REV. ROBERT W. HUGHES, LIME SPRINGS, HOWARD, IOWA.
REV. ROBERT W.HUGHES. A native of North Wales, and was born December 21st, 1841. His father’s name was William Hughes, and his mother was the oldest daughter of the late patriarch, Hugh Roberts, and sister of the late Thos. H. Roberts, of Proscairon, Wisconsin, all formerly from Carnarvonshire, North Wales. When he was but two years old his father lost his life accidentally in the Dinorwic quarries.In about a year afterwards the widowed mother and her four children emigrated to America, settling in the northern part of Columbia county, Wisconsin. Eike many other farmer boys, Robert attended the district school during the winters and worked on the farm in the summer.
In 1861 he attended a graded school at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and then attended school for a number of years at Wayland University, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, intermitting terms of study with terms of farm work and teaching. In the year 1871, at Foreston, Iowa, where the family had removed, he commenced his career as a preacher of the gospel, and in the year 1874 was ordained to the full work of the ministry by the Welsh Synod of Minnesota, convened at Jerusalem, Judson, Minnesota. In 1873 he became pastor of the Welsh church at Clay County, Iowa. He served as pastor of the church at Dawn, Mo., in 1876, and was pastor of his old home church at Foreston, Iowa, from 1876 to 1881, a period of five years. Owing to certain circumstances, of which we need not write, Mr. Hughes, in 1883, united with the Congregational Association of Iowa, and became pastor of a Congregational church at Polk City, near Des Moines.
After serving this charge for a time he was appointed pastor at large for the state of Iowa. In 1889 he was chosen delegate to and attended the World’s Sunday School Convention at London, England. In October, 1889, he was appointed district superintendent of the American Bible Society for the State of Iowa, in which work he is now engaged with marked success. Although broken down in health he holds to his work with the tenacity of love.