Hugh Judge Jewett (July 1, 1817 – March 6, 1898) was an American
railroader
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He served as the
United States representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from
Ohio's 12th congressional district
Ohio's 12th congressional district is a United States List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in central Ohio, covering Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware County, Morrow County, Ohio, Morrow County, and Licking County ...
in the
43rd United States Congress
The 43rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1873, ...
.
Early life
Jewett was born at
Harford County, Maryland
Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...
but spent most of his life in
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
at
Zanesville
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, down ...
and
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
.
He was the son of John Jewett (1777–1854) and Susannah Judge (1778–1853).
He was also the younger brother of
Joshua Husband Jewett (1815–1861), a United States Congressman from Kentucky.
Career
He attended Hopewell Academy in
Chester County, Pennsylvania
Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the De ...
, before moving to Ohio as a young man and attending
Hiram College
Hiram College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Hiram, Ohio. It was founded in 1850 as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute by Amos Sutton Hayden and other members of the Disciples of Christ Church. The college is nonsectarian and coe ...
. He was
admitted to the bar
An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
at
St. Clairsville in 1840 after studying with
James Black Groome
James Black Groome (April 4, 1838October 5, 1893), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 36th Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1874 to 1876. He was also a member of the United States Senate, representing Marylan ...
, who later became
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...
. He formed a law practice with Isaac Eaton, who became a prominent lawyer in Kansas.
In 1848, he moved to Zanesville, where he formed a law practice with
John O'Neill, a member of Congress. He also served as president of the Muskingum branch of the State Bank of Ohio in 1852.
In 1857, he served as president of the
Central Ohio Railroad Company and organized the
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad Company as well as the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
.
In 1852, he was
Presidential elector
The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...
, and supported
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...
for president.
[ He was a member of the ]Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate.
The House of Representatives first met in ...
and the Ohio State Senate
The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...
. In 1860, he ran for Congress and, in 1861, for Ohio Governor. He was a candidate for the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in 1863, losing each time as a Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
.[ From March 4, 1873 to June 23, 1874, he served as ]United States Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from Ohio's 12th congressional district
Ohio's 12th congressional district is a United States List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in central Ohio, covering Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware County, Morrow County, Ohio, Morrow County, and Licking County ...
in the 43rd United States Congress
The 43rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1873, ...
.
Jewett resigned his seat on June 23, 1874 and moved to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in order to become president of the Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...
, which he served from July 1874 until October 1884. At the beginning of his tenure, the railroad was reorganized as the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...
. On June 22, 1880, he led the railroad in converting from a broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
to standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
, . In 1884, he retired from the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad and resided in New York City until his death.[
The borough of ]Mount Jewett, Pennsylvania
Mount Jewett is a borough in McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 849 at the 2020 census. The students of the borough attend school in the Kane Area School District, even though the borough is surrounded by Hamlin Town ...
, is named for him, as he was president of the NYLE&WRR when it brought rail service to that area.
Personal life
On June 20, 1840, Jewett was married to Sarah Jane Ellis (1819–1850) in St. Clairsville, Ohio. Sarah was one of five daughters born to Judge Ezer and Nancy (née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
McKinley) Ellis. One of her sisters was married to Ohio Governor Wilson Shannon
Wilson Shannon (February 24, 1802 – August 30, 1877) was a United States Democratic Party, Democratic politician from Ohio and Kansas. He served as the 14th and 16th governor of Ohio, and was the first Ohio governor born in the state. He was th ...
, another to Rep. William Kennon, another to George Washington Manypenny
George Washington Manypenny (1808 – July 15, 1892) was the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the United States from 1853 to 1857.
Early life
George Washington Manypenny was born in 1808 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He moved to Ohio around 1830 ...
, and another to Col. Isaac Eaton. Her mother was related to President William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
. Together, they were the parents of:
* John Ellis Jewett (1841–1895), who served in the U.S. Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
and who married Emma Stevens, and later, Bessie Jacobs.
* Mary Kennon Jewett (1843–1849), who died young.
* George Manypenny Jewett (1845–1915), an inventor who married Helen M. Applegate (1849–1923).
* Charles Clarence Jewett (1849–1879), who died unmarried.
After his first wife's death in 1850, he remarried to Sarah Elizabeth (née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Guthrie) Kelly (1823–1901) in Putnam, Ohio
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, down ...
on April 10, 1853. Sarah was the widow of Chauncey Regan Kelly, the daughter of Julius Chappell and Pamelia (née Buckingham) Guthrie, and a descendant of Thomas Welles
Thomas Welles (14 January 1660) is the only person in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and from ...
, Chad Brown, Abraham Pierson
Abraham Pierson (1646 – March 5, 1707) was an American Congregational minister who served as the first rector, from 1701 to 1707, and one of the founders of the Collegiate School — which later became Yale University.
Biography
He was ...
, and several other prominent colonial figures. Together, they were the parents of:
* William Kennon Jewett (1857–1935), who founded the London Gold Mines Company of Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, one of the largest gold mines in the United States
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...
. He commissioned Arden Villa in 1913. He married Elisabeth "Patty" Kyle Stuart (b. 1858) in 1881.
* Helen Pamelia Jewett (b. 1858), who married Thomas Hunt, the son of Judge William Hunt William Hunt may refer to:
Australia
* Bill Hunt (cricketer) (1908–1983), Australian Test cricketer of the 1930s
* William Hunt (sprinter) (1898–1977), Australian Olympic sprinter
New Zealand
* Sir William Hunt (businessman) (1867–1939), N ...
, ex- Minister to Russia, in 1888.
* Sarah Guthrie Jewett (1862–1939), who married Julian Wainwright Robbins (d. 1934).
Jewett died on March 6, 1898 at the Bon Air Hotel
''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in t ...
in Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...
. He was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Zanesville, Ohio
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...
.
Descendants
Through his daughter Sarah, he was the grandfather of Sarah Jewett Robbins (b. 1890), a women's suffragist who was married to John W. Minturn in 1910, Van Rensselaer Choate King (1880–1927), from 1918 until their divorce in 1923, and William Lawrence Marsh. He was also the grandfather of Julia Wainwright Robbins (1897–1955), the prominent actress who appeared both on stage and in silent films.["Julia Hoyt, Film and Stage Beauty, Dead"](_blank)
''Chicago Tribune'' (November 1, 1955): pt. 3, p. 10.
References
;Notes
;Sources
* Kalmbach Publishing (1985),
'. Retrieved March 15, 2005.
*
'. Retrieved March 15, 2005.
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jewett, Hugh J.
1817 births
1898 deaths
19th-century American railroad executives
Erie Railroad
People from Columbus, Ohio
Ohio lawyers
Politicians from Zanesville, Ohio
Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives
Democratic Party Ohio state senators
People from Harford County, Maryland
1852 United States presidential electors
United States Attorneys for the Southern District of Ohio
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American lawyers
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio