Last revised: 31 Dec 2009
Ambrose Huffman
(22 Nov 1753 - 24 Jun 1849)
Ambrose Huffman was the seventh
of nine children born to German immigrants, Johannes
Henrich and Elizabeth Catherine (Schuster) Hofmann. They
had five daughters and four sons. Ambrose Huffman was the
only son to fight in the American Revolutionary War. He
entered the Continental Army on 01 Jul 1780 as a Drafted
Militiaman with the rank of Private. He was 26 years old
and his term of service was for eighteen months. He was
assigned to Captain Posey's Company, 1st Virginia Regiment.
Private Huffman was engaged in the Battle of Guilford
Courthouse on 15 Mar 1781 and also fought at Camden, New
Jersey, where he received a wound to his left arm. He was
subsequently transferred to Salisbury, Maryland for the
remainder of the war.
He was discharged on 01 Jan 1782, after which he returned
to Virginia and married Mary Railsback, the daughter of
Thomas Railsback. they had eleven children, the first eight
born in Virginia; Mary Frances, b. 30 Mar 1784; Armstead,
b. 19 Jul 1785; Lucy, b. 02 Mar 1787; Allen, b. 16 Jan
1789; Edward, b. 10 Dec 1790; Barnett, b. 10 Nov 1792;
Elam, b. 10 Sep 1794; Elizabeth, b. 26 Feb 1797. In
September 1797, Ambrose and his family departed Virginia
for Kentucky via the Cumberland Gap. Ambrose was the first
of three Huffman brothers to settle in what is now called
Barren County, Kentucky. In August of 1798, he received two
hundred acres of "second rate" land in Green County (now
Barren County). The land was obtained based upon an Act of
Kentucky General Assembly passed in 1797. The Act
encouraged settlers and granted relief from land payments
in return for living on and improving the property.
However, Ambrose Huffman did not receive any land under the
Land Warrant Bounty System for services in the American
Revolutionary War. After moving to Barren County, Ambrose
and Mary Huffman had three additional sons: John, b. 29 May
1799; Henry, b. 14 Jul 1801; and Jesse H., b. 26 Oct 1803.
On 17 Sep 1832, in the Barren County Circuit Court, Ambrose
Huffman was granted a Pension for his service during the
Revolutionary War. He continued to live on the family farm
until his death 24 Jun 1849. He died at the age of
eighty-six, and he is buried in the Huffman family cemetery
approximately one mile east of Nobob in Barren County. In
1933, the SAR conducted a ceremony and placed a military
headstone there with inscribed information about the
soldier.