Details

Compiled/​Created

1849-1976.

Summary note

Description: Mainly material gathered by Oliver N. Huff, with some additions by Robert N. Huff. It includes a list of members of the party; a typescript of the diary of Henry W. Puckett; photocopies of letters of Solomon Woody; correspondence relating to Alva H. Unthank, whose grave at Glenrock, Wyoming became a landmark; writings by Oliver N. Huff on the party; newspaper clippings; and information and a pamhlet on the Oregon Trail. Also features a sketch by Solomon Woody interpreting a "Gold Train Camp", photographs of the grave of Alva H. Unthank and of Friends from Newport/Fountain City.

Notes

• The Huff-Nixon family papers consist of correspondence, legal and business papers, reminiscences, clippings, and genealogical materials of five generations of Quaker families in North Carolina and Indiana. Most of the material concerns the families of Samuel Nixon (1781-1865), his son-in-law Daniel Huff (1816-1899), and his son Dr. Oliver Nixon Huff (1852-1937) of Fountain City, Indiana, and Oliver Nixon Huff's wife, Sophia (Bogue) Huff (1866-1931). Samuel Nixon was born in Prince Georges County, Virginia, March 21, 1781, the son of Barnaby Nixon, a native of Pasquotank County, North Carolina, and an eminent Quaker minister, and his wife Sarah Hunnicutt. In 1818 Samuel Nixon married Rhoda (Hubbard) Butler, a widow with children, and moved to Guilford County, North Carolina. They became the parents of four children. The collection contains extensive material on three: Emily Jane Nixon (1821-1889), the wife of Daniel Huff; Oliver Woodson Nixon (1825-1905); and William Penn Nixon (1832-1912). The latter two were long associated with the Chicago Inter-Ocean. In 1829, Samuel and Rhoda Nixon moved their family to Wayne County, Indiana, settling at Newport, now Fountain City, where he farmed and was a merchant. Rhoda (Hubbard) Butler Nixon died on a visit to a son in Knightstown, Indiana, in 1841. In 1848 Samuel Nixon remarried, his second wife also being a widow, Rhoda (Rawls) Butler (1797-1856) of Rush County, Indiana. Samuel Nixon died at Newport, February 16, 1865. In 1843 Emily Jane Nixon married Daniel Huff, a wagon maker and tavern keeper of Newport. He was born in Surry County, North Carolina, November 29, 1816, the son of John and Mary (Burnside) Huff, who settled in Wayne County in 1819. Daniel and Emily Jane Huff were from the 1840s to the 1890s among the most prominent residents of Fountain City. Both were active in reform movements, especially antislavery and temperance, and in Quaker affairs. Daniel Huff spent considerable time in his last years composing reminiscences about the history of Fountain City. He died there June 7, 1899. The second son of Daniel and Emily Jane (Nixon) Huff was Oliver Nixon Huff. Born in Fountain City. March 14, 1852. After attending Earlham College, he graduated from the University of Michigan in 1878 and began practicing medicine in Fountain City. In 1888 he moved to Chicago, where he achieved some distinction as a physician, serving on the staffs of two hospitals and as city medical inspector. In 1892 he married Sophia R. Bogue, a Chicago native. In 1898 they moved back to Fountain City, where they lived until their deaths. Both were among its leading citizens, and Oliver N. Huff was widely known as an authority on local history.
• AMDigital Reference: FMS 15.

Original version

Reproduction of: Newport Gold Rush Party of 1850 c. 1849-1976.

Location of originals

Earlham College Friends Library

Copyright note

Earlham College Friends Library

Source of description

Description based on online resource (viewed on April 12, 2017).

Statement on language in description

Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...