William Edgar Hughes (March 15, 1840 – July 29, 1918) was an American politician from Texas. Hughes was a

Morgan County, Illinois Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 35,547. Its county seat is Jacksonville. Morgan County is part of the Jacksonville, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which ...

, native, born to parents John and Eliza on March 15, 1840. He graduated from Illinois College and started reading law. In 1859, Hughes drove 3,000 sheep from Missouri to Texas, and chose to stay. He settled in

Dallas County Dallas County may refer to: Places in the USA: * Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name * Dallas County, Arkansas * Dallas County, Iowa * Dallas County, Missouri * Dallas County, Texas, the nint ...

, raising sheep. Hughes was visiting family in Illinois when Texas succeeded from the Union in 1861. Upon his return to Texas, Hughes enlisted in an artillery battery led by

John Jay Good John Jay Good (July 12, 1827 – September 17, 1882) was a Texan judge, soldier, and mayor of the city of Dallas.. Retrieved on August 6, 2009. Biography John Jay Good was born July 12, 1827, in Monroe County, Mississippi to George Good. He ...

, and later by

James Postell Douglas James Postell Douglas (born Lancaster, South Carolina, January 7, 1836; died Texas, November 27, 1901) was a soldier, politician, and businessman in the state of Texas. He is regarded as the founder of the Cotton Belt Route, a major railroad sys ...

. Fighting alongside the Confederate Army of Tennessee, Hughes's battery saw action throughout the Western Theater of the American Civil War. He was injured in the left hand during the

Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between United States, U.S. and Confederate States of America, Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union Army, Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign ...

. By the Atlanta campaign, Hughes had been promoted to captain, and transferred to the cavalry brigade led by Benjamin J. Hill. In January 1865, Hughes became commander of the Thirteenth Confederate States Cavalry. Following the end of the American Civil War, Hughes settled in Weatherford, Texas. Hughes was a schoolteacher for five months, then ran a

salt works A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The Salt pans are shallow and large of size because it will be easier for sunlight to travel and reach the sea water. Natural s ...

Shackelford County Shackelford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,105. Its county seat is Albany. The county was created in 1858 and later organized in 1874. Shackelford is named for Dr. Jack Shack ...

. He continued his legal studies, and was later admitted to the bar. Hughes married

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

native Annie C. Peete on November 21, 1867. In 1870, he was elected to the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

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 Weatherford. Hughes sat in the

Twelfth Texas Legislature The Twelfth Texas Legislature met from February 8, 1870 to December 2, 1871 in four sessions — provisional, called, regular, and adjourned. Senate There were incidents with Indian marauders and cattle thieves in Texas and on May 6, 1870, Senator ...

from February 9, 1870, to his resignation on March 1, 1871, and was succeeded in office by Absolom Gant. In 1873, Hughes moved to Dallas, and was elected the inaugural president of the City Bank of Dallas, later renamed the City National Bank. While working for the bank, Hughes practiced law and traded livestock and real estate. In 1880, Hughes moved to St. Louis, Missouri, to lead the Continental Land and Cattle Company as president. Hughes was elected president of the Dallas-based Exchange (National) Bank in 1884. He moved to

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado in 1889, and two years later, organized the Continental Trust Company. From 1891, Hughes served concurrently as president of the Union Trust Company of St. Louis. Following the advice of his only granddaughter, Hughes wrote a memoir in 1912. He died in Denver on July 29, 1918.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, William Edgar 1840 births 1918 deaths People from Morgan County, Illinois Illinois College alumni Texas lawyers Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American legislators Northern-born Confederates Confederate States Army officers American bank presidents 20th-century American memoirists People from Dallas County, Texas 20th-century American male writers People from Weatherford, Texas People of Texas in the American Civil War Writers from Illinois Writers from Texas 19th-century American businesspeople Military personnel from Texas Military personnel from Illinois