Transcribed by Mary Ann Kaylor

Page 1326

HUGHES, William , retired farmer, Riverton, Sangamon County, Ill., is a native of Maclesfield, England and in his life has demonstrated the value of British blood in the making of our American civilization and progress. He was born in 1840, a son of George and Harriet (Ashworth) Hughes. His father, a sheet-iron and tin worker, conducted a manufacturing establishment. Of four sons of the family, only William Hughes and his brother Thomas, of Missouri, survive. William was educated in England and learned the sheet-iron worker's trade with this father and was employed in connection with it till 1848, when he came to America with his parents. The family sailed from Liverpool and, after a six weeks' voyage, landed at New Orleans. The mother was sickened and died during the voyage and was buried in the Atlantic. After staying awhile in New Orleans, the subject of his notice made his way to St. Louis, where he lived eight years. Then, coming to Riverton, Ill., he found employment for some years with the Howlett Distillery Company. Later, after several years spent as a miner, he took up farming, which he followed with considerable success until 1901, when he retired from active business. During apportion of the period of the Civil War he was a member of the Louisiana State militia. In his political affiliations he is a Democrat..

In 1880 Mr. Hughes married at Springfield, Ill., Miss Jane Langfield, born in Ohio, a daughter of George Langfield, a native of England, who came to America and located in the Buckeye State, where he farmed during the remainder of his life. Mrs. Hannah (Whitehead) Langfield who was also a native of England bore her husband three sons and three daughters, of whom the following survive: Mrs. Hughes; George Langfield, of German Prairie, Sangamon county; John Langfield, of Springfield, Ill.; and Mrs. Martha (Langfield) Peachey of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have had six children, of whom two, George and Harriet, are deceased. The following are still living: Anna, the eldest, born June 28, 1871, is a member of the household of her parents; Thomas, born in 1873; George, born in 1875; and William, born in 1877 - all of whom assist their father in the operation of his farm and in the management of his Riverton property, which consists of his home and other desirable holdings. They are not members of any church, but are liberal in their views.