Francis Wade Hughes

Francis Wade Hughes (August 10, 1817 – October 20, 1885) was a Pennsylvania lawyer and politician. In the 1850s, he served as state Secretary of the Commonwealth and as Attorney General. Although pro-Union, he was tarred as a secessionist "traitor" in the press during the 1862 elections, ending his political career. During the 1870s, he was the chief prosecutor in the Molly Maguires trials.

Life and career

Hughes was born the fifth and youngest child of John Hughes and Hannah Bartholomew. He studied law in Pottsville, Schuylkill County and Philadelphia. He was admitted to the bar of Schuylkill County in 1837.^[1] He was appointed Deputy Attorney General^{[Note 1]} of the county in 1839. He would resign three times and be reappointed over the next eleven years.^[2]

He married Sarah Silliman, of Pottsville, in 1839.^[2]

Hughes was elected to the state Senate, representing his county, in 1843, resigning after one year. In 1852 he was appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth, which he resigned in 1853 to become Attorney General.

As chairman of the 1862 Democratic State Committee, Hughes was singled out for vilification. His family ties in the Confederacy were played up, and worse, a draft resolution he authored (but never introduced) for the 1860 convention, suggesting Pennsylvania might secede, was attacked. Hughes was forced to resign, and never returned to politics.^[3][4][5]

In 1876 he was the chief prosecutor in the Molly Maguires cases. He had previously never prosecuted homicide cases and frequently defended with success those facing capital punishment.^[2]

Notes

References

Further reading

• Broadwater, Robert P. (2008). Did Lincoln and the Republican Party Create the Civil War?: An Argument. McFarland. 
• Bulik, Mark (2014). The Sons of Molly Maguire: The Irish Roots of America's First Labor War. Oxford University Press. 
• Roberts, Ellwood (1904). Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. 1. Montgomery County: T. S. Benham. 
• Shankman, Arnold (July 1971). "Francis W. Hughes and the 1862 Pennsylvania Election". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 95 (3): 383–393. JSTOR 20090572. 

External links

• * "Pennsylvania State Senate: Francis Wade Hughes". Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 2015-05-15. 

Pennsylvania Attorneys General
Colonial (1683–1776)	John White Samuel Hersent John White Lloyd John Moore Robert Assheton Paromlus Parmyter George Lowther Thomas Clarke Robert Quarry Henry Wilson Hamilton Joseph Growden Jr. John Kinsey Francis Chew Allen
Council-appointed (1776–91)	Morris J. D. Sergeant Bradford
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