George Huffman

{{Short description|US businessman}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = George Phillips Huffman | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1862|09|06}} | birth_place = [[Dayton, Ohio]], US | death_date = {{Death date and age|1897|12|31|1862|09|06}} | death_place = | other_names = | known_for = Founder of Huffy Bicycle Company | occupation = }} '''George Phillips Huffman''' (September 6, 1862 – December 31, 1897) was an American businessman. His [[Davis Sewing Machine Company]], which began producing bicycles in the late 19th century, was the precursor to the Huffman Manufacturing Company (later became the [[Huffy|Huffy Corporation]]), a manufacturer of bicycles.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Burba|first1=Howard|title=When "Davis" Came to Dayton|url=http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/davisdayton.html|website=Dayton History Books Online|accessdate=March 27, 2016}}</ref>

==Early career==

Huffman was born September 6, 1862, in [[Dayton, Ohio]]. He was educated at the Cooper Academy and then studied law in the offices of Gunckel & Rowe. He worked in real estate and in 1887 he purchased the Kratochwill Flouring Mills and the Kratochwill Milling Company. He was also president of the National Improvement Company, the Monitor Publishing Company, and the Miami Valley Elevator Company. He served as vice-president of the Crume & Sefton Manufacturing Company and treasurer of the Cooper hydraulic Company. He was a director in the Third National Bank, the Homestead Aid Association, the Consolidated Coal and Coke Company of Cincinnati, and [[YMCA]] locally. On October 30, 1884, he married Maude C. McKee. They had two children, Horace Huffman and George P. Huffman Jr.<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Dayton, Ohio|date=1889|publisher=Dayton History Books Online|url=http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/page/page/3446003.htm|accessdate=March 27, 2016}}</ref>

==Bicycles==

In 1887, Huffman purchased the [[Davis Sewing Machine Company]] in [[Watertown, New York]], which manufactured high-quality [[sewing machine]]s. The following year, Huffman moved the factory to larger facilities in [[Dayton, Ohio]]. While continuing to manufacture sewing machines, in 1892 Huffman adapted the factory to produce bicycles.<ref>{{cite web|title=About Huffy|url=https://www.huffybikes.com/about|website=Huffy Bicycles|accessdate=March 27, 2016|archive-date=March 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322025217/https://www.huffybikes.com/about|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Huffy History (Dayton, Ohio)|url=http://www.re-cycle.com/History/Huffy.aspx|website=Re-Cycle|accessdate=March 27, 2016}}</ref>

George P. Huffman died December 31, 1897, of a [[brain hemorrhage]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Roller Mill, Vol. 16|year = 1897|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OBMVAQAAMAAJ&q=George+P.+Huffman+dies&pg=PA385|accessdate=March 27, 2016}}</ref> and was interred in the [[Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio]].

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121016123031/http://www.huffy.com/About/History.aspx Huffy Corporation corporate history site]. Retrieved 2010-Jun-08

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huffman, George P.}} [[Category:American businesspeople in manufacturing]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Dayton, Ohio]] [[Category:Burials at Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum]] [[Category:1862 births]] [[Category:1897 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]]