Louis Hughes

Louis Cameron "L. C." Hughes (May 15, 1842 – November 24, 1915) was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, union organizer, and politician who served as the eleventh Governor of Arizona Territory. A Gilded Age Democrat, he was an active supporter of women's suffrage and the temperance movement.

Background

Hughes was born on May 15, 1842, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Welsh immigrants Samuel and Elizabeth (Edwards) Hughes. The ninth of ten children, which included siblings Samuel, Thomas and Annie he was orphaned in 1845 and lived in an orphanage for several years. At the age of ten, Hughes was indentured to a "Calvinist farmer". At sixteen, Hughes gained his release and lived in Meadville, Pennsylvania, working his way through a local academy until the start of the American Civil War.

A strong abolitionist, Hughes attempted to enlist in the Union Army but had difficulty doing so due to generally poor health and his small stature. He did enlist with Company A, 101st Pennsylvania Volunteers for two years before health problems forced him to leave. Returning home, he enlisted in a government machine shop and, after becoming a journeyman, joined the Machinists and Blacksmiths Union #2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Once his health recovered, he re-enlisted in the army as a sergeant with Knapp's Pittsburgh Battery stationed at Washington D.C., and served 100 days before the end of the war.

Following the war, Hughes worked as a machinist, saving money and attending Meadville Theological School and Edinboro State Normal School. For a time, he considered entering the ministry and also studied law. He remained active in union activities during this period, helping to form the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Hughes' other union efforts included gathering 7,000 signatures on a petition calling for establishment of an eight-hour day for government workers and founding a Rochdale Plan cooperative store. By 1868, his prominence had grown to the point where he was selected as a speaker for the Columbus, Ohio, meeting of the International Convention of Machinists and Blacksmiths' Union of America and Great Britain.