Individual Details

"Uncle Billy Hughes was a Judge and was my mother's uncle. That man, had the most beautiful, thick, pure white hair you ever saw. I once asked him how he kept it so white, and he said he never washed his hair with anything but tar soap. I had to be very small at the time. I guess that hair is the only reason I remember him." Aline Prouty Vaughan

A judge in Taylorsville, MS.
Earned law degree from Millsaps College, Jackson, MS.
(Kelly)

The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi / page 565

William Houston Hughes
Thirteenth District

William Houston Hughes of Raleigh, Miss., Judge of the Thirteenth Circuit Court District of Mississippi, was born June 21, 1869, at Trenton, Miss., in Smith County. He is the son of George Matthews Hughes and Sarah (Lacy) Hughes, of Lauderdale County, Miss. He is of Welsh descent on the paternal side, his father the son of James Hughes of Alabama moved to Lauderdale County, Miss. when a lad of twelve years. He was a private in the Confederate army and his wife was the daughter of Stephen Lacy, and was of English-Scotch-Irish descent.
Judge Hughes, like nearly all of Mississippi's present state officials is the son of a Confederate veteran, and has inherited the love of liberty and democracy, ideals so characteristic of the native American. He obtained his early education in the common schools of his county and in Burn's High School and Cooper Institute. Later, he took a course in the Law Department of Millsaps College and was graduated in 1897, with a degree of LL. B. He immediately began an extensive practice, which proved remunerative for thirteen years, when in 1910 he was appointed by Governor E. F. Noel to the Circuit Judgeship of his District; was appointed again, by Governor Brewer in 1914, for a short term; and in August, 1914, was elected by the people for a four years term. His decisions as Circuit Judge have very seldom been reversed by the Supreme Court, and he has won distinction with the bar as an accurate and just judge.
Judge Hughes is a Democrat and was a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee from 1908 to 1911. He is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and is a Mason. Since early manhood, Judge Hughes has advocated the best progress along educational and material lines. He has especially recommended better equipped schools and more efficient teachers; the construction of better roads; the proper enforcement of law; and better conditions in farm life. Among the legislation for which he has actively worked is that of State and National Prohibition.
On May 28, 1899, Judge Hughes was married to Katie Kelly, daughter of Lanch Kelly and Rebecca J. Kelly of Trenton, Miss. She is a grand-niece of Laughlin McLaurin, father of Senator McLaurin.
Judge and Mrs. Hughes have five children, Lacy Hargrove, William Lanch, Clyde Annetta, Sarah Katherine and Mary Elizabeth.

Birth	21 Jun 1869	Trenton, Smith, Mississippi, United States
Marriage	28 May 1899	Trenton, Smith, Mississippi, United States - Emma Katherine "Katie" Kelly
Census (family)	7 Jul 1900	Beat 1, West Leaf River, Smith Co., Mississippi, - Emma Katherine "Katie" Kelly
Census (family)	15 Jan 1920	Twp 2, Raleigh, Smith, Mississippi, United States - Emma Katherine "Katie" Kelly
Census (family)	1930	Jackson, Hinds, Mississippi, United States - Emma Katherine "Katie" Kelly
Death	17 Jun 1933	Jackson, Hinds, Mississippi, United States
Burial		Lakewood Memorial Park, Jackson, Hinds, Mississippi, United States

Spouse	Emma Katherine "Katie" Kelly (1878 - 1953)
Child	Lacy Hargrove Hughes (1900 - 1955)
Child	William Lauchlin Hughes (1903 - 1977)
Child	Clyda Annetta Hughes (1906 - 1979)
Child	Sarah Katherine Hughes (1909 - )
Child	Mary Elizabeth Hughes (1915 - )

Father	George Mathews Hughes (1823 - 1908)
Mother	Sarah Lacy (1829 - 1906)
Sibling	Stephen Nicholas Hughes (1849 - 1917)
Sibling	Henry Foote Hughes (1851 - 1928)
Sibling	James Hughes (1854 - 1870)
Sibling	Katherine Eugenia Hughes (1856 - 1905)
Sibling	Martha J. Hughes (1859 - 1870)
Sibling	Sarah Elizabeth "Sally" Hughes (1861 - 1954)
Sibling	George Mathis Hughes (1865 - 1939)
Sibling	Ransom Leonidus Hughes (1866 - 1955)
Sibling	Alexine / Allene Hughes (1873 - 1963)

Notes