From Proud Heritage, Vol. 1 by DCPA, not currently in print
William Young Hughes was born in Fairfield, Spencer County, Kentucky April 7, 1831, where his family owned a large cotton plantation. Tales of opportunities in Texas must have fascinated him for he was in Dallas County in 1862. In March, 1862, he enlisted at Witts Mill, Dallas County, in Company B, Gano’s Squadron, 3rd Cavalry, assigned to the 7th Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry. In July,1862, he was taken prisoner of war in Cheshire, Ohio, and transferred to Camp Douglass, Illinois. In March 1865, he w. as transferred to Point Lookout, Maryland m an exchange of prisoners. He returned to Texas. On December 27, 1866, he married Mary Ann Bridwell in Galveston, Texas. (She had married William T. Wiggington in March 1859, but apparently he did not survive the war.) They traveled by wagon to Dallas County. However, they later returned to Kentucky, where four of their children were born. The children were: Virginia Lou (1867), Elijah E. (1869), Thomas Coleman (1874), Mattie May (1875). Soon afterwards, the family moved back to Dallas County and settled on a farm at the corner of present-day Hillcrest and Mockingbird Lane.
Nature fascinated Mr. Hughes and he soon became an experimental nurseryman, trying different varieties of fruits to find which best suited the climate. Some homes in the area still have old apple, pear, or peach trees that were part of his orchards. On that farm, their youngest child, Harrison Gilbert “Gib” Hughes was born October 4, 1877. In 1880, a few weeks before his eleventh birthday, Elijah died and was buried in the Caruth family cemetery. William Y. Hughes, who died in 1904, and Mary Ann “Molly” Hughes, who died in 1913, were also buried there. That cemetery is now the Pioneer Section of Hillcrest Cemetery.
Daughters Virginia and Mattie married brothers, Zachariah and George Day from Tennessee. “Jennie” and “Zach” had seven children. Mattie and George had four. Tom had two. “Gib” married Evie Orem, daughter of Samuel and Priscilla Orem. They had five children.
“Gib” had a life-time lease on a farm at Northwest Highway and Preston Road, but he was also interested in dirt work for roads and dam construction. He started his own company, Hughes Construction Company. He prepared the roadbed for streets in Munger Place, University Park, the first runway at Love Field during World War I, and streets within the campus of SMU. In 1922, he moved his family into a new home at 4034 University Blvd. on the corner of Preston Road. When he died in 1928, his oldest two sons, Bill and Roy, took over Hughes Construction Co. However, during the depression, they had to give up the company. Both went to work for Brown & Root Company until retirement. Roads they built are found in many states, Mt. McKinley Park, Alaska, Germany, Guam, and Vietnam.
Grandchildren of William Young Hughes still living include: Hattie Day Schreiber, Virda Day McPherson, Mary Day (in Maryland), Nell Day Watson, Catherine Day Inglet, Virginia Day, Jessie Hughes Logan, Pearl Hughes Hawkins (Lytle, Texas), and Herbert Gilbert Hughes. Great grandchildren living in the Metroplex include: William Harry Hughes, Jr., Roy Charles, Jr., Darrell Lee Hughes, Darlene Hughes Carr, Leo Abbe, Jr., Peggy Nell Abbe Holder, Justin Chessher, Herbert Gilbert Hughes, Jr. and Mary Evelyn Hughes Allmon. There are others not known to the writer. There are also many great-great grandchildren.
By Mattie Laura Hughes, Dallas
