Above; Jessie Wallace Hughan, daughter of Samuel Hughan and Margaret West, and grand daughter of Peter Hughan and Jessie Forsyth of Cults Farm, Sorbie, Scotlan.
Samuel Hughan was born on March 1, 1837, at Stonehouse, Devon, and was baptised on April 16 of the same year. Named after his paternal grandfather, Samuel Hughan, who had died in 1835, he was the fourth child born to Peter and Jessie Hughan, following eldest sibling Agnes in 1831 and two brothers, William in 1833 and Alexander in 1835.
Whilst still an infant, Samuel moved with his family back to Scotland. His father Peter had grown up farming with his own father Samuel at Balhasie, near Creetown. He obviously preferred life on the land to the drapery business that he had established with his brother William in Stonehouse, because he returned to Scotland to take up farming at Meiklecarse Farm near Minnigaff.
For the census returns of 1841 and 1851, Samuel was living with his parents and siblings...in 1841 at Meiklecarse Farm, and in 1851 at Cults Farm in Sorbie, which was to remain in the Hughan family for decades.
In 1861 he had moved down to Northern England, where he was residing with his sister, Agnes Hughan McKeand, and her husband and young family in Albion Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Samuel was a 24 year old commercial clerk.
In 1866, the following notice appeared in the London Gazette:
"NOTICE is hereby given, that the Partnership which has for some time been carried on by John Cameron Swan and Samuel Hughan, under the firm of Swan and Hughan, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the trade or business of Merchants and Commission Agents, was this day dissolved by mutual consent. — As witness our hands this 3rd
day of February, 1866.
John Cameron Swan.
Samuel Hughan. 9 Feb 1866
In 1866, aged 29, Samuel Hughan boarded the ship 'Cuba' at Liverpool and sailed to New York, arriving in the city on April 5, 1866.
Two years later, in 1868, Samuel married Margaret West at Brooklyn, New York. The newspaper notice from the Glasgow Herald, published September 17, 1868, read:
"At Brooklyn, United States, on the 1st inst., by the Reverend C.A. Harney, Samuel Hughan, son of Peter Hughan Esq, Cults, Garlieston, Scotland, to Maggie, daughter of the late F.K. West, Esq,".
The book "Notable American women: the modern period : a biographical dictionary, Volume 4" By Barbara Sicherman, Carol Hurd Green, has the following information about Samuel Hughan and Margaret West, taken from the section dealing with their daughter, Jessie Wallace Hughan:
" Her parents were cultured but of modest circumstances.Samuel Hughan, born in England to a Scottish family, came to New York as an importer in 1863 and was at various times a writer, accountant, treasurer and librarian. Margaret Hughan's English, Scottish and French ancestors migrated to the United States in the 17th and 18th Centuries. She became a writer and composer.Both were convinced by Henry George's single tax plan: Margaret Hughan was President of the Brooklyn Women's Single Tax Club, while Samuel Hughan wrote a book on the British land question.Their religious affiliations were successively Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Swedanborgian,and Unitarian." p 354.
Other reports also give Samuel Hughan's date of arrival in the United States as 1863, and this may well be correct. The only record I can find regarding his entry into the country is in 1866, however.
Another book- "Radical pacifism: the War Resisters League and Gandhian nonviolence in America 1915-1963" by Scott H. Bennett- agrees with my finding of 1866:
" Hughan was raised in a stimulating family environment in which independent thought was valued. Both her parents were radicals,and this encouraged her interest in pacifism, politics, economics and feminism. Jessie and her sisters Marjorie and Evelyn all became pacifists.
Hughan's father, Samuel Hughan, emigrated to the United States from England in 1866 and two years later married Margaret Balieff West. Samuel, who held progressive views on gender, converted Margaret to the suffragist position and "encouraged her artistic side to develop." Samuel was a Swedenborgian (a pacifist sect), a single taxer, a suffragist and a vegetarian. He was also a freelance journalist who wrote a study of the British land question that paralleled Henry George's analysis in Progress and Poverty. In 1886 he managed that reformer's New York City mayoralty campaign.
Margaret too was a Henry George devotee.She was also President of the Women's Single Tax Club of Brooklyn. With her husband's support she participated in a literary club, wrote literary pieces and composed music. Margaret abhorred physical violence and corporal punishment and attended closely to her three daughters' "spiritual welfare". Physically fearless, she was known to break up street fights between drunks.On at least one occasion she stopped a peddler from beating his cart horse." page 2.
"...It is likely her father's experiences in England and South America sparked her lifelong interest in international relations and global travel. Her parent's progressive attitude toward gender roles instilled in her the confidence to pursue public goals in a 'man's world'.Especially relevant to her peace activism,her mother taught her to hate violence. This, Hughan later reflected, was perhaps the strongest pacifist influence in my childhood." p 3.
This reference to Samuel Hughan being in South America is interesting, and is the only account I have so far come across that mentions such travels.
From this it can be seen that Samuel Hughan and his wife Margaret were far from "normal" parents for that period. They were progressive, intelligent and nurturing of their daughters' intellects...it is not surprising that they raised a remarkable child such as Jessie Wallace Hughan.
The 1870 U.S Census for Brooklyn reveals the following:
Samuel Hughan/head/white/clerk in store/value of personal estate $500/ born Scotland.
Margaret Hughan/22/white/keeping house/ born New York.
Margaret Boyle/17/white/domestic servant/ born Ireland.
Ten years later, and the family are still residing in Brooklyn, with the addition of two daughters, Evelyn (spelt 'Eveline' in the 1880 census) and Jessie:
Samuel Hughan/white/ 43/ merchant born England/parents both born Scotland.
Margaret Hughan/36/keeping house/ born New York/ father born N Ca; mother M'd
Eveline Hughan/daughter/white/9/born New York/ father born England/ mother born North Carolina
Jessie Hughan/daughter/white/4/born New York/father born England/ mother born North Carolina
Margaret West/white/68/widow/ boarder/ born North Carolina/parents both born Scotland.
Fredericka West/white/39/daughter/single/ boarder/ born New York/parents both born Scotland (Note: latter can't be correct, as Fredrika's mother is Margaret West who has nominated her birthplace as North Carolina)
Edwina West/white/daughter/single/35/boarder/born New York/parents born Scotland
The latter three living with the Hughan family were obviously Samuel's mother-in-law, Margaret McMillan West, and his wife's spinster sisters, Edwina Denison and Fredricka Rebecca West. Margaret West was described as a "cultivated Southerner of Scottish descent".She had been widowed in 1858, and became a boarding house keeper to support her family of daughters who were still living at home- Eliza, Fredericka, Margaret,Edwina, and Lucia. She also had daughters Sarah Louisa, Mary Isabella and Juliana Eudora. In the 1860 U.S census, Margaret McMillan West also had living with her newly-married daughter Juliana and her husband, William McMonnies. William had been born in Whithorn, Wigtownshire, Scotland,in 1818, and emigrated to New York when he was 18. He entered the grain business and made himself a fortune, which was bolstered when he also became an importer of fine English saddlery and cutlery. He was one of the founding members of the Atlantic Yacht Club, and at one stage maintained a private yacht with a crew of 40. Much of his fortune was lost, however, during the Civil War. William and Juliana had three sons and a daughter- David b c. 1861 New York(died young in a tragic boating accident: From the New York Times, July 19, 1887: "Two young men arrived at the Manhansett House, Shelter Island, Saturday afternoon, and registered as D. McMonnies, of Brooklyn, and Charles A. Straub, of New-York. They hired a boat in the evening and went rowing. They rowed into the wake of the steamer Sunshine, and while changing seats the swell upset the boat, and both were drowned. Their bodies were recovered Sunday." ); Frederick William b 1864, New York (famous sculptor and artist); Maggie born c.1866.
Samuel Hughan and Maggie West had four children- three daughters and a son. The daughters- Evelyn, Jessie and Marjorie- all lived long lives, but a baby son did not survive infancy.
I cannot find a census for the United States for 1890, and by the 1900 census return, Samuel Hughan has died and Margaret is living with her three daughters in Brooklyn.
Samuel Hughan died on February 10, 1896, in Brooklyn, New York. The notice as published in the New York Times read as follows:
" HUGHAN: Entered into life on the evening of February 10th,Samuel Hughan, aged 58 years, 11 months and 10 days.
Funeral services will be held at his home, 248 7th Avenue, Brooklyn, Wednesday evening, February 12th. English and Scotch papers please copy." - New York Times, 12 February, 1896.
1900 United States Census: Brooklyn Ward 23, Kings, New York.
Margaret Hughan/head/ 56/ born Jun 1843, New York/white/ widow/father born Maryland, mother born North Carolina/ total number of children 4; number living children:3
Eveline Hughan/daughter/white/single/29/born March 1871, New York/ mother born New York/father born England.
Jessie Hughan/daughter/25/white/single/born December 1874, New York/mother born New York; father born England.
Marjory Hughan/daughter/white/single/11/ born April 1881, New York/father born England, mother born New York.
George Streat/boarder/white/single/25/born June 1874, New York/both parents born New York.
In 1910, the widowed Margaret West Hughan was still living in Brooklyn with her three unmarried daughters:
Margaret W. Hughan/head/white/66/ widow/ four children born; three living; born New York, father born Maryland; mother born North Carolina/occupation own income
Evelyn W. Hughan/ daughter/white/39/single/born New York/father born Scot.england/mother born New York/occupation stenographer, publishing company
Jessie w. Hughan/daughter/white/34/single/born New York/father born Scot. England; mother born New York/occupation teacher, private school
Ethel M. Hughan/daughter/white/single/28/born New York/father born Scot. England; mother born New York/ occupation: teacher/ private school
Note: Although 'officially' named Ethel Marjorie Hughan, the youngest daughter of Samuel and Margaret was known as 'Marjorie'.
Youngest daughter Marjorie Hughan was the only one of the three Hughan girls to marry. On September 5, 1910, Ethel Marjorie Hughan married Frederick Frye Rockwell. Marjorie had been working as a school teacher to this point. She and Frederick had four children: Wallace Hughan Rockwell, Frederick Frye Rockwell, Donald West Rockwell and Margaret Evelyn Rockwell(Margaret, a poet and doll-artist, married Roy Finch, a scholar and professor of philosophy and religion, and their daughter Annie, born 1957, is a well-known American poet and author).
The other two sisters remained living at home with their mother until her death in January 1921. The 1921 census return had the following details about their Brooklyn household:
Brooklyn Assembly District 11, Kings, New York.
Margaret W. Hughan/head/76/ born New York/widowed/white/born New York/ parents both born United States/ home rented/
Evelyn W. Hughan/daughter/single/white/45/born New York/father born Scotland; mother born New York.
Jessie W. Hughan/daughter/single/white/43/born New York/father born Scotland;mother born New York.
Margaret West Hughan's death notice in the New York Times read:
"HUGHAN: Margaret West, widow of Samuel Hughan, daughter of Fredrick R. and Margaret McMillan West, on January 26 at her home, 378 Grand Avenue, Brooklyn. Services on Friday in Unity Church, Irving Place and Gates Avenue at 2 p.m. Interment private."
-New York Times, January 27, 1921.
Also:
"Mrs. Margaret West Hughan, widow of Samuel Hughan, a newspaper writer and an active worker in the Unity Unitarian Church in Brooklyn, died on Wednesday at her home, 378 Grand Avenue, Brooklyn. Mrs Hughan was an aunt of Frederick W. MacMonnies, the sculptor."
I feel as though there is no need to include a great deal about the life of Jessie Wallace Hughan-she is a very well-known American pacifist and teacher, and there is vast amounts of information available about her on the internet. I will therefore just include a very small biography on the lives of each of the Hughan sisters to conclude this section on Samuel Hughan.
Issue of Samuel Hughan and Margaret West:
1. EVELYN WEST HUGHAN: born March 1871, Brooklyn, New York.With her sister Jessie Wallace Hughan, Evelyn was a suffragist, socialist and pacifist. She never married. Unlike her sisters who entered the teaching profession, Evelyn rose in the publishing world, becoming the director of the Foreign Department of the big publisher Ginn & Co.
Evelyn lived with her mother and sister Jessie until the former's death in 1921. The sisters then shared a home in Manhatten. Evelyn West Hughan died in December, 1947, aged 76. The New York times reported as follows:
"MISS HUGHAN DIES. Miss Evelyn West Hughan, of 27 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, retired head of the foreign department of Ginn & Co,textbook publishers, and for many years active in the socialist party and pacifist movement, died Friday in the Wood Nursing Home, Brooklyn, at the age of 76." -New York Times,December 14, 1947.
2. JESSIE WALLACE HUGHAN:born Christmas Day, 1874. She was most well known as an American educator, a socialist activist, and a radical pacifist. During her college days she was one of four co-founders of Alpha Omicron Pi, a national sorority for university women. She also was a founder and the first Secretary of the War Resisters League, established in 1923. For over two decades, she was a perennial candidate for political office on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America in her home state of New York.
Education: (from Wikipedia):Jessie attended grammar school on Staten Island and then went on to Northfield Seminary,a theologically liberal Unitarian college preparatory school for girls located in Northfield, Massachusetts.
She enrolled at Barnard College in New York City in 1894. In January 1897 she co-founded there with three other students the international sorority Alpha Omicron Pi. In 1898 she graduated, earning her A.B. degree, for which she authored an unpublished senior thesis on "Recent Theories of Profits." An excellent student, Jessie was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a national honorary society.
After graduation from Barnard, Jessie enrolled in Columbia University, also located in New York City. There Hughan earned her Masters of Arts degree in 1899, writing a thesis entitled "The Place of Henry George in Economics," and her Ph.D. in 1910. Her dissertation was adapted by Columbia University Press and published in book form as The Present Status of Socialism in America, for which the prominent British-born socialist John Spargo wrote the introduction. The book was later reissued by a commercial publisher under a slightly revised title.
Jessie Hughan made her professional career as an educator, teaching in a series of public and private schools following her graduation from Columbia with her A.M. degree in 1899.She first taught in schools in Naugatuck, Connecticut and White Plains, New York before returning to New York City in the early 1900s to complete her doctorate.Following her graduate work, she taught in a number of high schools throughout New York City, primarily in Brooklyn. In the 1920s, Hughan was in charge of the English Department at Textile High School, a position which she retained until her retirement from the profession in 1945.
From "Notable American Woman:the Modern period" by Barbara Sicherman and Carol Hurd Green:
" A tall woman with prominent features and bobbed hair,Hughan for many years helped care for her widowed mother and contributed to the support of her sister's four children.Following WW2 and her retirement from the school system in 1945, she continued to be active in the War Resisters League. In April 1953, she died at her Manhatten home of arteriosclerotic heart disease."
3. ETHEL MARJORIE HUGHAN: born April 1881, Brooklyn, New York. Like her sisters was extremely well-educated, and after graduation from Columbia University became a teacher like her elder sister Jessie. Known always as 'Marjorie', she married Frederick Frye Rockwell in September 1910, and with him had four children- Wallace Hughan Rockwell, Frederick Frye Rockwell, Donald West Rockwell and Margaret Evelyn Rockwell. Frederick was a prolific author of gardening books and articles. He and Marjorie divorced, and he later remarried Esther Grayson, who whom he co-wrote several gardening books.
