Hughes

inventions in electricity and magnetism, es-
pecially the printing telegraph and the micro-
phone." Hughes married Anna Chadbourne of
London who survived him. He died in London
and was buried there.

TSee The Electrical Trades Directory, 1900; Who's
Who, 1900 ; Jour. Inst. Elec, Engrs., vol. XXIX (1900) ;
Jour. Soc. of Arts, Jan. 26,1900; Nature, Feb. i, 1900 ;
Electrician, Jan. 26, 1900; and The Times, Jan. 24,
1900; all of London. See also Electrical World and
Engineer (N. Y.)f Feb, 3, 1900; Electrical Rev. (N.
Y.), Jan. 24, Mar. 14, 1900; Am. Cath. Quart. Rey.t
Apr. 1900; J. D. Reid, The Telegraph in America
(1879) ; T. P. Shaffner, The Telegraph Manual (1859);
J. J. Fahie, A Hist, of Wireless Telegraphy (1899) ; H.
H. Harrison, Printing Telegraph Systems and Mecha-
nisms (1923) ; U. Sť National Museum records.]

CW.M.

HUGHES, DUDLEY MAYS (Oct. 10,1848-
Jan. 20,1927), farmer and member of Congress,
was born on a plantation in Twiggs County in
the central part of Georgia. His parents were
Daniel Greenwood and Mary Henrietta (Moore)
Hughes, of South Carolina and Virginia ances-
try. Daniel Hughes, a graduate of the Univer-
sity of Georgia in 1847, was a member of the
planter aristocracy of the ante-bellum days, own-
ing 3,000 acres of land and 200 slaves; his father,
Hayden Hughes, was also a native of Twiggs
County and a planter of extensive properties.
Shortly after the close of the Civil War, Dudley
Mays Hughes matriculated at the University of
Georgia as a member of the class of 1871, but he
did not finish the course. He returned in 1870
to the plantation in Twiggs County and through-
out his long life was primarily interested in
agricultural operations and plans to improve
agricultural conditions, though on several oc-
casions he held political offices of one sort or an-
other. He was a member of the state Senate in
1882-83, and had four terms in Congress, 1909-

*7-

As a congressman, Hughes was principally in-
terested in legislation designed to benefit farm-
ers. President Wilson appointed him to serve on
a commission to study the problem of vocational
education. As a result of this work, Hughes,
who had become chairman of the House Commit-
tee on Education, joined with Senator Smith, of
Georgia, in introducing and piloting through
Congress the Smith-Hughes Bill (approved Feb.
23, 1917), since known as the Vocational Edu-
cation Act This measure has exerted a far-
reaching influence in the betterment of our rural
civilization. Under the terms of the act, a Fed-
mi Board of Vocational Education was set up,
to administer, in cooperation with the state gov-
enme&ts, large sums in the preparation of teach-
ers of agriculture, trades, industry, and home
economics, and for the payment of salaries of

Hughes

teachers, supervisors, and directors in giving in-
struction in such vocational subjects in the
schools.

Hughes's high standing as a leader of the
agricultural interests in his state is further evi-
denced by his service as president of the State
Agricultural Society (1904-06) and president of
the Georgia Fruit Growers' Association. He
was one of the leaders in the movement to create
the State College of Agriculture and was a mem-
ber of its board of trustees, and was a member of
the board of trustees of the University of Georgia
and of the Georgia State College for Women.
One of the original projectors of the Macon,
Dublin & Savannah Railroad, he served as its
president during the period of construction. In
1904 he was commissioner-general from Georgia
at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St.
Louis. Hughes was married in 1873 to Mary
Frances Dennard, daughter of a Houston County
planter. Three children were born to them.
Hughes was a lifelong member of the Baptist
Church and was a deacon for forty years.

[See Biog. Dir. Am. Cong. (1928); Who's Who in
America, 1918^-19; L. L. Knight, A Standard Hist, of
Ga. and Georgians (1917), vol. V ; Men of Mark in Ga.t
vol. V (1910); Clarke Howell, Hist, of Ga. (1926), vol.
IV; Bull, of the Federal Board for Vocational Educa-
tion, no. i (1917). The text of Hughes's speech July
29, 1916, on Vocational Education is in the Cong. Rec-
ord, 64 Cong., i Sess., pp. 11818-21. Information as
to certain facts has been supplied by members of the
family.] R.P.B.

HUGHES, GEORGE WURTZ (Sept. 30,
i8o6-Dec 3,1870), topographical engineer, sol-
dier, was the son of John Hughes who, about the
beginning of the nineteenth century, emigrated
from Ireland and settled in the Chemung Valley,
in New York, where he shortly afterwards mar-
ried Anna Konkle, the daughter of a prosperous
farmer. Here, at Elmira, George was born. At
the age of seventeen he entered the United States
Military Academy at West Point, where he re-
mained for four years but did not graduate or
take a commission. Regarding his activities for
the several years following little is recorded, but
by 1837 published reports reveal, he was making
surveys about the District of Columbia for the
United States as a civil engineer* The next year,
July 7, he joined the army and was commissioned
captain in the topographical engineers. About
1840 he was sent to Europe to examine and re-
port on public works. In the August of 1847,
after the opening of the war with Mexico,
Hughes enlisted, with the Maryland and Dis-
trict of Columbia volunteers, and was placed on
the staff of General J. E. Wool [g.v.]. He did
his share in mapping the country for the advance
of the army and saw action at Cerro Gordo. His

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