History of Lee County, Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY 23
Angeles, California. Her oldest son, John N. Hughes, Captain
of Company B, 210th Pennsylvania Volunteers was wounded in
the battle of the Wilderness and died a few weeks later. Her
fourth son, William E. Hughes, died at the age of four years in
1855. Her second son, B. F. Hughes, a lawyer by profession and
at one time a member of the state senate of Pennsylvania and also
assistant postmaster of Philadelphia, died at his home in Philadelphia,
in October, 1913. Her youngest son, Edward A. Hughes,
died in Clinton, Iowa, in 1902 while serving his third term as
mayor of that city.
Charles H. Hughes acquired his early education in the public
schools of Berwick, Pennsylvania, and afterward had the opportunity
of attending the Susquehanna University. He was a young
man of twenty-two years when in 1868 he came to Illinois, where
he took up the occupation of farming being actively connected
with agricultural pursuits in Lee county for twenty-two years. In
the management of his fields he displayed keen discernment, thorough
understanding of the best methods of tilling the soil and in-
defatigable industry. Those qualities won him siiceess as the
years passed on and made him in time the possessor of a handsome
competence. At the time of his demise he was still the owner of
his farm lands and personally directed their opei'atimi. In nddition
he had business interests in Dixon in which city he took up
his residence in 1892. The following year he became connected
with the Dixon National Bank as one of its stockholders and at
the time of his demise was its cashier. During tlie later years of
his life he devoted his attention lai'gely to the management of
the bank, the success and upbuilding of which are largely attributable
to his efforts. He was always strictly honorable and
straightforward in his dealings and was ever willing to assist the
patrons of the bank to any degree that would not im]ieril the
safety of other depositors. He was an excellent judge of himian
nature and was therefore seldom, if ever, at fault in giving sub-
stantial evidence of his confidence in an individual. His entire
business career was characterized by progress. He always followed
constructive methods so that his path was never strewn
with the wreck of other men's failures. He readily recognized
and grasped opportunities and the wise use which he made of his
time and talents brought him substantial return.
It was not long after he came to Lee county that Mr. Hughes
was united in marriage to Miss Hannah E. Williams, a daughter
of the late Mark Williams of Palmyra, this county. Theirs was