ABOUT HUGHES

THE PHOTO...is Sara Jane Hughes

THE KNOWN...The family connection starts with Sarah Jane Hughes (b. 1855), a grandmother of the Fagan Cousins. Sarah married William Cletus Fagan and they had five children between 1879 and 1888 while living in Ebensburg, Cambria County, Pennsylvania.

An outbreak of diphtheria occurred in 1888 and all five children died within a nineteen day period. They then moved to Johnstown to start a new life and lived through the great flood in 1889, just three weeks after Rella Fagan was born, their first child since the diphtheria tragedy. They then moved again to Butler, Pennsylvania, where their last four children were born. (see Fagan discussion for more information)

The little of the Sarah Jane (b. 1855) ancestry that's known focuses on her father, Morgan Hughes, who was born in Wales in 1818 according to four United States federal censuses (1860, 1870, 1880, and 1900). There are many family trees on the internet search engines relating to the Hughes ancestry and at least twenty concerning the Morgan Hughes who immigrated from Wales. But this is where Hughes genealogical pedigrees differ and discrepancies occur.

An early immigrant to the British colonies, Charles Hughes was born about 1660 in Wales and died in Philadelphia. Subsequent generations moved south to Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina. While a lot of research traces this descendancy through Francis, John, Francis, Hardeman, and Hardy, the information concerning Hardy's son, Morgan, is suspect when indicating that he was born in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania in either 1812 or 1818 and died in Kentucky in 1891. The 1900 U.S. Census record for Ebensburg shows that Morgan, age 82 could not have died in 1891 and that he was born in Wales.

So there are two Morgan Hughes of interest - Morgan is a common given name in Wales. One was born in Wales (b 1818 and the father of Sarah Jane) the other born probably in 1812, according to some family tree research. One was born in Wales and married Anna Maria Mills, the other in the South (b.1812) and married at least twice: Sarah Edwards (b. 1820) and Lucinda Upchurch (b. 1856).


AND THE UNKNOWN...Charles Hughes was born about 1660 in Wales and has many descendants, all of whom were born in the United States. These are the primary interest of most Hughes family trees available on the internet. Could there be any connection between these U.S. earlier Hughes and the later Pennsylvania Hughes? None has been discovered to date. Or could there be a Wales connection before 1660? A family tree of many of these descendants is included on this website as an aid to and encouragement for additional research.

The Morgan Hughes born in Wales in 1818 and immigrated in the 1800s also has thoroughly researched descendants. But the only ancestors known at this time are his father John and mother Britchard, birth dates unknown. His further Wales ancestry is a mystery at this time. Is there a Charles Hughes connection?