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Rev. Hughes was born in Cape May, N. J., December 15th, 1827. His boyhood days were spent on a farm where he reveled in the outdoor life he loved so well, such as gunning, fishing, swimming and other sports native to the life in that section at that time, working when his labor was required and attending school when it was in session. As he grew older he took advantage of the educational facilities offered at the Tuscarora Academy and Lewistown Academy, equipping himself for entrance to Princeton College in 1847, when but twenty years old.. After completing the literary course he entered the Theological Seminary for a three years' course, which he concluded successfully and was ordained to the ministry. The summer following his graduation he spent as agent for the American Sunday School Union in Luzerne county.
Some three years later he was called to the chair of mathematics in Luzerne Presbyterial Institute at Wyoming, Pa., and later he was placed in charge of the school, including the religious services on Sunday. The success which attended his work there was the means of his being called to a larger field of work as principal of Edgehill school, Princeton, N. J. The Civil War was the burden the United States was carrying at that time, and Rev. Hughes organized a company of forty rifles from among the students and had an army officer drill them daily. Most of the boys went into active service in the armies of the Blue and the Grey, but few of them returned.
The strenuous duties of school life were brightened at that period by the marriage of Rev. Hughes to Miss Emily W. Robert, a good and capable women whose assistance and influence he was privileged to enjoy until 1889, when she responded to the call from her loving Father.
Shortly after the close of the Civil War Rev. Hughes went to Loganport, Indiana, to take control of an active and prosperous school but at the end of three years was induced to come to Bellefonte Academy where he led a continuously active and interesting life. Pure mountain air soon increased his strength and established his health, fitting him to take hold of a very much impoverished school and start it on the way to its present success. The remarkable story of the upbuilding of this now widely known educational institution is so familiar to "Watchman" readers that there is no need to recall it here.
To reminisce on the early life of the Academy was a delight to Rev. Hughes and his listeners. A group of boys gathered around him to hear his stories of hunting and college days was a familiar scene, especially upon such days when the weather was unfit for his daily drive. Being preeminently fitted to fill the offices of preacher and teacher Rev. Hughes for a number of years faithfully served as stated supply in the Bald Eagle valley Presbyterian church, where in the years that followed he was always a most welcome guest.
Rev. Hughes never recognized class distinction, hence in his pilgrimages up and down Bald Eagle valley and his various drives through the surrounding community he never failed to invite a tired woman or child whom he overtook trudging along the road to share his buggy and ride with him. In this way he frequently learned of family in need and quietly provided for their immediate wants when he returned to town. But the good he did in this way was never known outside.
Life to Rev. Hughes consisted mainly in the diversions and pleasures he could get out of each day, and after all is said and done what greater record can any man leave. He was not over keen for automobiles, always averring that they traveled so fast he could not see or enjoy the country. Nature and country life were to him an inspiration and an uplift, and to them he traveled daily with his faithful horse, searching for the birds and the flowers and frequently returning with arms full of green foliage, flowers and strange plants. His love for the birds and the flowers, for nature in general, and above all, for little children, was one of the predominating characteristics of his life. The night before he passed away, in attacks of partial delirium, he imagined that his faithful old horse was standing out in the snow unblanketed and uncomfortable and he begged the nurse in attendance to send some one out to cover him. This thought and care for beasts and birds - the real Christian spirit continuously characterized the wonderful life of this grand old man. He was always most solicitous as to the health and comfort of his children, never seeming to realize that his own health might suffer and that he could be called before any of his loved ones.
He was an enthusiastic supporter of all kinds of athletic sports and he and his horse were always familiar sights at all kinds of games on Hughes field. His daily exercise was as much a part of his existence as his meals and he always made it a point to go after his horse and buggy instead of having them "sent around." He made a mental calculation of the length of the walk in front of the Academy property over which he paced daily for exercise, calculating the distance traveled to a nicety.
He was one of the familiar figures to be seen daily at the Spigelmyer newsstand awaiting the arrival of the morning newspapers, and should they fail in making connection his disappointment would be unusually keen, as he literally devoured the secular as well as religious newspapers. In this connection it might be stated (with pardonable pride) that he always looked forward to Friday morning for the appearance of the "Watchman" and would read it from start to finish. His wonderful speech to the students on the occasion of the celebration of the ninety-second anniversary of his birth exemplified his marvelous mentality, which remained with him to the last. Being well read he had positive views on all of the current questions of the day, and never hesitated to express them when opportunity presented itself.
While thoroughly conversant with all the branches of study in the curriculum of a school mathematics was has hobby, and to express it in common parlance he was a perfect wizard in figures. On one occasion one of the eminent judges of Centre county that of all teachers of mathematics he ever knew Rev. Hughes was the only one who could make a fairy tale out of an arithmetic problem. On another occasion a well known lawyer serving on a building committee figure out the required number of brick for a certain building so rapidly and so correctly that the contractor, was simply amazed and asked him where he learned his method of calculation. The lawyer promptly replied, "I learned from Rev. Hughes when I was a student at the Academy."
The measure of any man is not so much the success he accomplished for himself as the good he did for his fellowmen and the community in which he lived and though his work was always unostentatious the measure of the man who has just passed away after more than a half century of life in Bellefonte must be filled to overflowing.
Rev. Hughes was a regular and faithful attendant at church and Sunday school, taking active part in the study of the lessons and in the singing during the church service, of late years carrying a little flashlight to enable him to see more clearly the words of the hymns he loved to sing.
The Sunday before his ninety-second anniversary - December 14th - Dr. McKinney, pastor of the Presbyterian church, recognizing the graciousness of God in permitting Rev. Hughes to reach such a good old age in full possession of his mental powers, called him into the pulpit to offer the so-called "long prayer", and the old patriarch - for such he was - responded in a prayer that was beautiful in thought, forceful and impressive in expression.
"No One hears the door that opens
When they pass beyond our call;
Soft as loosened leaves of roses
One by one our loved ones fall"
He lived with no thought of self or the accumulation of money or glory, but of the good he could do for others and for the country he loved with a patriotism that was second only to his love for the Heavenly Father, and surrounding community has suffered a loss that can be softened only with the thought that he was spared to see the fruition of his life's work reach such a successful stage.
It might here be mentioned that Rev. Hughes was one of a family of twelve children and he outlived them all but one, the only survivor being a sister, Mrs. Amelia Kershaw, of New York city. Another interesting thing in common with the family is that Rev. Hughes and two of his brothers were ordained ministers in the Presbyterian church while three of his sisters were married to Presbyterian ministers.
Very impressive funeral services were held in the Presbyterian church at two o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. Dr. W. K. McKinney, the pastor was in charge and during the service the Hon. Ellis L. Orris and John Blanchard Esq., both of whom studied under Rev. Hughes paid fitting tribute to the memory of the man who had done so much in shaping the character of men and women who were his pupils. The remains were laid to rest in the Union cemetery.
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