Robert Morton Hughes (September 10, 1855 – January 15, 1940) was a Virginia lawyer who served as a president of The
Virginia Bar Association
The Virginia Bar Association (VBA) is a voluntary organization of lawyers, judges and law school faculty and students in Virginia, with offices in Richmond, Virginia. Key elements are advocacy, professionalism, service and collegiality. It provi ...
and helped establish what became
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia w ...
in
Norfolk, Virginia. He is buried in
Elmwood Cemetery.
Family
Hughes was born in the house of his mother's adoptive parents, Gov.
John B. Floyd
John Buchanan Floyd (June 1, 1806 – August 26, 1863) was the 31st Governor of Virginia, U.S. Secretary of War, and the Confederate general in the American Civil War who lost the crucial Battle of Fort Donelson.
Early family life
John Buch ...
and Sally Preston Floyd at
Abingdon, Virginia
Abingdon is a town in Washington County, Virginia, United States, southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Washington County. The town encompasses several historically significant sites and f ...
. Through his parents, Judge
Robert W. Hughes and Eliza Johnston Hughes, he was related to many of Western Virginia's prominent families. Hughes spent most of his early life in Abingdon.
Education
Hughes entered the
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
in 1870 at the age of 15 and graduated with an A. B. degree in 1873. His association with William and Mary continued for the rest of his life. Hughes was president of the Alumni Association for 1892-93,
and served on the college's Board of Visitors from 1893 to 1918 and was rector from 1905 to 1918.
In 1920, the College awarded him an honorary doctor of laws degree. In 1933, Hughes was the commencement speaker.
Washington & Lee University
, mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future"
, established =
, type = Private liberal arts university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.092 billion (2021)
, president = William C. Dudley
, provost = Lena Hill
, city = Lexing ...
gave him an honorary doctorate of laws degree in 1926. Hughes was a member of the
Virginia State Board of Education The Virginia State Board of Education is an independent board established by the state of Virginia in the United States which helps set state elementary and secondary educational policy, advocates within state government for elementary and secondar ...
from 1930-1935.
For his part in establishing what became
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia w ...
, in 1959, the
Robert M. Hughes Memorial Library was named for him.
Law
Hughes also attended the
University of Virginia Law School
The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...
and earned a degree in 1877. After being admitted to the bar this same year, Hughes set up practice in Norfolk, Virginia, where he would continue to work until his retirement in 1920. His specialty was
admiralty law.
Hughes was elected president of the
Virginia Bar Association
The Virginia Bar Association (VBA) is a voluntary organization of lawyers, judges and law school faculty and students in Virginia, with offices in Richmond, Virginia. Key elements are advocacy, professionalism, service and collegiality. It provi ...
in 1895.
He was chairman of the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners from 1910-1923.
Politics
Hughes was a lifelong Republican, following the lead of his father, but at the wrong moment in Virginia history. An unsuccessful Republican candidate for congress in 1902 and 1904, Hughes also failed in several attempts to be appointed to federal judgeships, beginning in 1897 when he sought to succeed his father as a judge in the district court at Norfolk. Hughes was a staunch conservative and the last years of his life found him ardently opposing the
New Deal in general and
Roosevelt's attacks on the Supreme Court in particular.
Historian
Hughes's main interest outside the law was Virginia history and, in particular, the roles played by members of his own family. He felt particularly duty bound to defend the reputations of two close relatives: Gov. Floyd, his adoptive maternal grandfather, and Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American career army officer, serving with distinction in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia secede ...
, his maternal great uncle. Johnston asked Hughes to write his official biography.
In the dedication to Hughes's volume on Johnston, he wrote: "I take pride in dedicating to the Army of Tennessee, as a tribute to its constancy and valor, this sketch of the Great Captain, who led it in its palmy days, and with whose renown it is inseparably associated."
Social
Hughes was the fourth president of The Poetry Society of Virginia. Most of his poetry remained unpublished, as per his wishes. Following is one of his poems:
January 1st, 1915
Come, fill your cups, the dying year
Shall promptly be forgotten
With such a brew why need we care
For falling price of cotton?
Here's to the New Year's natal day!
What has it in its keeping,
Naught spared from fratricidal fray
But widow's eyes for weeping?
Or peace, and Christian love outpoured
To nurse the maimed and needy,
And plenty, lavishing her hoard
In noble succor speedy?
No matter. Friends still gather round;
Home ties are still unbroken;
Then may the new-born year abound
With blessings yet unspoken!
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Robert Morton
1855 births
1940 deaths
Virginia lawyers
College of William & Mary alumni
University of Virginia School of Law alumni
People from Abingdon, Virginia