Source: Portrait & Biographical Album of Whiteside County, IL
Originally published 1885
Chapman Bros.
Chicago, IL

Transcribed by: Denise McLoughlin
Tampico Area Historical Society
www.tampicohistoricalsociety.citymax.com

Pages 440-441

JOHN B. HUGHES

John B. Hughes, Clerk of Jordan Township, is a farmer and prominent stock-grower on section 24. He was born March 23, 1857, in St. Clair, Schuylkill Co., Pa. William Hughes, his father, was a native of Columbia Co., Pa., and was a farmer. The family is of Welsh descent, as is indicated by the name, although the later generations are all of American birth. The father went to Schuylkill County where he was young, and he there engaged in mercantile business at St. Clair, where he established his interests on a scale of considerable magnitude. Later, he went to Beaver Meadow, where he was similarly occupied for a time, but he returned to St. Clair, where he was married June 2, 1856, to Elizabeth Bamford. She was born Feb. 6, 1832, in the city of Liverpool, England. Her parents, John and Sophia (Goodacher) Bamford, were natives of Derbyshire. She was but a few weeks old when her father emigrated with his family to Canada. After a residence of two years in the Dominion they went to Schuylkill Co., Pa., where they reared and educated their children. Mrs. Hughes has become the mother of two children - John B. of this sketch, and Sophia E., who is her mother’s companion still.

When Mr. Hughes was five years old, in 1862, his parents came to Illinois. In May of that year they located on 160 acres of unimproved land on section 24, Jordan Township. To this the father added 40 acres on section 23 by a later purchase; and at the time of his death, which occurred Oct. 14, 1877, he was the owner of 200 acres of land in a valuable agricultural condition. The buildings on the place are eminently creditable to the judgment and taste of the former proprietor, who has left a fine estate as a memorial of a life of useful effort. He died at 53 years of age. He was prominent as an agriculturist and generally esteemed as a substantial and reliable citizen. The mother is yet living. She is a member of the Methodist Church.

Mr. Hughes passed the first 17 years of his life on the homestead farm and attended the public schools. At that age he entered the Second Ward School at Sterling, and was graduated June 21, 1876, when he was 19 years of age. He began the profession of a teacher in Genesee Township, which he pursued until his own plans were interrupted by the death of his father. Since that date he has been engaged in the management of the homestead. He is interested in growing stock and owns a fine herd of Short-Horn cattle and a drove of full-blooded Poland-China swine. His home, “West Lawn,” is one of the finest farms in Whiteside County, and his herd, “West Lawn Herd” comprises many animals of fashionable breeding and rare individual merit. He has met with success in that branch of business, and has competed, with gratifying results, with other stock-growers at the local fairs.

Mr. Hughes is possessed of a well-trained and disciplined mind, is a great reader and has a well assorted and valuable library. He was elected Township Clerk in the spring of 1879, and has held the office ever since. He received the election to the same position in the spring of the current year. He is also officiating as School Treasurer.

His marriage to Mary Bennison occurred Dec. 18, 1878, at Kewanee, Henry Co., Ill. She was born Oct. 17, 1854, in Shullsburg, Lafayette Co., Wis., and is the daughter of William and Sarah (Walton) Bennison, the former a native of England and the latter of Pennsylvania. Both are of English origin. They were married in Wisconsin. In 1865 they removed to Kewanee, where her father, who was a merchant in Wisconsin, resumed that occupation. He died in 1871, when the daughter was 17 years of age. Her mother is still living. The children of Mr. And Mrs. Hughes are recorded as follows: Winifred B., born Dec. 18, 1879; Raymond G., born Nov. 12, 1881; Bert E., born Dec. 2, 1883.

Mr. Hughes is a Republican in political opinion and action. His wife is a member of the Methodist Church.