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Which
dwelling was Benjamin's? Probably
not the Castor Farm house just below Ridge, where Benny Castor
lived, and later Bill Castor - that property was also originally
Huffman's. Possibly
the old white frame house, set on an angle, just below the
intersection of Ridge, the one said to have been a hotel - that
house is in the center of the original tract of land.
It is just conjecture on my part, but it makes the most
sense. There
weren't any roads yet when Benjamin settled here.
The creek, Peter's Creek, was your address. If you went from Peter's Creek, through the opening in the
hillside, where the railroad tunnel is, that would take you on
what is now Gill Hall Road, and onto Benjamin's property.
Go half a mile to the intersection with Ridge Road, and
that could have been Benjamin Custard's house.
Keep going, then turn left to go up to the top of the
hill, then down the other side, through "the farm,"
around the back of the house, and over to the old Heath place.
That is the only way I can figure the road is called
Heath Road. This is likely the path traveled by Justice Oliver Miller,
who traveled this way to attend court once a month at the
Yohogania County Courthouse.
The
time period from 1830 to 1860 seems to have been happy and
prosperous for the families, as it was for the United States.
William Huffman was undoubtedly the teacher at Huffman
School. Tradition
in Jefferson has it that the school originally was located on
the elder Huffman's property, somewhere near the intersection of
Knight and Ridge Road, and that it was re-located to where it
now stands, the fenced-in house on Ridge, across from Clifford
Castor's brown log cabin style house.
Huffman, as the school teacher, would have been able to
get youngsters to help him on the farm in the summer.
The house was originally one story, with one or two rooms
on the ground floor. In
1840 Huffman put on the second floor.
Later in the 1880's Aber put on the two porches, re-did the second
floor, and added the two-story addition in the back. He then signed over title to the farm to his wife, in
consideration for the money he borrowed from her to do the
additions! |