James Hughes was an American lawyer, judge, and politician.
Background
Hughes was born at Hamstead, Md. in 1823. When a small child he was taken to Bloomington, Ind. , by his mother. His father was never a resident of the state. The mother died soon after migrating from her eastern home and her son grew up in the families of relatives.
Education
He received an appointment to West Point, but he decided that, since he did not care to enter upon a military career, he ought not to be educated at the expense of the government. Resigning his cadetship, therefore, he returned to Indiana, studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1842.
Career
In the Mexican War he entered the army as a lieutenant, but the regiment of which his company formed a part got no farther than New Orleans. He then resumed the practice of law in Bloomington. He was an ardent Democrat, but won a place as a judge of the local circuit court against the Democratic incumbent on the ground that the judiciary should be rescued from politics. He was an able but opinionated judge, who won the respect of the lawyers that rode the circuit with him, though they resented his arbitrary methods.
While serving as judge he taught classes in and directed the law school of Indiana University. In 1856 he was elected to Congress and served a single term, failing of reëlection in 1858. With plenty of confidence in himself, he was very active throughout both sessions. He did not hesitate to enter into debate with any member and rose to "object" so often that his colleagues expected him to protest at every opportunity. He supported President Buchanan in opposition to Douglas on the Lecompton Bill. In Indiana politics, he was aligned with the proslavery faction of his party led by Senator Jesse D. Bright. In 1860 he supported Breckinridge, rather than Douglas, but was not active during the campaign. On the death of Judge Isaac Blackford of the United States Court of Claims in December 1859, President Buchanan appointed Hughes to the bench. When the Confederacy was formed, Hughes became a vehement Union man, and was later no less extreme as a Republican than he had been as a Democrat.
After resigning from the Court of Claims in 1864, he practised law in Washington, D. C. , and also served as cotton agent for the Treasury Department. Although Hughes had maintained only a nominal residence in Indiana for a few years, in 1866 he sought and obtained the Republican nomination as representative from Monroe County in the state legislature. After a whirlwind campaign he was elected. His party was in the majority, and he became the recognized leader of the House during the session of 1867. In 1868 he was elected to the state Senate. He now aspired to a seat in the United States Senate, but he failed to secure the united support of his party. He then returned to Washington and resumed his law practice.
His death occurred in Bladensburg, Md. , in 1873. His remains were interred in the Rose Hill Cemetery at Bloomington, Ind.
Personality
It has been said of him that he kept a fine stock of liquors and was so generous with political friends who visited him that some were overcome by his hospitality.