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Hon. Louis Hughes Arizona The Youngest State By James H. M cClintock,1916 Vol III Page 6 - 12 HON.
LOUIS C. HUGHES. No man ever earned a more honorable title than that given to Louis C. Hughes by the people of Arizona, among whom he is known as the "state builder." The name has been conferred upon him in grateful recognition of his many years of steadfast and faithful labor along lines of state organization, improvement, development and reform and in appreciation of the constructive work he has accomplished along public and semi-public lines. His reward has been the honor, esteem and gratitude of the people he served and the privilege of witnessing the growth and continued development of the great commonwealth of Arizona. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 15, 1842, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Thomas) Hughes, both natives of Wales, where they were united in marriage and seven of their ten children were born. Samuel and Elizabeth Hughes came to the United States in 1840, settling first in Philadelphia, removing to Pittsburgh in 1843. Louis C. Hughes's parents died when he was two years of age and lie was placed in a Presbyterian orphanage, where he remained until ten years of age, and was then indentured with a Calvinistic farmer family, where he was trained to hard work-the, three months yearly district school laying a foundation upon which to build for future achievements. At the opening of the Civil war he was working his way through an academy in a country village. This was when slavery agitation was at white heat. The orphan boy had read Uncle Tom's Cabin, and taking part in the school debates, was ardent for the freedom of black boys and girls. The call to arms to save the Union found him recruiting a company from among the country boys, and after he had been twice refused enlistment on account of size, he finally succeeded in being accepted in Company A, One Hundred and First Pennsylvania Volunteers, served two years in camp, field and hospitals, and was discharged on account of general disability. A year thereafter he reenlisted and was sergeant for one hundred days' campaign in Knapp's Pittsburgh Battery, to aid in protecting Washington city. During his army service the camp was his school and he utilized his spare hours in study. When first discharged he entered a government machine shop and rapidly acquired the trade, the shop men all helping the "little boy in blue," as he was called. When he had worked but two years he was accepted as a journeyman, joined Machinists and Blacksmiths' Union No.2 of Pittsburgh, and there is where he began to develop his altruistic spirit. The cause of freedom for the black man and the Union of states settled, the cause of labor was rising above the horizon. Returning soldiers filled the shops and all other avenues of employment, and labor saving machinery had made great strides during the war; an estrangement between capital and labor was a new issue, and rumblings of discontent were heard among the laboring masses everywhere. Many remedies were suggested, cooperative societies, building and loan associations, reduction of the hours of labor, with the hope of reducing the supply and increasing the demand for labor. In this new field young Hughes was a willing, active and aggressive spirit. Pittsburgh, a center of iron and glass manufacturing, was ripe for agitation, organi zation and labor reform at the close of the war. Here was a new field, calling for self sacrificing workers, which found in him aggressive enthusiasm The eight hour movement was crystallized into practical form in 1866, and, joining with the leaders, W. O'Neil of Boston and Jonathan Fincher of Philadelphia, he secured a petition of several thousand workingmen of Pittsburgh, addressed to congress, for a law fixing eight hours for all government work. This was sent to Senator Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, who fathered and passed the bill, the first eight hour law in the United States. During the same year he agitated and aided in organizing in South Pittsburgh, the first cooperative store on the Rochdale plan west of the Allegheny mountains. While taking a course in Meadville Theological School, he counseled Father Upchurch in organizing the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and became a member of Jefferson Lodge, No. 1, the first in the United States. The order had as one of its purposes the federation of all trades and labor unions, but it soon drifted into a fraternal insurance organization. In 1868 he delivered an address on "Trades- Unions, Their Cause, Influence and Present necessity before the International Convention of Machinjsts and Blacksmiths' Union of America and Great Britain, at Cleveland, Ohio, predicting a destructive conflict between the Pennsylvania Rail road and labor. That conflict climaxed, inside of five years, in the destruction of millions of property in Pittsburgh and other points on its railroad system. Mr. Hughes studied law in Meadville, overtaxed himself in his studies and reform activity, and wrecked his health ,which resulted in his seeking rest and absence from the fretting and agitating multitude, and 1871 found him in Tucson, Arizona, the land of the fierce Apaches, desert and sunshine, where he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession. Soon after, he was appointed probate judge and ex-officio county superintendent of schools; was district attorney two terms; was attorney general; United States court commissioner; member of board of world's fair commission at Chicago for Arizona; and delegate to the national democratic conventions in 1884 and 1892. In 1878 he established the Arizona Star, the first daily paper in Arizona, of which he was editor and publisher for thirty years. When the Arizona Press Association was organized in 1892 Mr.: Hughes was elected its first president. The birth of the Star was the date of the state building era of Arizona. With the leverage of this paper Mr. Hughes waged war on graft, corruption ad. abuse of power, defended projects of reform, advancement and progress and accomplished work which touched the very foundation of the life of the state. In its columns he inaugurated the policy of removing the Apache Indians into Florida, thus eventually terminating the Apache wars. The building of homes and promoting permanent settlement throughout Arizona, found practical and successful encouragement in the Star advocacy of establishing building and loan associations, the first of which was organized in Tucson in 1887. He advocated also the creation of a federal court for the settlement of Mexican and private land grant titles and this resulted in the invalidation of claims to more than twelve million, five hundred thousand acres of land in Arizona and in the return of this immense tract to the public dornain. Single-handed Mr. Hughes battled against licensed gambling in the territory, fought the saloon traffic, supported woman suffrage, was a stanch advocate -of the initiative and referendum, and for thirty years with his paper was on the firing line in every great political contest in the state. Mr. Hughes was governor from April 1st, 1893, to April 1st, 1896. His administration was signalized by economy and retrenchment in the public service, by eliminating all unnecessary employs. When he came into office the territorial treasury was facing a deficit of more than fifty thousand dollars. In 1893 the deficit was reduced to less than three thousand three hundred dollars; in 1894 there was nearly six thousand dollars in the treasury; and at the close of 1895 the territorial indebtedness had been reduced fifty thousand four hundred and eighty-five dollars and seventy-six cents, the first decrease in the indebtedness for fifteen years. And this result with no increase of taxation. - Upon his recommendation a non-partisan board of control was created, composed of the governor, the auditor and a citizen member of the opposite political party, none but the citizen member receiving com pensation for services. This law abolished the boards of commissioners of prison, insane asylum, reform school and railroad-making a saving of more than twenty-five thousand dollars in salaries and mileage, as the records show. The cost per capita for administering the territorial prison and insane asylum was reduced twenty-three per cent and reduction in main tenance was noticeable in all institutions. The annual cost of maintaining the territorial administration under Governor Hughes was less than two hundred thousand dollars, and for the three years it did not reach a total of six hundred thousand dollars, notwithstanding that, during those three years, there were erected the normal school buildings at Flagstaff and Tempe, university dormitory at Tucson, and over thirty thousand dollars expended in improvements on the insane asylum and prison buildings-more public buildings erected than under any previous administration. The parole law was enacted and put into successful operation by him; and of the many prisoners who enjoyed its benefits, but one violated his parole. Convicts whenever paroled were required to work Governor Hughes' maxim was that savages could not be civilized, nor criminals reformed, without labor. His prison policy aided much in the large reduction referred to in prison maintenance. The Governor's three annual reports to the secretary of the interior and congress proved of great public value, as they contained much data on climate and wealth resources of the territory, the Indians and their needs, and the moral and progressive character and interests of its diversified population. The information furnished therein was the subject of much favorable comment in the press of the country. There were five thousand copies of the 1893 and 1894 reports published, and so great was the demand for these that of the report of 1895, containing one hundred and nineteen pages, seventeen thousand five hundred copies were issued by the government and distributed. It scarcely need be added that these proved a valuable advertising medium for the territory. The federal law calling for these reports required the governor to give the general conditions and make recommendations as to congressional legislation for the territory, which opened a wide field that was taken advantage of by the governor, the press comment being that more information had been published in these reports, and recommendations which were crystallized into law, than by all the governors who had preceded him. Recommendations were made for appropriation for irrigation of lands of the Indian reservations; setting a part for allotment lands for Indians wishing to take them in severalty, especially the Papago, Maricopa, Pima and the Yuma tribes; increasing Indian - industrial schools, educating and training Arizona Indian children in the territory, for the conservation of their health and to enable them to learn local industrial pursuits; transferring trial of Indians from territorial to United States- courts, and securing appropriations to meet the expenses of such triahs- had, and jail and penitentiary costs of Indian convicts; for creating forest reservations at head- waters of Arizona streams and water supply; and for setting apart the "Petrified Forest" as a national park. The Governor urged and secured the passage of a congressional act authorizing the territory to lease school lands, and placing the proceeds thereof in the public school funds. This law has been and is a source of large and increasing revenue to the schools of the - state. He also encouraged the location of a National School of Science near the Grand Canyon, that cluster of natural phenomena. He urged many needed reforms, especially the suppression of the liquor traffic, which was shown to be the greatest bane to the Indians- the initial cause of our Apache wars, the cause of over sixty-five per cent of territorial taxation, as well as the many other accompanying evils. He urged upon congress its duty to Arizona to suppress this traffic. All of these recommendations went before the country, commended or condemned by the press, thus creating public opinion, mostly favoring these appeals. During his term as chancellor of the university that educational institution rapidly increased its number of students, especially from residents throughout the territory. An Important factor in that growth was the aiding of those lacking the financial resources for securing the benefits of the university, by employing them in various departments as assistants, and allowing compensation for their services. The average number of those assistants is twenty-five, most of whom rank well as students and graduates. This is but one of- the various improved conditions inaugurated during this period. In
1868 Mr. Hughes married Josephine Brawley, of Meadville, Pennsylvania, daughter
of John U. Brawley, a western Pennsylvania farmer of large political connections
and influence. In all of his labors, struggles and achievements, Mrs. Hughes
entered into the fullest partner ship, and proved equal to every
emergency-developing the- characteristics and qualities of a noble heroine. In
1872 Mrs. -Hughes opened and taught the first pubic school for girls in Arizona.
She has been active also in religious - movements, holding the title of
"Mother of Methodism" in the state and
has been one of the most valuable workers in the cause of temperance in the
southwest, serving as territorial president of the Woman's Christian Temperance
Union for a number of years. She organized the first equal suffrage association
in the territory and was elected its first president, and her work along all of
these lines has been ably carried forward during her twenty-six. years of
activity as assistant manager and editor of the Arizona Daily Star. She is still
active in all progressive reform movements, a woman of .comprehensive -
knowledge, broad experience and great wisdom, whose work has been a worthy
supplement to that of her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have two children living,
a daughter, Mrs. Gertrude Woodward, and State Senator John T. Hughes, of whom
further mention is made in this work. which he committed to memory:
'I live for those who love me, For those who know me true, For the heavens that smile above me, And
await my spirit, too. For the cause that needs assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And
the good that I can do." The
flag on the statehouse floated at half mast by order of the governor and the
state offices were closed during the time of the funeral. These were some of the
outward expressions of grief that came with the passing of Governor Hughes. In
the hearts of all who knew him sorrow found its place but his memory will be
perpetuated and his name honored for years to come, for no one discredits the
great part which he played in building this empire of the southwest. MRS.
'JOSEPHINE BRAWLEY HUGHES. Mrs. Josephine Brawley Hughes, wife of ex-Governor L. C. Hughes, is entitled to most honorable mention in the history of Arizona because of the splendid work which she has done for humanity in the fields of temperance, benevolence and religious activity. Endowed by nature with keen mentality, she has ever wisely used her talents for the benefit of mankind, starting with her own home and reaching out in a constantly broadening sphere of usefulness to all who need assistance. Mrs. Hughes was born near Meadville, Pennsylvania, and spent her girlhood upon a farm, suppleynenting her early educational opportunities by study in the Edinboro Normal School. She afterward devoted two years to public-school teaching and in July, 1868, gave her hand in marriage to L. C. Hughes, who in 1871 made his way to Arizona, inhere the following year he was joined by his wife. Mrs. Hughes made the trip by rail to San Francisco, thence by steamer to San Diego, after which she traveled five hundred miles by stage to Tucson, carrying her little daughter in her arms and traveling for five days and five nights without halting save to change horses, for at that time the Apaches were most hostile and rendered traveling dangerous. It required courage and endurance to make the trip but those qualities were characteristic of Arizona's pioneer 'women and have proved one of the strong elements in the foundation upon which the state has been built. Mrs. Hughes was the third American woman to become a permanent resident of Tucson. Here she joined with her husband in work for the benefit of the new country and in 1873 was appointed the first woman public-school teacher in Arizona and established the first public school for girls in the territory at a period when separate schools for boys and girls were maintained owing to the strong opposition for coeducation. Her influence from the beginning of her residence here has been strongly and directly felt along many lines that have greatly benefited the. State. In 1875 she was appointed commissioner for Arizona to the woman's department of the Centennial Exposition' and the following year journeyed back to Pennsylvania, traversing the same route by which she. had come at a time when the danger was little less than when she first made the journey to Tucson. The sheltered lives of Arizona's women today give them little indication of the conditions met by the pioneer wife and mother. Every field of labor for the betterment of the community in which she lived looked to her for assistance which was readily given. She has been active in religious movements, holding the title of "Mother of Methodism" in the state. She was active in raising funds for the erection of the first Protestant church in Arizona-the structure now in the city park-which was constructed under the auspices of the Presbyterian board of missions. Upon the arrival of the Rev. George H. Adams, the pioneer Methodist missionary of Arizona, she took a most helpful interest in organizing the Methodist church in Tucson and liberally contributed toward the building of the brick house of worship then at the corner of Pennington street and Stone avenue. It is a well known fact that many of Arizona's most valuable reforms originated within its walls. "In this church temperance societies, adult and juvenile, were organized and Miss Frances Willard preached, prayed, lectured and organized the temperance forces of Arizona in the W. C. T. U., of which Mrs. Hughes was soon thereafter made territorial president," assuming the responsibilities of management and the further development of the work. The Methodist church in a spirit of broad Christianity, opened. its doors to all distinguished divines and reformers, and men of prominence passing through Arizona addressed the public upon questions of education, religion and significant modern problems, Continuing her work in the temperance cause, Mrs. Hughes served as president of the W. C. T. U. for several years; during which period. she. was instrumental in securing the passage of the Sunday rest bill by the legislature in 1887. While engaged in that work she came to fully recognize the power of the ballot in legislation and induced Mrs. Laura M. Johns of Kansas, a national organizer, to come to Arizona and aid in organizing the suffrage sentient, of which the Arizona Daily Star was a stalwart champion, into a territorial association, at which time Mrs. Hughes was chosen for president. When she resigned the presidency of the W. C. T. U. to accept the presidency of the suffrage association of the state, she said: "Let us secure the vote for women first, then the victory for home and temperance will soon follow." In 1891, during the session of the constitutional convention, there was a strong effort made to incorporate an equal rights provision; General William Herring being the leader in the movement. Mrs. Hughes, then territorial president, and Mrs. Johns, national organizer, were invited to present the suffrage cause, which they did in most able manner, the entire afternoon being devoted to the discussion of the question. Many adherents were won for the cause, which, however, was lost by a small vote. They afterward entered strongly upon the work of organizing suffrage clubs in every county in Arizona and their efforts made the question of the women's right to the ballot a dominant one whenever legislature convened. It was voted upon at each succeeding session of the general assembly and in 1901 passed both houses but was vetoed by Governor Brodice. The suffragists then put forth renewed efforts along the line of quiet educational work. Theirs was a propaganda which stood for the best interests of the state and ultimately became a law, so that Arizona women now exercise the franchise and their ballot has been a dominant force in bringing about many needed reforms and improvements. For twenty-five years Mrs. Hughes was engaged with her husband, ex-Governor L. C. Hughes, in the publication of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. During all these years Mrs. Hughes worked in conjunction with her husband in advocating suffrage, prohibition, anti capital punishment and kindred reforms in which they were interested through the columns of the Star, using the newspaper as a vehicle for carrying to the people of Arizona and the southwest the reasons for the molding of these reforms into the laws of the commonwealths of the southwest. During Mr. Hughes' term as governor of Arizona, Mrs. Hughes had the editorial and business management of the Star, being the only woman actively engaged in the management and control of a daily newspaper in Arizona. With all of her
active public work Mrs. Hughes has been first and foremost a devoted wife and
mother. She had three children: Gertrude, now the wife of Professor Sherman M.
Woodward; John T. Hughes, member of the state senate; and Josephine, who died at
the age of two years. The family residence at No.158 Court street, which has
been their home since 1875, is one' of the historic landmarks of the state.
There hospitality has always reigned supreme and no one has entered its doors
without becoming cognizant of the air of cultural progress and uplift. A
contemporary writer has said: "As one of the mother builders of the state
for more than forty years Mrs. Hughes now rejoices in gathering in the sheaves
of two generations of seed sowing while looking with hope for greater
achievements, and it is to such women as Mrs. Hughes and her coworkers,
conscientious, 1competent and cheerfully persistent, that Arizona
owes a vast debt. of gratitude, not only because of their' energy of purpose or
faithfulness of zeal in so arduous an undertaking for the general good, but
because of the great unconscious influence of their strong and admirable
personalities, which could not fail to aid in molding public sentiment in favor
of the nobler things which they sought to accomplish." Use your back button on your browser to return to the main page Thank You Sandra
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