The following was provided to me by a very good friend and will probably be very useful to some of you. JAMES ANTHONY HUGHES was born Feb. 27, 1861 in Corunna, Canada, the son of James W. and Ellen McNulty Hughes. He was ten years old when his parents moved to the United States and located in Ashland, KY, where he immediatley found his first job as messenger for an Ashland bank. As a young man, he entered mercantile life, traveling on the road as a salesman and later entering business for himself at Louisa, KY. Here he heard the call of public life and in 1887 he was elected as a representative in the Kentucky legislature for Lawrence and Boyd Counties, the first Republican to receive this honor. During his life in Louisa, he met Miss Belle Vinson, to whom he was married in the old Piedmont Road Church, Huntington, WV, on Dec. 28, 1885. After serving two years in the KY House he left Louisa and moved to Ceredo entering the timber business with his father-in-law, Col. S. S. Vinson. In 1894, he made his debut in WV politics, winning the Republican nomination for the State Senate, and being returned to the office by the voters in the genral election, for a four year term. Senator Hughes was appointed postmaster of Huntington in 1897 and served in this capacity until 1900 when he was nominated and elected to the House of Representatives from the fifth district of WV in which Cabell was then included. He was elected from this district for seven successive terms, serving in the 57th, 58th, 59th, 60th, 61st, 62nd and 63rd congresses and until ill health forced his temporary retirement. In 1926 and 28 he was elected to Congress. He died at the age of 69 in an Ohio sanitarium in 1930, where he had been resting and receiving treatment for a number of weeks. He was a member of a large family of whose members but one, a brother, John G. Hughes of Ashland, survive him. He left two daughters, Mrs. Eloise Hughes Wright of Charleston and Mrs. Tudelle Hughes Van Sant of Huntington. Funeral services held in Huntington. --------------------- JAMES W. HUGHES, age 86, former postmaster of Huntington, died at the home of his son, former Congressman James A. Hughes on 5th Ave., Huntington June 1920. He was born of Scotch parents in County Mayo, Ireland, Nov. 11, 1833 and was educated in Scotland and was a teacher in Ireland. He married Miss Ellen McNulty of County Mayo, Sept. 25, 1855, with whom he left for America at once. The young couple landed in New York, but went at once to Corrona, Canada where they lived until 1872. Here all but the youngest of their 8 children were born. ------------- BELLE VINSON was the daughter of Samuel Sperry Vinson and Mary Damron. Samuel and Mary married Sept. 21, 1854. Mary was born Jan. 5, 1836, the daughter of Squire Samuel Damron and Vashti Jarrell. She died July 30, 1921 at her home in Westmoreland, WV and was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery, Huntington, WV. -------- SAMUEL SPERRY VINSON was born in Lawrence Co, KY on April 14, 1833 on Tug Fork of Big Sandy, six miles above Louisa. His parents were James Vinson from NC and Rhoda Sperry, from Tussell of Montgomery Co, VA. Samuel Sperry Vinson moved with his parents to present day Wayne Co. when he was two years old. Samul died about 1904. Rhoda Sperry came with her parents, Benjamin Sperry and Winnie Artrip Sperry, to Lawrence Co, KY about 1800. Benjamin and family later settled on what is now Wayne Co, WV. Beverly L. Pack [email protected] Main Lines Researching: PACK, ADKINS, CHANDLER, HEWLETT Looking for any info on PACK -- any time, any where **Exchange of information is welcomed & encouraged!!!!** Lawrence County, KY Veterans http://www.mindspring.com/~sixcatpack/lcvet.htm Lawrence County, KY Genealogy & Personal Page http://www.mindspring.com/~sixcatpack/home.htm Family Tree Page http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/p/a/c/Beverly-L-Pack/index.html