William J. Huff was born around 1838 in Pennsylvania. He moved to Iowa by the early 1860s, and he enlisted in the Union army on August 9, 1862. He mustered in as a sergeant in Company E of the 28^th Iowa Infantry on September 3. He took part in the Vicksburg campaign, and he was promoted to sergeant major on March 23, 1863, and then to captain on September 27, 1864. He was wounded in the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864, but he eventually recovered and rejoined his regiment. He mustered out in Savannah, Georgia, on July 31, 1865.

 

Huff married Sarah Clodfelder in Iowa on August 20, 1863, and they had at least nine children: Ella, born around 1864; Arthur, born around 1867; Olive, born around 1871; Laura, born around 1875; Alvero, born around 1877; Lavern, born around 1879; Clifford, born around 1882; Cleveland, born around 1884; and Juanita, born around 1888. The family lived in Oxford, Iowa, and Huff worked as a farmer. By 1870, he owned $1,400 of real estate and $700 of personal property. A decade later, he was a special deputy sheriff in Iowa City, and by 1900, he was working as a lawyer. He applied for a federal pension in March 1876 and eventually secured one. He died on May 20, 1907.

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