MR. RICHARD A. HUGHES, CALAMUS, DODGE COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
Richard A. Hughes. Born in North Wales, July 31, 1817, and came to America in 1842, being seven weeks upon the ocean. He settled first in Remsen, New York, where he worked at his trade of blacksmithing until 1849. During the first month of his residence in America his income was five dollars but he was later more successful.In 1849 he came west, locating on a farm on section 17, Calamus township, in the early days of the settlement of that district He purchased a government preemption claim and began the cultivation of his property. He impnoved the place with modern buildings, installed labor-saving machinery and brought his land to a highly developed state.
On February 8, 1843, he married Miss Eleanor Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Jones of Remsen, New York, and to their union were born ten children, three of whom died in infancy. The others are: William J., who is married and lives in Houston, Minnesota; John, who was for ten years clerk of Calamus township and who died in Columbus, in 1899; Hannah, who makes her home in Columbus; Thomas, who is married and lives at Mankato, Minnesota; Mary Ellen, who passed away in Chicago, in 1881; Jennie who married W. C. Ten-Eyck, of Chicago, in which city she died in 1882; and Richard C, born 1st, October 1863.
Richard A. Hughes was one of the early settlers in Dodge county and was well known in the section in which he resided. When he left Remsen, New York, he made the trip by the Erie canal to Buffalo and then by steamboat to Milwaukee, where he lived for one year before he finally settled upon the farm which Richard C. now operates. He was a type of the sturdy and upright farmer of pioneer times and was in all things a worthy and representative citizen.
Wisconsin County Histories : Dodge County, Wisconsin: Past and Present.
MR. RICHARD A. HUGHES, CALAMUS, DODGE COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
At the old homestead in Calamus, Dodoge County, Wisconsin, February 1st, 1905, Mr. Richard A. Hughes, aged 87 years, 6 months a 1 day.An aged pioneer, a loving husband and father has passed over to the better country and left sorrow in many hearts. Mr. Hughes was born in Bala, Merionethshire, North Wales, July 31st, 1817. At the age of sixteen he left the parental home to learn the trade of a blacksmith, and followed his occupation in different parts of Wales and England. His principal points were Dover and London where he attended faithfully to his business and secured the confidence of his employers and customers.
In the year 1842 he left his native shores for America in a sailing vessel and was over seven weeks on the voyage to New York. He located at Remsen, Oneida County, New York, where he worked the first month in a shop for the small sum of five dollars. He afterward became a member of the company and did a good business for several years.
On the 8th of February 1843, he was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Jones, who still survives after almost sixty-two years of a happy and useful domestic life. Ten children were born to them. Three children died in infancy. Mary Ellen died in Chicago in September 1881, and Mrs. Jennie Ten Eyck died in Chicago in October 1882. William J. is a prominent farmer near LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Thomas R. is a conductor on on Chicago and Northwestern Railway, Mankato, Minnesota; Richard R. Hughes is now farming near Fall River, Wisconsin; and Miss Hannah H. Hughes is at her home with her mother and brother, Mr. John R. Hughes, on the old pioneer farm in Calamus.
It was in September, 1849, that Mr. Hughes emigrated to Wisconsin with his family. Taking the Erie Canal as far as Buffalo, New York, and then the steamboat to Milwaukee, which was then a town of small size. From Milwaukee the family and household goods was transferred to the big prairie schooner - common in these days and the journey was made over corduroy roads and through the unbroken wilderness reaching Columbus, Wisconsin during the latter part of September 1849.
During the first fall and winter Mr. Hughes worked at his trade in Columbus, and in the following spring he located on a fine tract of land in the town of Calamus, where he resided to the time of his death. Mr. Hughes was a conscientious and faithful member of the Calvanistic Methodist Church. He first united in 1844 in Remsen, New York and remained true to his faith until the last.
His funeral was largely attended on a beautiful winter day, February, 4th, 1905. The services at the house were was conducted by Rev. J. R. Jones of Columbus in Welsh. Rev. T. S. Johnson spoke at the School house in the English Language and Rev. G. Griffith officiated at the grave. Professor Parry with his choir of sweet singers conducted the singing and Miss Lizzie Jones presided at the organ.
"With Long life will satisfy him and show him my salvation."