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HUGHES, Scotch-Irish.

Thomas Hughes, a Revolutionary soldier, came from Prince William County, Virginia, soon after the Revolution, and aided in building the fort at the mouth of Hughes Creek, named for him. He built the first cabin on Laurel Creek, near where old Bethel Church once stood. Here he had a hunting camp. He died at the fort at Hughes Creek in 1794.

Edward Hughes, son of Thomas, made the first improvement on the McCutcheon farm at Cross Lanes. He had a large family and patented large tracts of land in different parts of the County. One tract of 1,000 acres lay along Gauley River above and below Hughes Ferry. William McClung of Greenbrier was granted a tract of 43,000 acres on the opposite side of the river and the closing line from Dogwood Gap to the beginning corner near the ferry was protracted, but found to actually cross the river. A famous lawsuit followed between McClung and Hughes, which ended after about fifteen years when the Supreme Court of Virginia held the river should be the dividing line. His two sons were William and Madison. Madison owned and operated the ferry all his life. His sons Mathew and Virgil and their
numerous descendants are well known.

Judge Guthrie, formerly of Kanawha Circuit Court, was a grandson of Edward Hughes.

Bishop Edwin Holt Hughes and his brother, Bishop Matt Hughes, are relatives of the Hughes family in the County.


From The History of Nicholas County, West Virginia, by William Griffee Brown, 1954
Submitted by Nancy Norman Hopkins


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