##Johnathan Huddleston
(written by Samuel Huddleston)
Jonathan Huddlestone, the only son of Seth, was born in Massachusetts October 22, 1778. His sister, Levinah, said to the writer once when in conversation upon the subject of his name, that she knew that he was named for his uncle, Jonathan Fisher, whom they all loved, and not for his uncle, Jonathan Huddlestone, of whom they knew almost nothing.
His school privileges were inferior to those of his father, for the comparatively new settlement in North Carolina was almost without schools, and the children were mostly taught at home or not at all. He was but sixteen years old at his father’s death, and being left in charge of the farm, he had but little time or opportunity to read and write. Before Jonathan Huddlestone was twenty-one years old he gave notice to the Quaker church to which he belonged that he and Phebe, daughter of Eliab Gardner, a member of the same church, wished to marry. In accordance with the custom of the church, after the matter had been published during a number of Monthly Meetings, and had been acted upon by the members of said Monthly Meeting, the marriage was solemnized. When Seth Huddlestone moved from Massachusetts to North Carolina he believed that human slavery would soon expire of its own self, and it was this general belief among the Quakers that caused them to settle so thickly in Guilford and Randolph counties in North Carolina; but when they saw slavery growing stronger, and when they had become convinced that there was, and would be for years to come, a slave-owning and slave-trading South, and a freedom-loving North, the Quakers of North Carolina began to emigrate to the wilderness of the Northwest.
##Phoebe
The Huddlestone homestead was sold in the spring of 1815, and by the middle of June, Jonathan Huddlestone had settled up his business and equipped himself for the journey to Indiana. He loaded his effects into a four-wheeled wagon and a two-wheeled cart, and with his mother, his wife and eight children, started upon their long and tedious journey. The four-wheeled wagon was drawn by three horses and the cart by one, and besides these they started with an old mare that was a family pet, but the journey was too much for her and she died on the way.
A number of their relatives had already settled in what is now Union county, Indiana, and among them was Jonathan’s father-in-law, Eliab Gardner, and several of his brothers-in-law, and it was in this settlement, four miles Southeast of the present site of Liberty, that Jonathan Huddlestone settled. About this time he dropped the final “e” from his name, as some of his children that are still living remember.
Not many days after the arrival of the Huddleston family, Jonathan got word that his sister, Rachel, and her family, were in trouble, and he started immediately on foot to return to her assistance. This trip necessitated an absence of several weeks, and his wife with five sons and three daughters, ranging from fifteen years old down to the cradle, had a hard struggle in the meanwhile. While he was gone, she, with the aid of their children, cut the timber, built a cabin, dug a well, and guarded their stock against the ravages of wild beasts. Though she had a father and brothers in the settlement she got but little help from them or any one else except to raise the cabin. They all had all the work they could manage at their own home.
When Jonathan Huddleston returned in November he brought with him his sister, Rachel, and her children, and was greatly surprised to find the improvements that his wife had made, for he had expected her to live in the wagon and tent until he should return and build the cabin. As soon as ground enough was cleared Jonathan began fruit tree culture and perhaps all the old orchards in Union county and adjoining country, were of trees selected from his nursery. In 1816 he brought a stock of goods from Cincinnati and opened a store and sold everything that was usually kept and sold in a store in those days, except whisky, tobacco, and goods that were produced from slave labor. He was the most radical and conscientious anti-slavery, anti-whisky, anti-tobacco Quaker in his settlement, and was from and after his settlement in Indiana, the keeper of a station on the “Underground Railroad,” an organized system for running fugitive slaves from the South into Canada.
At one time he was harboring two slaves when their masters came and demanded their property and succeeded in capturing one of the slaves. Jonathan forced them to go through a course of law in Liberty in order to prove their property, which they did, before they were allowed to take the Negro back into bondage. But the other Negro was kept hid away in the forest and fed by Jonathan until the slave-hunters had left the country, and he was never caught.
Jonathan Huddleston traveled the states over in his anti-slavery work and spoke and paid money liberally, and wrote extensively in a number of anti-slavery newspapers and published tracts of his own. He also published a book on theology, which, although it was a grand good book, it had one fault of dealing in personalities of an abusive character, which caused its quiet suppression by his friends.
The following is an article that appeared in the Anti-Slavery Newspaper in 1854 which shows the character of Johnnathan Huddleston as a man who was not afraid to take others to task for not adhering to their religious beliefs. The following was researched by Leah Huddleston
##The Anti-Slavery Bugle SALEM, OHIO AUGUST 5, 1854
Johnathan Huddleston in sending his subscription for the Bugle, says: The question often rises in my mind what shall we do-what shall we do to be saved?" Well I remember of reading or hearing somehow of "no cross, no crown," and I often think whether the time is not come, or coming, when we had better believe in and go to living out that doctrine. I also remember hearing or reading in some old book that "without sacrifice there is not remission of sin." whether had we not yet better make the sacrifice of abstaining from purchasing the slave labor produce and set about it at once with a zeal and devoiton commensurate with our professing doing as we ??? strengthening and building up the slave holder that way and the many other ways, that they will soon become as strong the way we go on as to make slaves (it appears) of us all. It has at length become very evident that they want to do it. Why? Preserve us Lord from evil should we pray. Yet, willfully pursue the evil way." Perhaps this almighty dollar or dime, or even a cent is the difficulty, even those of the "religious" society of friends, (as they are so careful to designate themselves) some of them will enquire the difference in the price between slave or free produce and being told that a yard of factory, or a pound of coffee or sugar from the slaves' labor can be afforded one cent cheaper, he will reply "Ah, the poor slave, I pity his hard case, but I know how I come by my money I must make it go as far as I can- I must take the cheapest." Now this man virtually acknowledges that he himself does not consider his religion worth one cent--that he would not give one cent for it. But to the glory of that society, let me here say that I have heard of one of their members who has said that he would go twice as far and pay twice as much and take that which was not half so good, before he would thus sustain slavery, now if all of that society were thus devout-thus sacrificing, it would have (I believe) a powerful effect towards breaking up slavery in this nation. There is a certain writer now in this nation; he is a man of great travel-great observation and information, who has said that the Methodist society are numerous enough of themselves to destroy this great evil by abstaining from the slave produce. We have said above that "without sacrifice there is no remission of sins," and I have thought of late, if this is not the very sacrifice we have yet got to make, and whether we shall ever be able to journey forward till we do it; the children of Israel it seems could not journey forward till they had sacrificed the wedge of gold. I think I have been told that the people of old England in their struggle against this kind of an evil, could not get forward much till some three hundred thousand (if I mistake not) united all at one time and made the sacrifice of abstaining from the slave made sugar, soon after that I think we are told their way was opened to go forward. Now since all other ways and attempts to "save the Union", it appears have failed and for aught we know will fall, and whereas so many wise and thinking men see so clearly that this way would save us, and it being so completely in our reach, let us take right hold of it in earnest, why will we not take warning from the fate of cities and nations who have gone before us?"
Jonathan Huddleston was also opposed to war, or the settlement of strife and contentions by the force of arms. It was the custom in the early days of our state to compel every able-bodied man to meet at stated times and places to muster and drill in the arts of war, and those who would not muster were compelled to pay fines. The Quakers objected to paying fines for this offence, because the money that was thus collected was used to equip and pay the expenses of the muster. On this account the officers adopted the custom of taking property, such as log-chains, axes, or tools of any kind, or small stock or grain, or produce of whatever kind they could find, which, in their judgment was worth the amount of the fine, and the Quakers had to submit peacefully to this procedure until Jonathan Huddleston raised his voice in protest against the legality of the practice, and against their power to force a muster at all. He challenged their managing officer to meet him at the court house in Liberty, and discuss the matter of their differences before an arbitrating jury, chosen and agreed to by themselves jointly, and then abide by the decision. The agreement was fully entered into and all the preliminaries arranged, and upon the day set, Jonathan went with his books and papers, and his man hired to read for him, for he was a poor reader and could not read in public. The jury was in its place and all were ready, but there was not a mustering officer to be seen and they let the case go by default, and there never was a muster fine collected or a muster in Eastern Indiana afterward.
Johnathan owned a large farm in Union county and was a great lover of farm horses and kept from forty to fifty head. He made frequent trips to Cincinnati, driving stock to market and trading for himself and neighbors.
He was a most liberal supporter of all moral and religious reforms. As a Quaker he gave largely to the support of his church until the time of the split in that body, at which time he withdrew from it and never belonged to church afterward, although he worked and wrote as energetically as ever for religious and moral reforms. In the preface of his book he said; My aim is to oppose oppression with an honest frown, till vice shrinks back though seated on a throne.” After receiving a number of extracts from church creeds, which to him were objectionable, he writes a creed of his own, which he insists should bind no one but himself, since every man ought to be free to adopt a creed of his own.
Condensed from an incomplete page
“I believe that when a person comes to see the corruptions of sectarianism, and has honesty enough to raise his voice against them, it is high time for him to prepare his heart for trouble. “I believe in the Scriptures of Truth, without feeling myself found to place any implicit faith on any man’s explanation of them, for which I should doubtless be honored with martyrdom did I not live in a government that restrains that frenzied zeal which would reduce a man’s bones to ashes for the illumination of his understanding. “
On New Year’s day, 1837, after he had sold his farm and stock in Union county, Jonathan Huddleston moved to Dublin, a new town that had been laid out six years before in the wild forest near the western border of Wayne county. His children had mostly settled here previously and others followed afterward. Here he took an active part in incorporating the town and was leader in all the early public improvements. Especially was he an active factor in erecting the first high school building here and the schools thus inaugurated placed Dublin early at the head of the state as an educational village, which position she has ever continued to hold. His old daybooks show that he handled the school and other public money for many years.
He was a Vice President of the National Liberty Convention, which met in Buffalo, New York, October 20, 1817*, and nominated John P. Hale for President, and Leicester King for Vice President of the United States. He walked to and from this convention, as was his mode of travel on all journeys, long or short. At a state convention, fifty years ago, a meeting was called in the afternoon for public speech making, and many grand speeches were made by the best men, not only of Indiana, but from other states, who were there, so said our informant. Jonathan Huddleston had sat quiet during the meeting, until near its close, when the President said: “Friend Huddleston, we would like to hear from thee—what has thee been doing lately?” “I have been ding all the good I could find to do and as little harm as I could possible avoid,” he said, and sat down. Our informant said: “Of all the good and grand speeches I heard that day, fifty years ago, I cannot now remember one word that was said by any but Jonathan Huddleston, and I distinctly remember his whole speech,” so we see that a few simple words spoken to the point are more impressive than long and flowery speeches.
As fast as his children became of age and settled down to do for themselves he gave them two or three acres of ground and a little money to build a house, or to those who did not desire the ground he gave its value in money instead, and after they were thus provided for he spent his money liberally for the charities, until, when he died, he had barely enough left to pay his funeral expenses, which were as small as could be made, according to his wish. He died January 16, 1866, aged 87 years, 2 months and 25 days. His wife died July 18, 1860, aged 80 years, 8 months and 15 days.
The census records that I researched show that Johnathan and Phoebe were living apart in 1860. It is possible that because of Johnathan’s pious ways and demanding nature that she had enough and decided to live in peace before she died. This same personality will manifest itself in a future descendant with the same consequences.
- I have not been able to verify this time period, Samuel may have been confused about his local and national affiliation. Searching the records that are held in Detroit for the National Liberty Convention does not verify this statement.
Photos courtesy of Don Cordell
Johnathan’s Poem found in Samuel’s Book “Whispers of the Muses.” Handwritten by Samuel.
HUDDLESTON FARMHOUSE