John Wesley Hughes (May 16, 1852 - February 22, 1932) was an American minister. He was born in

Owen County, Kentucky Owen County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Owenton. The county is named for Colonel Abraham Owen. It is a prohibition or dry county, with the exception of a winery that is authorized ...

and was converted at the age of sixteen in a Methodist revival meeting in an old schoolhouse. Hughes attended

Kentucky Wesleyan College Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) is a private Methodist college in Owensboro, Kentucky. The college is known for its liberal arts programs. Fall 2018 enrollment was 830 students. History Kentucky Wesleyan College was founded in 1858 by the Kent ...

in Millersburg, Kentucky (now located in

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

), and served as a pastor in the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Church before pursuing further education at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in Nashville, Tennessee. After serving twelve years as a pastor and one year as an evangelist, Hughes felt that God was leading him to establish a distinctly religious school where students could receive a thorough college education under the direction of a faculty wholly consecrated to God. Hughes stated: Hughes opened the Kentucky Holiness College in September 1890 at

Wilmore, Kentucky Wilmore is a home rule-class city in Jessamine County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,686 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the United States Census Burea ...

. After a year of operation, Hughes changed the name of the school to Asbury College in honor of Methodist Bishop

Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life to ...

, who had organized the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Church in 1790. Also in 1790, Bishop Asbury had established Bethel Academy, a Methodist school and the only one of its kind west of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

, just three and a half miles south of Wilmore. This local connection gave even more meaning to the new name for the college, which Hughes viewed as less pretentious than the original name. In 1905, after fifteen years as president of Asbury College, the college board of directors asked Hughes to step down for reasons that are not completely clear today. Despite the painful nature of his removal, Hughes would later write in his 1923 autobiography: In 1906 Hughes founded Kingswood College in Breckinridge County, Kentucky. He served as president of that institution until he retired in 1917. Mary Wallingford Hughes, Hughes' wife of 33 years (married July 28, 1881), died in 1914. After retirement, Hughes returned to Wilmore. He later remarried to Sadie Maude Petty, whom he preceded in death. In 1928 Hughes was invited to break ground for Hughes Auditorium at Asbury College (later Asbury University), the school chapel that is still in use today. Hughes died on February 22, 1932, at his home in Wilmore. His tombstone reads:

Sources

* ''Asbury College: Vision and Miracle'', by Joseph A. Thacker, Jr. (Evangel Press, 1990) * ''The Autobiography of John Wesley Hughes'', by John Wesley Hughes (Pentecostal Publishing Co., 1923)

External links

Asbury University Home Page

Hughes Bio at Asbury University Archives (Wayback Machine)Hughes Memorial Auditorium at Asbury University Archives (Wayback Machine)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, John Wesley 1852 births Converts to Methodism Vanderbilt University alumni 1932 deaths Presidents of Asbury University Kentucky Wesleyan College alumni University and college founders

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