Museum of the Kansas National Guard. James White Frierson Hughes. Kansas’ 2. 2nd Adjutant General. April 0. 1, 1. 90. April 0. 1, 1. 90. Mayor of Potwin. Mayor of Topeka. Chief of Police- Topeka. This Day In History: 11/18/1978 - Mass Suicide in Jonestown. This This Day in History video explains what occurred on November 18 throughout history. Manage your page to keep your users updated View some of our premium pages: google.com. Upgrade to a Premium Page. Topeka is a poorer city today because Colonel J. W. F. Hughes no longer walks its streets. He was born in Tennessee, but lived in Topeka from 1. He was a college graduate, very intelligent, friendly, kindly, very original, vigorous in his defense of the right and of the underprivileged, extremely courageous, the essence of politeness and courtesy, a gracious host and a man of many accomplishments and talents. Colonel Hughes had a deep- seated love of city, county, state and nation. His patriotism was of the highest degree as is shown by his membership in the armed forces for most of his adult life. It was a consequence of his refusal, as commander of the Kansas National Guard, to obey an illegal order to eject members of the Kansas Legislature from their hall (please see related link: Colonel Hughes and the Legislative War), issued to him by Governor Lorenzo D. Lewelling in February of 1.
Hughes became a national figure over night. He was court- martialed and dishonorably discharged, but the next Governor called him back to service and made him a Brigadier General. The Colonel was 3. His courage and cool head averted bloodshed. The country at large had been watching Kansas indulge in a period of political aberration. The Colonel’s actions received editorial plaudits from every corner of the United States. Two or three huge scrape books now in the library of the Kansas State Historical Society preserve the hundreds of newspaper clippings. Colonel Hughes was born at Columbia, Tennessee, January 1. He was the son of Judge and Mrs. He had three brothers and two sisters. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1. He belonged to an honorary fraternity and also to an engineering fraternity, both Greek letter societies. He was married on October 6, 1. Miss Mary Adaline Clark, the daughter of Judge and Mrs. To them three children were born: James C. Hughes, a retired U. S. Regular Army Colonel of Artillery of Long Beach, California; Mrs. Meredith, of Dallas, Texas, and Mrs. Juliet Newcomb, Los Angeles, California. Colonel Hughes was always a loyal member of the Republican Party. Soon after coming to Topeka he became a member of the Topeka Republican Flambeau Club. Mc. Call of Topeka patented the flambeau torch of 1. It had a membership of 2. The club took part in some of the most prominent demonstrations in the United States, among them the nomination of President Harrison at Chicago in 1. Colonel Hughes was the captain of their drill team of 8. Apart from activities already mentioned the Colonel’s career in local public service covered many years. Potwin, where he lived, was incorporated as a third class city. Hughes was the Mayor of Potwin in 1. After Potwin was taken into the city of Topeka, he served a councilman from the 6th ward (Potwin) in 1. Hughes was elected Mayor of Topeka. The canvassing board elected him. The Supreme Court counted him out after he had been in office ten months. The Supreme Court ruled his opponent had won by five votes. Hughes was chief of police of Topeka in 1. Mayor Cofran’s administration. Colonel Hughes last public office was as a member of the board of education of Topeka. He was first elected in 1. He was a member of the Board at the time of his death. He served as president of the Board and also as the chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee. A set of tennis courts on West 8th street in named “Hughes Courts” in his honor. When Hughes first came to Topeka in 1. Santa Fe for a position in the engineering department, he presented a letter of introduction. He was told that a job he might have had was gone and asked where he had been in the thirty days since the date of the letter. The Colonel replied he had so many kinfolks it took a long time to bid them goodbye. A short time later he became chief clerk to J. M. Meade, Santa Fe resident engineer, a position he held five years. In 1. 88. 6 he became roadmaster at Arkansas City. He built 1. 55 miles of track between Arkansas City and Purcell. Soon after, he came back to his old position as chief clerk to Meade. In 1. 89. 1 he resigned from the Santa Fe and became the Topeka agent of the Pomeroy Coal Company of Atchison. Two years later, he purchased the coal yard and operated it for 1. After his period of service as adjutant general, he worked for Arthur Capper for a year on the front desk at the Daily Capital. This was the year 1. Then he represented the Illinois Life Insurance Company till it failed during the depression of the 1. From then onhe was the Topeka agent of the Northwestern National Life Insurance Company of Minneapolis. During the 1. 92. State Poultry Association for several years. J. W. F. Hughes had many titles, Major General, Brigadier General, Colonel, Captain, Lieutenant, Mayor and Chief. But of them all, he preferred to be called “Colonel.” And he was greeted with respect and affection as Colonel Hughes by many thousands of Topekans for over 6. Born just a week before the outbreak of the Civil War, his birthplace, Columbia, was in “middle Tennessee,” a region bitterly divided in its sentiments. His father was a United States district judge who was a believer in the Northern cause. Because of this sentiment, many of his kin folks “damned” him and never spoke to his branch of the family again. During the Civil War, Judge Hughes’ property was occupied first by the troops of one side and then by the troops of the other. By the end of War, Col. Hughes was old enough to be familiar with the trappings of war. Besides that, his ancestry included an officer of the American Revolutionary Army making him eligible to the Society of the Cincinnati which was formed in 1. Eligibility is limited by descent through males only. Whatever may have been his incitement, young Hughes joined the National Guard of his state when he was only 1. At the University of Tennessee, military training was compulsory. He received his commission as second lieutenant when he was a sophomore, having already passed through the grades as private, corporal, sergeant and second sergeant. When he graduated, June 4, 1. Among his extra curricular activities he was the drum- major of the band. William Gibbs Mc. Adoo was the bass drummer. A photograph of that band in full dress uniform hung on the wall of his office for years. In later years when Mc. Adoo would go through Topeka on the train, Hughes would always go down to meet him. When the Colonel would say; “Hello, Billy,” Mr. Mc. Adoo would say that sounded fine; that he was so tired of being called “Mr. Secretary.”On coming to Topeka, Hughes joined the Kansas National Guard in which he became Captain, Co. A, of the 3rd Regiment, August 2. Colonel of the regiment in the following year. Following his dismissal during the Legislative War in 1. Brigadier General and Major General of the Kansas National Guard. From 1. 90. 5 to 1. Adjutant General of the State in the administration of Governor E. W. Hock. Other members of the Colonel’s family belonged to the Military establishment of the United States. Hughes was Archelaus Hughes, colonel of the 8th Immunes in the Spanish American War. Hughes, another brother, was a U. S. Regular Army Colonel of Infantry. Hughes had a son with the same regular army rank. Hughes had two sons, both graduates of West Point. Regular Army Lieutenant Colonel on the General Staff; the other son is William R. Hughes, now a major in the U. S. Thomas Meredith, the son of Mrs. Alice Hughes Meredith, served in our army overseas in World War II. He was a sergeant, U. S. A. R. The family has one interesting, non- military connection. They trace relationship to Thomas Hughes (1. English lawyer and author, who sat in Parliament from 1. Tom Brown’s School Days.”A book could easily have been written about the beloved Colonel. He certainly supplied a wealth of material. He was a born showman; he loved to ride on horseback at the head of a parade. He just glowed when people made a fuss over him. Each year he would participate in the annual Elks Minstrel show at the City Auditorium. He was always “end man” and his costume nearly always the same boyish one. He could shake the “bones” and put on a dance just to perfection. One stunt was to fall asleep and nearly fall off his chair and then a watch, a huge alarm clock, would ring and wake him up. He loved to play “Southern Colonel” to the ladies, bowing deeply, with a flourish, addressing all ages as “Madam,” so flattering to young women as well as to older ones. Because of the way he tipped his hat and spoke, more than one Topeka woman said she would rather speak to Colonel Hughes than to any other man in town. The Colonel wore a white vest, broad brimmed felt hat, low cut shoes, black bow tie and collars too large for his neck, all of which set him apart from the more sober colors and cuts of his contemporaries. His coat was always unbuttoned to show the white vest, and often he walked up Kansas Avenue without his coat. Winter or summer his garb was the same. Hughes tried every winter for the 6. During the years he was secretary of the State Poultry Association, he raised many chickens. He had many runaways and small chick houses in his back yard. He tried pigeon raising, all kinds of pouters, etc., also pheasants and Japanese Silkies. He practically lived down at the city auditorium at the time of the annual poultry show. Many prizes were won by him. The large oval oak table in his living room was given him for his many years of devotion to the association and to bettering poultry strains. After many years, the table he cherished and believed solid oak was relegated to the barn, and after weathering there, it warped and turned out to be veneered. The family was amused but the Colonel was crushed. The Colonel was a born farmer, too, but he never lived on one. He adored raising vegetables and utilized many vacant lots in the neighborhood for this purpose. Officers of the British Army 1. C* A relative gives as WW2 ranks: 2nd Lt. Military Medal (2. March 1. 91. 8 during the Battle of Bapaume), British War. Medal, Victory Medal with Mention in Dispatches, 1. Star, Burma Star. Defence Medal, War Medal 1. India General Service Medal 1. Jammu and Kashmir 1. Clasp, Sainya Seva Medal, Indian Independence Medal.
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