James was born in Ireland, and emigrated to the U.S. at age 3. His Catholic family lived in the Irish Hills near Hudson, Michigan. James was the oldest of seven children born to Bernard Hughes (1809-1876) and Anna Graham Hughes (1814-1895): They included John (1843), Charles (1845), Mary (1846), Bernard Jr. (1849), William (1852), Joseph (1854), and George (1856).
James, 21, and two of his younger brothers joined the 15th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War, fighting just two weeks later with the Union Army at Shiloh in April 1862. The brothers, John Hughes, 19, and Charles Hughes, 17, died of disease within two months, according to Michigan state Civil War records. (But the family has understood that one brother died of dysentery and one was hit by a cannonball.) James was discharged for disability in July 1862.
A year later, in the fall of 1863, James joined the 11th Michigan Cavalry as a sargeant in Company F. He served with the cavalry for the remainder of the Civil War. James saw significant action in eastern Tennessee, including the Battles of Saltville and participating in Stoneman's Raid, according to an 1882 history of the Michigan regiments, Michigan in the War.
After the war, James moved to Kansas and married Mary Cecelia Kelly (1851-1920) in 1875. James and Mary raised four children, George (1876), Anna Bastin (1878), Austin (1881), and Marie Bowhay (1893).
James participated in the Oklahoma Run of 1889, after which he owned a hardware store in El Reno, Oklahoma. The family lived through a fire that devastated the town, and later a killer twister, and these stories were passed down by the family.
Several descendants were named after James, including Marie's younger son, James Hughes Bowhay, and her older grandson, James Hughes Bowhay, Jr.
James, 21, and two of his younger brothers joined the 15th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War, fighting just two weeks later with the Union Army at Shiloh in April 1862. The brothers, John Hughes, 19, and Charles Hughes, 17, died of disease within two months, according to Michigan state Civil War records. (But the family has understood that one brother died of dysentery and one was hit by a cannonball.) James was discharged for disability in July 1862.
A year later, in the fall of 1863, James joined the 11th Michigan Cavalry as a sargeant in Company F. He served with the cavalry for the remainder of the Civil War. James saw significant action in eastern Tennessee, including the Battles of Saltville and participating in Stoneman's Raid, according to an 1882 history of the Michigan regiments, Michigan in the War.
After the war, James moved to Kansas and married Mary Cecelia Kelly (1851-1920) in 1875. James and Mary raised four children, George (1876), Anna Bastin (1878), Austin (1881), and Marie Bowhay (1893).
James participated in the Oklahoma Run of 1889, after which he owned a hardware store in El Reno, Oklahoma. The family lived through a fire that devastated the town, and later a killer twister, and these stories were passed down by the family.
Several descendants were named after James, including Marie's younger son, James Hughes Bowhay, and her older grandson, James Hughes Bowhay, Jr.
James was born in Ireland, and emigrated to the U.S. at age 3. His Catholic family lived in the Irish Hills near Hudson, Michigan. James was the oldest of seven children born to Bernard Hughes (1809-1876) and Anna Graham Hughes (1814-1895): They included John (1843), Charles (1845), Mary (1846), Bernard Jr. (1849), William (1852), Joseph (1854), and George (1856).
James, 21, and two of his younger brothers joined the 15th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War, fighting just two weeks later with the Union Army at Shiloh in April 1862. The brothers, John Hughes, 19, and Charles Hughes, 17, died of disease within two months, according to Michigan state Civil War records. (But the family has understood that one brother died of dysentery and one was hit by a cannonball.) James was discharged for disability in July 1862.
A year later, in the fall of 1863, James joined the 11th Michigan Cavalry as a sargeant in Company F. He served with the cavalry for the remainder of the Civil War. James saw significant action in eastern Tennessee, including the Battles of Saltville and participating in Stoneman's Raid, according to an 1882 history of the Michigan regiments, Michigan in the War.
After the war, James moved to Kansas and married Mary Cecelia Kelly (1851-1920) in 1875. James and Mary raised four children, George (1876), Anna Bastin (1878), Austin (1881), and Marie Bowhay (1893).
James participated in the Oklahoma Run of 1889, after which he owned a hardware store in El Reno, Oklahoma. The family lived through a fire that devastated the town, and later a killer twister, and these stories were passed down by the family.
Several descendants were named after James, including Marie's younger son, James Hughes Bowhay, and her older grandson, James Hughes Bowhay, Jr.
James, 21, and two of his younger brothers joined the 15th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War, fighting just two weeks later with the Union Army at Shiloh in April 1862. The brothers, John Hughes, 19, and Charles Hughes, 17, died of disease within two months, according to Michigan state Civil War records. (But the family has understood that one brother died of dysentery and one was hit by a cannonball.) James was discharged for disability in July 1862.
A year later, in the fall of 1863, James joined the 11th Michigan Cavalry as a sargeant in Company F. He served with the cavalry for the remainder of the Civil War. James saw significant action in eastern Tennessee, including the Battles of Saltville and participating in Stoneman's Raid, according to an 1882 history of the Michigan regiments, Michigan in the War.
After the war, James moved to Kansas and married Mary Cecelia Kelly (1851-1920) in 1875. James and Mary raised four children, George (1876), Anna Bastin (1878), Austin (1881), and Marie Bowhay (1893).
James participated in the Oklahoma Run of 1889, after which he owned a hardware store in El Reno, Oklahoma. The family lived through a fire that devastated the town, and later a killer twister, and these stories were passed down by the family.
Several descendants were named after James, including Marie's younger son, James Hughes Bowhay, and her older grandson, James Hughes Bowhay, Jr.
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