I’m working a new “Who’s the daddy?” puzzle. The puzzle began in August 2025 when a new, small match popped at ancestryDOTcom.

Let’s call the new match “XX.” She and I share only 9 cM of DNA, an amount so small that, normally, it would not be worth a look.

However, ancestryDOTcom’s computer brain says that our shared ancestry is on my father’s side, and a quick “See Shared Matches” showed that XX and I share 22 identified Hufford/Cripe descendants, and that XX has very large shares with two of those identified Hufford/Cripe descendants:
One 859 cM share, and one 382 cM share.

The two shares are 1st cousins to one another. They are granddaughters of Floyd E. HUFFORD, b. 15 Jun 1892, Milford, Iroquois, Illinois; d. 28 Sep 1981, Hoopeston, Vermilion, Illinois. Floyd was son of Samuel Benjamin HUFFORD (1864-1949), who was son of Andrew HUFFORD (1827-1881) and his wife, Sarah Catharine CRIPE (1833-1907). Andrew HUFFORD b. 1827 is on page 80 of the 1909 HUFFORD FAMILY HISTORY. Andrew was the son of Abraham HUFFORD (1788-1859), who was the son of Casper HOFFERT (1762-1825), who was the son of Christian HOFFART (1716-1788).

The DNA makes clear that, like me, XX is a HUFFORD/CRIPE descendant. I wrote to her:

“You and I share 9 cM of DNA. Because of the several shares we have in common, I can tell that you descend from Andrew HUFFORD (1827-1881) and his wife, Sarah Catharine CRIPE (1833-1907). Your closest HUFFORD/CRIPE relative is an 859 cM match, a women born in 1937, in Illinois. Do you know how you fit in as a HUFFORD descendant? Or, would you like some help solving a puzzle? Would love to hear from you. I’ve been working HUFFORD descendants for 40 years.”

Her answer came seven months later, May 2026:

“Hello. I am not sure how I am related. I never knew who my father was.”

XX is 60 years old and would like to know the name of her biological father.

And so it began.

In August 2026, XX reached out to a great-granddaughter of Floyd, having found her in facebook-world. The woman she reached out to has agreed to do an autosomal DNA test, and I’ve postal mailed to her a test-kit that I had on a shelf. Now we wait.

Whatever the new info will be will help with the puzzle, but it may not itself be definitive.

Below is the list of Floyd E. Hufford descendants known thus far. The surname in all-capital letters means that the person has been proven by autosomal DNA.

This is what a DNA puzzle looks like as it is being solved:

1. Floyd E. HUFFORD: b. 15 Jun 1892, Milford, Iroquois, Illinois; d. 28 Sep 1981, Hoopeston, Vermilion, IL.
….. 2. Carl Louis HUFFORD: b. 10 Apr 1915, Stockland, Iroquois, IL; d. 28 Feb 2000, Merritt Island, Brevard, FL.
………. 3. Linda Hufford: b. abt 1944, NJ. (Presumed dead w/o issue.)
………. 3. [living female] HUFFORD: b. 3 Mar 1963.
………. **(NOTE: Shares 382 cM w/ XX.)
…………… 4. [living male] Repanshek: b. 15 Apr 1990, Cocoa, Brevard, FL.
…………… 4. [living female] REPANSHEK: b. 21 Jun 1995, FL.
…………… **(NOTE: Shares 177 cM w/ XX.)
….. 2. Mary Elizabeth HUFFORD: b. 3 Aug 1917, Hoopeston, Vermilion, IL; d. 3 Jun 1969, Inyo County, CA.
………. 3. [living female] HAFNER: b. 1 Mar 1937, IL.
………. **(NOTE: Shares 859 cM w/ XX.)
…………… 4. Robert Wayne PHEBUS: b. 23 Apr 1959, Danville, Vermilion, IL; d. 5 May 2021.
……………….. 5. [living male] Phebus: b. 12 Mar 1982.
……………….. 5. [living female] PHEBUS: b. Jul 1983.
……………….. **(NOTE: Shares 245 cM w/ XX.)
……………………. 6. [living male] PASILLAS:
……………………. **(NOTE: Shares 62 cM w/ XX.)
……………….. 5. [living male] Phebus: b. 2 Dec 1993.
……………….. 5. [living male] Phebus
…………… 4. [living male] Phebus: b. 17 Nov 1960, IL.
…………… 4. [living female] Phebus: b. 18 Feb 1962, IL.
…………… 4. [living female] PHEBUS: b. 7 Oct 1963, IL.
……………….. 5. [living female] BAYS: b. 24 Apr 1982, IL.
……………….. **(NOTE: Shares 142 cM w/ XX.)
……………….. 5. [living female] Taylor
………. 3. Jack Edgar Hafner: b. 19 May 1938, IL; d. 19 Feb 2020, Danville, Vermilion, IL.
…………… 4. [living male] Hafner: b. 13 Jun 1960, IL.
…………… 4. [living female] Hafner: b. 12 Sep 1968.
………. 3. Carl Floyd Hafner: b. 9 Jan 1946, Danville, Vermilion, IL; d. 5 Jan 2020, Monroe, Union, NC.
…………… 4. [living female] Hafner: b. May 1968, IL.
…………… **(NOTE: Awaiting DNA test results.)
…………… 4. [living female] Hafner: b. 27 Feb 1980.
………. 3. [living female] Hafner: b. Jan 1950, IL.
….. 2. Byron Orland HUFFORD: b. 9 Feb 1919, Milford, Iroquois, IL; d. 8 Sep 1995, Rossville, Vermilion, IL.
………. 3. Larry Lee Hufford: b. 3 May 1938, Danville, Vermilion, IL; d. 30 Sep 1944, Danville, Vermilion, IL.
………. 3. Sheila Ann Hufford: b. 22 Jan 1940, Danville, Vermilion, IL; d. 17 Mar 2026, Medford, Jackson, OR.
…………… 4. [living male] Reece: b. 8 Dec 1956, Fairbury, Livingston, IL.
…………… 4. [living female] Reece: b. 1 Oct 1959.
…………… 4. [living male] Reece: b. 24 May 1961.
…………… 4. [living female] Reece: b. 17 Dec 1962.
………. 3. Ronald Joseph Hufford: b. 1 Jun 1941, Hoopeston, Vermilion, IL; d. 4 Feb 1999, Collinsville, Madison, IL.
…………… 4. Jeffery Alan Hufford: b. 19 Sep 1960, Danville, Vermilion, IL; d. 24 Jun 2022, Danville, Vermilion, IL.
………………… 5. [living female] Hufford: b. Jul 1984.
……………………. 6. [living female] Pribble
………. 3. Danny Gale Hufford: b. 19 Sep 1942, Danville, Vermilion, IL; d. 26 OCT 2005, Zephyrhills, Pasco, FL.
…………… 4. [living male] Hufford: b. aft 1979.
……………….. 5. Paige M. Hufford: b. 3 Apr 2001, Indianapolis, Marion, IN; d. 2 Dec 2016, Danville, Vermilion, IL.
…………… 4. [living male] Hufford: b. aft 1979.
…………… 4. [living male] Hufford
………. 3. [living female] HUFFORD: b. 26 Feb 1944, Hoopeston, Vermilion, IL.
…………… 4. [living female] Wimberly: b. 16 Feb 1975.
…………… 4. [living female] Wimberly: b. aft 1976.
…………… 4. [living female] WIMBERLY
……………….. 5. Matthew WIMBERLY
……………….. **(NOTE: Shares 41 cM w/ XX.)
………. 3. Richard Paul Rick HUFFORD: b. 25 Dec 1946, Hoopeston, Vermilion, IL; deceased.
…………… 4. [living female] Hufford: b. 31 Mar 1966.
…………… 4. [living male] Hufford: b. 30 Jun 1967, Vermilion County, IL.
……………….. 5. [living female] Hufford: b. 5 Mar 1991.
……………….. 5. [living male] Hufford
…………… 4. [living female] HUFFORD: b. 8 Nov 1970.
……………….. 5. [living female] KEY b. 21 Jun 1992.
……………….. **(NOTE: Shares 133 cM w/ XX.)
……………….. 5. [living female] Key: b. 20 Dec 1993.
………. 3. [living female] Hufford b. abt 1947 in Hoopeston, Vermilion, IL.
………. 3. [living male] HUFFORD: b. 14 Aug 1948, Hoopeston, Vermilion, IL.
…………… 4. [living female] Hufford: b. 19 Aug 1974.
…………… 4. [living male] Hufford: b. 10 Oct 1975.
…………… 4. [living femae] Hufford: b. 24 Aug 1980.
…………… 4. [living male] HUMISTON: b. 28 Dec 1970, Fayetteville, Cumberland, NC. (Given up for adoption.)
………. 3. [living male] Hufford, Jr.

For reference, check here for relationship predictions based on shared DNA:
DNA Painter: The Shared cM Project 4.0 tool v4