L. C. Hughes | |
---|---|
11th Governor of Arizona Territory | |
In office April 12, 1893 – April 1, 1896 |
|
Nominated by | Grover Cleveland |
Preceded by | Oakes Murphy |
Succeeded by | Benjamin Joseph Franklin |
Personal details | |
Born |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
May 15, 1842
Died | November 24, 1915 Tucson, Arizona |
(aged 73)
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | E. Josephine Brawley |
Profession | Journalist |
Louis Cameron "L. C." Hughes (May 15, 1842 – November 24, 1915) was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, union organizer, and politician who served as the eleventh Governor of Arizona Territory. A Gilded Age Democrat, he was an active supporter of women's suffrage and the temperance movement.
Hughes was born on May 15, 1842, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Welsh immigrants Samuel and Elizabeth (Edwards) Hughes. The ninth of ten children, which included siblings Samuel, Thomas and Annie he was orphaned in 1845 and lived in an orphanage for several years. At the age of ten, Hughes was indentured to a "Calvinist farmer". At sixteen, Hughes gained his release and lived in Meadville, Pennsylvania, working his way through a local academy until the start of the American Civil War.
A strong abolitionist, Hughes attempted to enlist in the Union Army but had difficulty doing so due to generally poor health and his small stature. He did enlist with Company A, 101st Pennsylvania Volunteers for two years before health problems forced him to leave. Returning home, he enlisted in a government machine shop and, after becoming a journeyman, joined the Machinists and Blacksmiths Union #2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Once his health recovered, he re-enlisted in the army as a sergeant with Knapp's Pittsburgh Battery stationed at Washington D.C. and served 100 days before the end of the war.