The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
James Hughes was born in 1740 at Augusta County, Virginia, a son of Hugh Hughes and Susanna Dutton.1
In March 1756, he was issued a license to keep an ordinary.2 According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an ordinary is "an eating-house or tavern where public meals are provided at a fixed price; a dining--room in such a building…[especially] … In parts of the United States, as Virginia: a tavern or inn of any kind." The Bell Tavern at Augusta County was well known and was later known as the Washington Tavern. There were "…five ordinary keepers in Staunton in 1787."3 His last recorded operating license was issued in May 1761. During this period, James Hughes married Margaret McNealey as given by a 26 August 1760 marriage license issued in the Province of Pennsylvania.4
In 1783, Hughes’ regimental officer, Captain Thomas Young, wrote that he “…enlisted the 18th of September 1779 for the war and served as a faithful soldier in my Company until the Regt. left the Barracks in Albemarle [1 December 1780] where he was left wounded & is entitled to a discharge.” Captain William Cherry affirmed that Hughes as served as a sergeant in Colonel Joseph Crockett’s regiment. This regiment crossed the Ohio into the Northwest Territory. They engaged in battles with the Native American Indians and burned old abandoned Chillicothe and their Piqua village in August 1780 under General George Rogers Clark.5 Family stories state Hughes lost his leg and was entitled to a bounty.6
Hughes returned to Hampshire County and regularly paid his taxes (i.e., between 1783 and 1787). In 1789, he was appointed an overseer for a road construction project at Hardy County, Virginia. In the 1790s, he paid taxes on land located at the east side of the Capecapon River. His Last Will and Testament, dated 31 January 1802, appointed his son-in-law, David Ogden, and Moses Baker to serve as executors. His will was proved by the oaths of Jesse Baker, John Nicolas Switzer, and Samuel Baker, 24 July 1802.7 The Will names twelve children in following order: Aaron, Jonathan, John, Levy, William, Isaac, Rebecca, Susannah, Elizabeth, Mary, Rachel, and Leah. His wife, Mary, was still living in December 1835, where she was named as his widow and relict.8
James Hughes may be buried at the Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery at Crimora, Augusta County, Virginia.
References
1. Historical Register of Virginians, Pg. 86, 347.
2. Augusta County Court Records Order Book 5, Pg. 34-35.
3. Waddell. Pg. 217. 1902.
4. Linn and Egle, Pennsylvania Marriages, Pg. 125. 1976.
5. G. R. Clark, Conquest of Illinois, Pg. 171. 1920.
6. Myers, Hughes Family, Pg. 11. 1999.
7. Will Book 1, Pg. 238-239, Hardy County, West Virginia
8. Will Book 6, Pg. 206, Hardy County, West Virginia.
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