Reverend John Huff2161 was born December 28, 1786, on Cosby Creek at the mouth of Bogard Creek in Cocke County, Tennessee. That he was a son of Joseph Huff I, and not Leonard Huff, is based on circumstantial evidence. Each item by itself is not overwhelming, but when combined with other information those items can lead to only one conclusion - Rev. John Huff was the son of Joseph Huff I.
1. A granddaughter of Rev. John Huff, Nora Baxter, stated that Joseph Huff of Rankin [site of the original Joseph Huff homestead of 1787], father of Rev. John Huff, went to Missouri in an oxcart and came back.
2. At least two of Rev. John's children, twins William and ,John Jr., were born Missouri in 1822, just prior to the 1827 death of Joseph l. Another story of Rev. John's being in Missouri, near or in St. Louis, is found in Gooospeed's History of East Tennessee, page 119S.
3. Rev. John Huff was ordained in the Big Pigeon Primitive Baptist Church, the church of Joseph Huff I and his fami!y for many years.
4. Rev. .John had a set of twins and twins were conmen in the descencants of Joseph Huff I, but were a rarity in the other branches.
5. The descendants of Joseph Huff I have a large number of Baptist ministers in each generation.
6. A number of Rev. John's descendants as well as area historians and genealogists believe John's father to be Joseph, not Leonard.
7. In a !etter about Uncie Len Huff who had been captured by the Indians, this is written: "who could have been a brother to Rev. John ... " and this lndian Leonard is well known to be the youngest son of Joseph Huff l in many family traditions .... and passed down to modern times by branches of Huffs who did not know they were related.
8. Rev. John's daughter Elizabeth "Betsey the Sheepherder" is referred to in the old letters written by Uncle Frank Huff in 1932. She was referred to as "Aunt" Betsey; she was a granddaughter of Joseph Huff I.
9. There are many children named William and Joseph in Rev. John's descendants (as in Joseph ll's descendants) but no Leonards, either children or grand children. Surely if Rev. John's father were Leonard, he would have had a child or grandchildren named for him; there are none known.
10. The Catherine referred to as Rev. John's wife in the 1827 Petition for Dower by Elizabeth Huff, widow of Joseph Huff I, could easily have been a first marriage. Or, as frequently occurred, John’s wife could have been Catherine Nancy Allen.
11. Rev. John was born on Cosby Creek where Joseph I was known to have his second homestead.
12. Great granddaughter Mae Hartsell stated John was a son of Joseph I.

One of the earliest records of Rev. John Huff is the 1830 census of Cocke Co., Tn., page 261; this census g!ves only the head of the household by name, but gives only members by breakdown by name and sex. Combined with later census of 1840 and 1850 we have all by name.

By family tradition Rev. John Huff was the father of eighteen children but only fourteen names are known. Obviously the four unknown children died as infants and may have iincluded one or more seets of twins. (One possibcility is the name of John, born April (day unreadable), 1814 and taken from the Bible records of William Huff, son of Rev. John.)

It is not known exactly what time in his life Rev. John went to St. Louis, but since the twins William and John Jr. were born in Missouri, 1822 seems a likely time. In the early 1820s many of tne Tennessee Huffs went to Missouri, the new land of opportunity; the western frontier. recently opened to settlement beckoned to the true pioneer spirit.

The Minutes of the Big Pigeon Baptist Church ln Cocke Co., Tn. showed John Huff as received by Experience in 1825, indicating that he had returned about that time. May 2, 1829, he had become a minister and was listed in the minutes to be ordained November 4, 1836. His actual ordination took place May 6, 1837.

John had been “given leave to preach the gospel wherever the Lord may call him” in the fall of 1833, thus beginning the somewhat traveling ministry of Rev. John Huff. His name was included in a number of Baptist Churches in the area — the Union Missionary Baptist Church and Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, along with the Big Pigeon Baptist Church of his childhood.

When John married is unknown, or whether Catherine was the mother of the early children born or whether she was indeed Nancy Catharine Allen as speculated. [Descendants state John was married just once]. But regardless, by family tradition he married Nancy Allen and the first mention of a Nancy in the Big Pigeon Church Records was in 1833 when Nancy was received into the church.

Nancy Allen Huff was born October 10, 1793, in Virginia. In 1850 she was living at the foot of English’s Mountain near Sevier County line. (John was listed with his son Joseph on the census of that year.). Six of their children were unmarried and living at home at the tiime: Betsy, James, Harriet, Luicinda, Stephen and Amanda.

Rev. John Huff died April 17, 1852, according to the family Bible and was buried in the Huff Cemetery on English Creek in Cocke County, Tn. His wife Nancy died June 7, 1869.

Note added by Clayton Heathcock, August 6, 2021: As noted above, the 1850 census of Cocke Co TN lists Nancy Huff and six Huff children but without John. However, the adjacent listing in that census if for the family of John’s son Joseph Huff and it includes John Huff, age 63. This was probably a mistake by the census taker, or perhaps Rev. John was simply visiting next door when the census taker visited.

1850 Census of Cocke Co TN
Household Members Age
Nancy Huff 55
Betsy Huff 35
James Huff 25
Lucinda Huff 23
Harriet Huff 17
Stephen Huff 15
Amanda Huff 13

Adjacent family listing:
Household Members Age
Joseph Huff 50
Rhoda Huff 37
Nancy Huff 10
Sally Huff 7
Matilda Huff 4
John Huff 63