The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-07-31
sketch Of Colonel Hughes.

Robert W {. hughes IS 4 native OF I0Wla-
tan county, and is Il descendant of one OF
the pioneer families of the colony of Fir-
ginia. His grandfather, David Hughes, was
Il captain in the war of Independence, while
his father, Jesse Hughes, was a captain in
the war Of 1912. His mother was Morton,
Of Prince Edward county. Through her
the subject of this sketch nhcrits the blood
Of the lIuyucnot families of Watkins, Mosely,
Mostly, Daniel, and others. 4 great-great
uncle. jesse Hughes, was pioneer hunter
and Indian fighter in West Virginia, from
whom Hughe>'S river, flowing into the kl-
nawla. took its name
Having lost both parents in infancy, the
subject OF this sketch was reared to the age
Of twelve by Colonel Edward G. CARING
ton. OF Halifax. lie was then sent to the
carpenters trade. in Princeton, \. j., aud
tHcrc worked for four years. He then re-
turned t. Virginia, and having determined
TO obtain IN education, wen, 10 the Caldwell
institute, Greensboro, y. c., for eighteen
months. We next find him teacher OF
mathematics in the bingham High School,
lliiIsboro', y. c., where he grounded HIM
self in classical education but, contrary
To- the general impression, he never went to
college.
In 1914 Colonel Hughes studied law in
FincaStle. Va, and in 1916 settled in
Richmond, where he lived until 1857. Du-
ring nearly Ill this time he was constant
contributor to the Richmond Examiner, an
independent Democratic paper Of consldela-
bic celebrity and great Influence in the South.
When the editor Of that journal, John NJ.
Daniel, Esq, went abroad rs United States
Minister to Sardinia in 1853 Colonel Hughes
assumed editorial charge of it. He continued
in this position until the accession Of Mr..
Buchanan to the presidency in 1857, when,
on invitation of the President, he accepted
tue position of principal editorial writer for
,hc Washington Union, the national organ,
it will be remembered, of the Democratic
party. This position he filled with marked
aD.ilty until the summer of 1907, when he
retired from politics to farm which he had
purchased in Washington county, III South
western Virginia, where nc has since con-
iuucd to reside, though during and since
the war he has Speut most OF his time III
Richmond. :.
The hostility of Mr.. Buchanan to Judge
Douglas was one of the reasons which IN
duced the Withdrawal of Colonel hughes
from the Washington Union. He attended
the Democratic Convention which convened
III Charleston in April, 1860, as Jealous
advocate Of Judge Douglas; but owing 10
his personal relations with the Buchanan
Administration he took no part III the pre-
sidential contest of that year.
After the secession of Virginia, Colonel
Hughes became an ardent supporter OF the
cause of Confederate independence, and at
the earnest solicitation of his friend John
NJ, Daniel spent the principal part OF bis
time during the war in Richmond as an edl-
torial writer for the columns Of the Erdnla-
uer. The influence and celebrity OF this
journal during that memorable period are
well known. The paper was conducted In
opposition to the Davis Administration, but
made encouragement OF the Confederate SOL
diers and armies lis leading study and effort.
Contrary TO the popular impression, Coionel
Hughes was not on the staff of the Examiner
during the year 1860, nor until after the fall
of Fort Sumter but after that he Was one
of it, most industrious contributors, zeal
Gus defender Of southern institutions and
aims, and Il bitter opponent of the Federal
Government He left the paper about eight
months before the evacuation of Richmond.
Immediately after the Federal occupation
of this citya Union paper, called The Rspu6-
he, was established, and Colonel Hughes, TO
the great surprise Of his old Democratic and
Confederate friends, became its editor. This
paper. though for IA while successful, was
shori-livcd, for it had no hold whatever
upon the sympathies of the disappointed and
broken-llearted people among whom it was
circulated and from whom its patronage, if
auv, was to be derived. When it suspended,
Colonel Hughes resumed the practice Of law
and resided on his farm in Southwest IT.
gina.
On the removal Of the State Journal from
Alexandria TO Richmond he took editorial
charge of that paper, combining his attention
at first almost entirely to railroad questions.
He wrote in the Journal a series OF able artl.
cies tayoring the consolidation schemes or
General Mahoue, and in advocacy OF na"
fioual aid to the central water-lne, or James
River aud Kanawha canal. His report, pre-
pared for the National Board of Trade, IN
favor of this water-Eine, attained consider
able celebrity: and his article on the same
subject published in Hunts Merchants Mo.
qaztae for August and September, 1858, ana
rcpublished in pamphlet form, has been
widely circulated.
Before he had been many months editor
of the Journal (his name never appeared In
that paper as such, we beieve,) Colonel
Hughes began to write articles in support OF
the Republican party and It's obnoxious