it in 1995 a few years before his passing. 'That's the Cherokee man who saved your Great Grandpa's life'. What book that photograph was in I do not know. I have seen photograph's of Cherokee Delegation's to Washington, D.C., and I have often thought it could have been Elias Cornielus Bodinoit, Elias Bodinoit's son, but am unable to be positive about it.

See my: Civil War in Indian Territory Page. More info and resource links.

When the United States Army by order's from Andrew Jackson began to forcibly round up the Cherokee's in stockade's for the removal exodus of 1838 in northwest Georgia Martha A. Huff was about 25 years old and living with John Huff and children in Cassville, Cass Co.,GA. Martha would not have been in the hapless group of Cherokee's. In 1844 she gave birth to her last two children, twins, Harriet Matilda (our Great Great Grandmother) and John W. Huff. Between 1844 and 1850 John Huff died. How he died I do not know. It was between 1851-1852 that Martha left Georgia with her children, some livestock, wagon(s), and furnishings. In 1852 the party was:

  • Martha Huff, Head of Household (age: 39yrs)
  • Amanda T. Huff (age:18yrs)
  • Benjamin Huff (age:16yrs)
  • Elizabeth Huff (age:15yrs)
  • Richard Huff (age:11yrs)
  • Harriet M. Huff (age:8yrs)Twin
  • John W. (age:8yrs)Twin

So, Great Great Grandmother Matilda was about eight years old or so when her family left Georgia perhaps on the old Bell Route of the Cherokee 'Trail of Tears'. The Bell Route would take them to Memphis, Tenn. across to Little Rock, Ark. and probably there they spun off on Trammel's Trace to southwestern Arkansas near the Texas border. Benjamin had already 'scouted' Texas in 1850, as he shows up in the Cass County, Texas Census as a possible ranch hand. The Martha Huff Family lived in Arkansas for awhile. Amanda and Elizabeth married during this time in Arkansas (No info). Next door to Martha Huff family lived the Buffen Earp and William Earp families. William married Cinderilla Honeycutt and Buffen married Narcisa (maiden name unknown). In Arkansas Harriet Matilda 'Mattie' Huff met and married Robert Smith about 1860, and Martha A., Richard and Benjamin moved on to Weatherford, Parker Co.,Texas. Robert's family came from Kentucky to Arkansas in the 1840's. Robert and Harriet's first child, daughter, Mattie Smith born in 1863 and then they moved to Tarrant, Hopkins County, Texas. Also, in 1860 Martha and her two sons, Benjamin and Richard went to Weatherford, Parker County, Texas west of Ft. Worth. She probably set up housekeeping for them and they supported her. Ben and Richard occupations were listed as Trader's. They all returned to Tarrant as the Civil War started.

1860 US Census: Texas: Parker Co., Beat 1,Town of Weatherford.

  • M. Huff age 40, Domestic
  • B.Huff age 24, Trader
  • R.Huff age 20, Trader
  • P. Pouell, age 28, Domestic
  • M. Pouell, age 18, Domestic
Pouell women are the sister's of their nieghbor, S. Pouell age 27 b.GA, his wife, M. Pouell, age 25 b.AR and three children ages 6 b.AR,4 b.AR and 1b.TX in dwelling 77 family 77. S.Pouell was born in GA and is a Farmer. Perhaps the Huff's met them in Arkansas and traveled with them to Texas.
Martha travels with her sons to Weatherford, Texas. Robert and Harriet remain in Tarrant with first child Matilda 'Mattie'.
When the American Civil War breaks out they all return to Tarrant, Hopkins Co., Texas
Benjamin and Richard go back to Hopkins County to join the Confederate Army in North Texas.
Robert joins Confederate Army with brother-in-laws, Ben and Richard
Martha Huff moves in with daughter, Harriet and husband, Robert in Tarrant, Hopkins Co.,TX., remains there until after the Civil War.

From: 1855 - 1860 Parker County, Texas:
Parker County:In December 1855 the state legislature formed Parker County from Bosque and Navarro counties. Weatherford was designated as the county seat, and by 1858 the town had a new two-story brick courthouse surrounded by a handful of cabins and tents. By the late 1850s post offices had been established in the county at Weatherford, Ashville, Cooper Hill, Cream Level (later known as Veal's Station), and Newburg. The county's first flour mill was built in 1859; another was established in 1860. The new settlers were often harassed by Indian raids. The county's first newspaper, the Frontier News, began publication in 1858. Another paper, the Whiteman,qv moved to Weatherford in October 1860. This newspaper, published by John Robert Baylorqv and J. Hamner, was dedicated to the frontier and its defense against Indians, abolitionists, and horse thieves. It apparently ceased publication in December 1860. That year 4,213 people, including 222 slaves, were living in the county.

Robert Smith and Harriet Matilda Huff
Robert Smith and Harriet Matilda Huff-Smith
abt 1885

Effie Smith - Covington 1875-1958
Effie Smith - Covington (Abt: 1940)
Edna Maybel Covington - Shawbell
Edna Maybel Covington - Shawbell (Abt: 1955)

Harriet Matilda 'Mattie' HUFF b. Nov 1845 Cass Co.GA d. aft 1930 OK. Married: abt 1860-61 AR. Robert SMITH b. Mar 1834 AR d. bef 1920 OK.
note: 1930 US Census: Harriet Smith age 75 living with Andy O. Pearson family in Muskogee, OK. Listed as: Step-Grandmother.

Children of Robert Smith and Harriet Matilda 'Mattie' Huff:

  • Matilda 'Mattie' b. Oct 1863 AR m. abt.1884 to William Raker (Roker) b. Feb1851 IL
  • Ada b.1871 Tarrant, Hopkins Co.,TX m. 1st: Charles A. Miller. 2nd: James W. Stockton. 3rd: Charles A. John
  • Effie b. Aug 1875, Tarrant, Hopkins Co., TX m. abt 1892 Thomas Jefferson Covington b.1852 GA
  • Robert M. 'Jack' b.Feb 1879 Wise Co.,TX m. Martha Alice 'Allie' Cates b.Feb 1887 TX.
  • Maude b.Feb 1885 Wise Co.,TX d.? m.?

Read More: History of Hopkins County, Texas

    Bright Star, Hopkins Co.,Texas
  • Bright Star Confederate Post Office. 1861-1865 Sulphur Springs Central
  • Bright Star Post Office 1854-1871 Sulphur Springs Central
  • Bright Star Town 1850-1870 Sulphur Springs Central
    Tarrant, Hopkins Co., Texas
  • Tarrant Confederate Post Office 1861-1865
  • Old Tarrant 5 mi N Sulfur Springs
  • Tarrant School District Pre-1900 5 mi N Sulfur Springs.
  • Tarrant Village 1846-1871 Old Tarrant 5 mi N Sulfur Springs.

1861 - 1865 American Civil War in North Texas : Hopkins County area.

    All Confederate States America Texas Soldiers Data Base:
  • Smith, Robert C.: age Unk, b. abt. Unk, Pvt., in Hopkins Co. Beat No. 6, 9th Brigade, Texas Militia.
  • Smith, Benjamin: age Unk, b. abt. Unknown, Pvt., in Co. I, 9th Texas Cavalry, CSA. also: Ben Smith Pvt. 9th Brigade, Texas Militia. Hopkins Co. Beat 8.
  • Smith, John W.: age Unk, b. abt. Unk, Pvt., in Webb's Lamar Cavalry, 9th Brigade, Texas Militia. Beat 2: Sulphur Bluff, Hopkins County, Texas. August 17th, 1861
  • Smith, Richard: age Unk, b. abt. Unknown, Pvt., in Co. F, 9th Texas Cavalry, CSA.
  • Huff, J. R., Pvt., Co. F, 9th Texas Cavalry, CSA.
  • Huff, W. J., Sgt., Co. F, 9th Texas Cavalry, CSA.

    List of Indigent Families/Civil War North Texas: Hopkins County:
  • Smith, R. - 5 in the Family.
  • List taken on 20 Feb 1864. (1870 Hopkins Co. Census: Robert Smith, Harriet Matilda, Martha, Martha A. Huff and Henry Gordon(Roberts Saddlery business pardner)= 5 persons in household. All living in same Household.

1870 US Census: Texas: Hopkins Co., Sulfur Springs, Bright Star P.O,- Enum; 27 July 1870 -B.H. Dawson, Asst. Marshall.

    Dwelling: 120 Family: 120
  • Richard Huff age 25 b.GA Occup: Carpenter. Pers.Estate 150.00
  • Mary (Maxwell) age 22 b. AL Keeping House (m. Mary Maxwell 23 Aug 1866)
  • Georgia age 2 b. TX Daughter
  • Julia age 6months b. TX Daughter
1870 US Census: Texas: Hopkins Co., Sulfur Springs, Bright Star P.O,- Enum; 27 July 1870 -B.H. Dawson, Asst. Marshall.
    Dwelling: 152 Family: 150
  • Robert Smith age 27 b.MO Occup: Saddler. Pers.Estate 200.00
  • Matilda age 22 b.GA Keeping House. (Harriet Matilda 'Mattie' Huff)
  • Martha age 6 b.AR Daughter
  • Henry Jordon age 26 b.GA Occup: Saddler
  • Martha Huff age 53 b.GA (Mother-in-Law)
1870 US Census: Texas: Hopkins Co., Sulfur Springs, Bright Star P.O,- Enum; 28 July 1870 -B.H. Dawson, Asst. Marshall.
    Dwelling: 33 Family: 33
  • John Huff age 22 b.GA Occup: Blacksmith Pers.Estate: 600.00
  • Amanda age 19 b.AL Keeping House
  • Lee age 16 b.MO (can not write) Maybe Amanda's brother?

1870 U.S. federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880
Benjamin Huff Age: 30 Born: GA. Lists Death as: Gun Shot Accident - February 1870. Sulfur Springs, Hopkins Co., Texas. Occupation: Saddler. Enumerator: (Ben's age was 34 years old, born in 1836)

1880 US Census: Texas: Wise County, Precinct 1 - Enum: 3 June 1880- J.G.White

    Dwelling: 51 Family: 50
  • Robert Smith age 45 Farmer b.MO. Fb.MO Mb.MO
  • Harriet age 33 Wife, Housekeeping b.GA Fb.GA Mb.GA
      (note: child miscarriage)
  • Mattie age17 Dau. Housekeeping b.AR Fb.MO Mb.GA
  • Ada age 9 b.TX Fb/Mb Same
  • Effie age 4 b.TX Fb/Mb Same
  • Robert age 3 b.TX Fb/Mb Same

Here is evidence that the Smith family left Hopkins County before 1880. Wise County is north of Dallas County. Harriets brother, Richard stays in Sulfur Springs, Hopkins Co.

From:Handbook of Texas Online
Wise County:The majority of Wise County settlers were immigrants from southern states, though only fifty-three of the county's 3,160 white residents owned slaves in 1860. Prior to the Civil Warqv cattle and sheep production were the major industries; cotton was not introduced into the county until the 1870s. Most residents engaged in open-range ranching through the 1880s; the two most prominent ranches, owned by W. H. Hunt and Daniel Waggoner,qqv were located in western Wise County. The predominantly southern populace supported secessionqv in 1861 and raised five Confederate companies that fought in the Civil War. The removal of federal troops from the frontier left outlying settlements at the mercy of hostile Comanches and other plains Indians. Texas militia units, formed to patrol from the Red River to the Rio Grande, set up a post in Decatur. Local volunteer groups also defended the frontier communities. Nevertheless, many farms were abandoned, as fearful residents moved into towns for protection against Indian attack. In 1862 Wise County was gripped by the same Union League conspiracy hysteria that precipitated the Great Hanging at Gainesville.qv Five men were tried and hanged for plotting to aid the Union cause by burning property, stealing weapons, and reducing the people to helplessness. When the war ended, an angry mob of 200 people protested the hangings but was dispersed by local supporters of law and order. Though many Wise County inhabitants remained bitter in defeat, the Reconstructionqv county governments usually included both ex-Confederates and Republican partyqv appointees. Indian raids continued until 1875, and the population of the county grew slowly. Only 1,450 people resided in Wise County in 1870. During the antebellum period Decatur was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mailqv route from St. Louis, Missouri, to San Francisco, California. A government telegraph line also connected the county with larger population centers. Between 1866 and 1886 the Eastern Cattle Trail to Abilene, Kansas, crossed Wise County east of Decatur. The coming of the railroads eventually provided a more convenient and cheaper means of transportation for crops and livestock. In the 1880s and 1890s two railroads were built through the county„the Fort Worth and Denver City, which passed through Decatur, and the Rock Island, which crossed the western section of the county through Bridgeport.

1900 US Census: Indian Territory: Chickasaw Nation(Pontotoc Co.,Oklahoma)
Township 2 North Range 6 East. Enum: 15 Jun 1900 by Alexander S. Hotchin.
Dwelling: 176 Family 176
  • Robert Smith age 66 b. Mar 1834 MO Yrs.Married: 38 Fb.KY Mb.MO
      note: Changed State where Father was born.
  • Harriet M. age 54 b. Nov 1845 GA Yrs.Married: 38 Fb.GA Mb.GA
      No. of Children born: 8 Number of Children Living 5.
  • Robert M.'Jack' age 21 b.Feb 1879 TX
  • Maud age 15 b.Feb 1885 TX
    • Mattie m. William Raker (Roker) abt. 1884
    • Ada m. Charles A. Miller
    • Effie m. Thomas J. Covington abt 1892

    Effie Smith and Thomas Jefferson Covingtion abt 1920
    Effie Smith and Thomas Jefferson Covingtion abt 1920

    Effie SMITH b. August 1875 Tarrant, Hopkins Co.TX. d. 6 Mar 1958 Wynnewood, Garvin Co.OK m. Thomas Jefferson COVINGTON b. Nov 1857 d.1931 in Powell, Garvin Co. OK.

    Effie was Thomas' second wife. Married abt 1892 in Texas. First wife Unknown-Children: Unknown

    Children of Thomas Covington and Effie Smith:

    • Edna 'Eddie' Maybel b. 28 Mar 1894 d. 27 Nov 1986 m. on 20 Sep 1913 to Claude Marion SHAWBELL, Sr. b. 12 Jul 1894  d. 29 Jan 1930.
    • Robert 'Archie' Archibald, Sr. b. 8 Aug 1895 d. Jul 1979 m. Stella BELL b. 10 Oct 1899 d. 1981.
    • Eulalia 'Lalia' b.19 Apr 1898 d. Dec 1987 m. Ellis BELL b. 1895 d. 1935 2nd Husb. Bruce WHITAKER.

    Martha A. 'Mattie' Smith and William Raker

    1900 US Census: Indian Territory: Chickasaw Nation(Pontotoc Co.,Oklahoma)
    Township 2 North Range 6 East. Enum: 15 Jun 1900 by Alexander S. Hotchin.
    Dwelling: 175 Family 175
    Martha A. 'Mattie' Smith-Raker and family are living next door to her parents.

    • William Raker age 49 b. Feb 1851 IL Fb.IL Mb.Germany
        Manager of a Flour Mill
    • Martha A. age 36 b.Oct 1863 AR Fb.MO Mb.GA
    • Nora J. age 15 b.Dec 1884 TX
    • Ada G. age 10 b.Sep 1889 I.T. (OK)
    • Hattie E. age 2 b.Apr 1898 I.T.
      Married: 19 years


    Robert M. 'Jack' Smith marries Mary Alice Cates 1910 US Census: Oklahoma: Garvin Co., Stratford
    East Main Street, Stratford
    • Robert M.'Jack' Smith age 31 b.TX Occup: Liveryman.
    • Mary A.age 22 b.TX
        Married: 4 years
    1930 US Census: Oklahoma: Oklahoma Co., Oklahoma City
    West 4th Street, Oklahoma City
    Dwelling:789 Family:155 [Rents House: 35.00 month]
    • Robert M. 'Jack' Smith
    • Margaret Wife