He was born Oct. 17, 1812, in Clermont Co., Ohio, and is the son of Allen and Elizabeth (Tilton) Hughes. His grandfather, Allen Hughes (1st) was a native of Virginia, where his son Allen (2d) was born. The latter went to Kentucky, where he was married. Richard Tilton, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Hughes of this sketch, was a member of a prominent Kentucky family, noted for the characteristics which distinguished the pioneer inhabitant of that State. The traditions which have come to their descendants preserve the memory of the beauty of their women, and the bravery of the male members of the family in the historic times when Kentucky was placed on permanent record as the "dark and bloody ground." Richard Tilton was a Methodist minister of prominence and influence, and preached many years in Kentucky. His family included 12 or 13 children; and, after they had attained to the growth if not the years of maturity, they removed to Okaw, the southeastern township of Bond County, on the Kaskaskia River, in Illinois. They were pioneers, and received the full benefit of the poisonous emanations from the low marshes in their vicinity, which resulted in the most terrible mortality. One by one the stalwart sons and fair daughters succumbed, and the parents followed in their turn. Five individuals lay dead in the house at one time. Several recovered, and as soon as was possible, they went back to the old home in Kentucky, leaving a monstrous estate, including thousands of acres, under the control of a lawyer named Robert Turner, through whose chicanery the entire property was wasted, and availed nothing to its rightful owners, the heirs of Richard Tilton. One of the daughters, Oletha, married Samuel Parker, a Methodist divine of distinction, the record of whose labors and abilities are preserved with just pride in the annals of the Church, and who died at New Orleans to which place he had been sent by the Conference.

Allen and Elizabeth Hughes had 15 children, 13 of whom lived to adult age, and were born in the following order: Melinda, John A., Sarah, Elizabeth, Polly, Nancy, Richard T., Oletha, Amanda, Emily, Allen, Perry, and James P. the parents were earnest believers in the principles of Christianity, and lived in the satisfaction of a belief which crowned their lives with triumph, having received satisfactory evidence of every child following where they had been led in faith and humility. Six are now deceased, dying in the exultant faith of Christian believers. Those who survive are passing their sunset years in the calmness and content of the trust in which they were trained. The senior Hughes removed to Ohio with his wife and children, in the closing years of the 18th century, where he became prominent in the business relating to the development of the part of the State where he settled. He owned immense tracts of land, on which he induced settlers to locate; he built mills, and operated extensively as a financier; but troublesome times came, and the scarcity of money induced ruin from the impossibility of making assets available, and in 1823 he removed to White Co., Ill. Later he went to Morgan County, where he died in 1834. While a resident of Ohio, he held several public of offices trust, while at the same time he was burdened with heavy business care. His commercial operations extended upon the principal rivers. He even went to New Orleans, being absent for a month at a time and thus increasing the home cares of Mrs. H., as she had the hired hands at Mr. Hughes' mills to look after, etc. In the evening of his closing career of 55 years, he often remarked that his sleep was sweet to him on account of his freedom from business cares. He died a tranquil death, as did Mrs. Hughes.

Mr. Hughes is the seventh child of his parents, and he was 12 years of age when they removed to White Co., Ill. He went with them to Morgan Co., and in 1834 he came to Jo Daviess County, now Carroll. His father died within the year, and his mother, with six children, joined him at Elkhorn Grove. They were without means of support; but the son only felt that he was happy in having them to provide for, and he bent every energy to the fulfillment of the duty, whose magnitude will be apparent to those who consider the fact that the nearest point of supplies was at Hennepin on the Illinois River. Mr. Hughes was in his young manhood; and, through the first winter at Elkhorn Grove, he made frequent trips to Hennepin for the necessaries of life, encountering all the trials and hardships of an unsettled portion of country. His mother was a host in herself, and her Christian courage proved a support to her children, and was the center of the first religious movement in that locality. An old log school-house, which served several purposes, was the place of a weekly gathering for prayer, the assembly consisting of herself, another old lady, and two men who came long distances with the utmost regularity to sustain the prayer-meeting. Later there were regular religious services at the same place, conducted by a clergyman. The mother of Mr. Hughes was a thorough mistress of Holy Writ, and conducted all her religious movements with ability and fearlessness. Notwithstanding the pioneer conditions and attendant privations, that time is remembered as full of happiness. The two nearest neighbors were John Ankeny, who lived a mile and a half north, and Pearson Shoemaker. The latter is now living at Lanark, Carroll County. He then lived two miles east of the Grove. Mr. Dixon (so often quoted in this work) lived on the site of the city which bears his name, and was the only resident in that vicinity. The first winter Mr. Hughes passed in his cabin alone in the midst of hundreds of Indians, whose revengeful spirits had been wholly subdued by the terrible punishment they had received in the Black Hawk War. They showed the utmost solicitude to be on friendly terms with the solitary youth in the Grove; but he was unable to trust them fully, and spent many nights in terror, lest some skulker might kill him to obtain possession of his flour, pork, sugar and other supplies. He had constant applications to exchange a pint of flour for a venison ham, and once "swapped" pork for deer's meat. The experiment was a success, as the Indians were wholly unaccustomed to the use of salt and wanted no more pork. On one occasion they invited Mr. Hughes to dine at a wigwam, and at the time appointed he went, to find a spread of dried venison on a blanket laid out on the ground. The Indians urged him to eat a "big heap" and also to help himself to honey from a bucket which stood near. Not understanding the etiquette of dining in that fasion, he waited to take observations. The Indian dogs, part canine and part prairie wolf, running about, picking up pieces of meat, and after chewing for a time, dropping them where chance directed settled the question of Mr. Hughes' dining on venison; and when he saw his hots dip their fingers in the honey, and, after licking their digits, wipe them on the dogs, he flatly declined their hospitality. The grief of his would-be-entertainers was deep and genuine. The early settlers were in constant terror of the Indians, but there was not an instance when harm was done to any individual.

Mr. Hughes split 8,000 rails the first winter. He afterward hewed the timber for the two first mills built north of Rock River, for which there was no use when they were completed. The first grist ground was a peck of coffee, in the possession of one of the mill owners, and was the first grist in Jo Daviess County. Mr. Hughes, a littler later, carried the best of wheat flour to Galena, which he sold for a dollar a hundred, and pork at the same rate. He also carried wheat to Chicago, which he sold for 75 cents a bushel. An idea of comparative values may be gained from the fact that 200 pounds of pork were exchanged for a teapot. Expenses were so heavy that in these expeditions the settlers carried their provisions with them and camped under their wagons on the prairie. The utmost harmony prevailed among the new settlers. Sympathy made sorrow lighter and increased the joy of happiness. The fact that flour was twenty miles away and $15 a barrel, increased rather than diminished the general good feeling.

After a few months Mr. Hughes grew desirous to obtain a sight of white faces; and, mounting his pony, he rode to the home of Jesse Hill, the first settler in Genesee Township. He dismounted and called at the door of the log cabin, where three girls, a boy, and a large dog were partaking of a meal of baked potatoes, served on the puncheon floor without dishes. The unaccustomed presence of a stranger sent three of the children to a hiding place beneath the "bunk," only the older girl standing her ground. The bunk was the pioneer bed, the frame of which was made by driving crotched sticks into the ground to support poles, the ends of which were lodged in holes bored in he logs in the cabin walls. The girls were clad in garments made in the most primitive manner, being mere sacks tied about their necks with their arms thrust through holes cut for that purpose. The cloth was also a home-made material. While the startled family recovered their equilibrium, the dog secured his share of the rations. Mr. Hughes made his visit a brief one, as the father was absent. The wife and mother died before the family removed to Whiteside County, and the daughter had received no instruction in domestic affairs, save such as the father could bestow.

Mr. Hughes mother returned to Morgan County on a visit, where she died in the fall of 1858.

He was married March 13, 1844, in Whiteside County to Mary J., daughter of Edward and Susan (Case) Scoville, and they had four children: James S. was born Feb. 1, 1843. He was drowned June 4, 1855, in the mill pond near Jacobs' Mill. He has been dead 30 years; but the pang of the terrible event is still fresh in his parents' hearts. John M. was born Aug. 24, 1846, and is a prosperous and thrifty farmer in Mt. Pleasant Township; Caroline L. was born Feb. 18, 1849, and married James Brown. They live on the homestead with her parents. Mr. Bown is the owner of a farm in Ustick Township. He removed his family to the home of Mr. And Mrs. Hughes on account of the death of the youngest daughter, which is a sharp affliction to her aged father and mother; Oletha was born March 19, 1859, and became the wife of George Johnson. She died June 23, 1882 in Mt. Pleasant Township, in the dawn of womanhood. Her death was marked by the calm and earnest faith of a genuine Christian believer. Mrs. Hughes was born in Batavia, N.Y.

The portraits of Mr. And Mrs. Hughes are given on previous pages and do not require comment. They are engraved from photographs taken in 1885. Their worthy, useful lives have their best commemoration in the esteem of their neighbors, and their permanent record in this book is but their just mead of reward. They are zealous, consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Morrison.

Portraits & Biographical 1885 Pg 427

Illinois - "Our Way"