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.
State of Service: NJ
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
A direct descendant of four Mayflower passengers, Memucan Hughes was born at Cape May County, New Jersey, 12 April 1739, eldest son of Elias Hughes and Hannah Whilldin, whose whaler yeomen families were pioneer settlers of Cape May in the 1680s.
Although he resided at Cape May County his entire life, Memucan was commissioned in 1759 as a lieutenant in Johnston’s Company, Denny’s Regiment of Pennsylvania Artillery. He married Martha Hughes, a distant cousin, in 1761 at Cape May. They had four children: Zeruiah, Israel, Martha, and Elijah.
During the Revolutionary War, Memucan was listed in July 1776 as Paymaster and Commissary for the Cape May County Militia. At an election held at Cape May County Courthouse later that year, he was selected as a member of the County Committee of Safety. In 1777, he served the County Militia as Commissary and Muster Master. In 1778, he was one of 89 Cape May landowners to sign the Oath of Allegiance. In 1781, Memucan donated more than six bushels of salt, a locally-produced commodity, for use by State Troops in the service of the Continental Army. He also paid the Supply Tax, revenues from which gave military support.
While he lived in town, Memucan also owned a farm and had grazing rights on Five Mile Beach. His cattle and hogs, which roamed freely as was the custom, were identified by an earmark established at the county courthouse by his grandfather in 1708. Memucan had a simple six-room house built at Cape May in 1765. Having obtained his first tavern license in 1768, he used the front room of his house as a tavern, catering to the whaling community for more than 30 years. It is implied that Memucan’s tavern was “…an unlicensed house of entertainment…” when the Grand Jury indicted him in 1799 for causing a public nuisance.
In this same year, Memucan married Rhoda Allen. His house was used as a preaching station in 1810, when he invited Methodist preachers to give service there on alternate Wednesday evenings.
Memucan died at Cape May 8 January 1812 and was buried at Tabernacle Methodist Church Cemetery at Erma, Cape May County, New Jersey.
The extant Memucan Hughes House or Colonial House is protected and managed by the Greater Cape May Historical Society, which is headquartered there. One of the oldest houses of Cape May County, it was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1970 and is open for museum tours during the summer.
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