Hughes High School - Hughes Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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Origin of the Hughes'Fund. 11 In regard to his last illness and death, I only know about it from what my kind friend John Melindy told me in 1825. Peter and John Melindy took care of THOMAS HUGHES in his last illness. He died in their house on the west side of Main and south of Liberty. street, Cincinnati, on the 26th day of December, A. D. 1824. His remains were interred in the Twelfth street burying-ground, Cin- cinnati, and when that ground was converted into the Washington Park, his body was exhumed and reinterred in Spring Grove Cem- tely, Cincinnati suburbs, where it now lies. It was measulably through the influence of John Melindy and his brother Peter Melindy that Mr. HUGHES was confhmed in HIS OWN CONVICTIONS of leaving the bulk of his real estate for school pur- poses. ORIGIN OF THE HUGHES FUND. HE last will and testament of THOMAS HUGHES, dated 4th day of December,.1824, provided that the ttresidue of my land and property aforesaid shall be appropriated and applied to the main- tenance and support of a school, or schools, in the city of' Cincin- nati, for the education of poor destitute children, Whose parents or guardians are unable to pay for their schooling; the said prop- erty, the management of the funds arising therefrom, and those who are fit subjects to receive the benefits thereof, are to be placed under the control ofa. Board of Trustees. . . . . . . The trustees who remain in said city are authorized to appoint others to 25.11 vacancies from time to time. . . . . The land ttto be by them kept, and rents used for the purposes aforesaid, or to be sold, and the proceeds funded. EProbated December 28, 1824, and . .1 n l '5. . 1 : s 1 .h. V . ,..xx5. . REV s . kt...'1. beTw whi- p Hueav . 0.1 V 1 it'v-WLWawwwxsw-r. h

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amid In Memoriam. bases his recollections of, and gives his version as to Who and what manner of a man was THOMAS HUGHES. There is no man with whom I am now acquainted that I can in any sense compare him to. I mean either in physical appearance, social qualities,.habits, or aught else. He was THOMAS HUGHES and nobody else. Yet he had one good qualitye-a mind of his own-a,' purpose which in the end. that mind carried out. The result of that purpose is of record and ' - t i a , . , . . V . ' nihgh mnamm -u.';..z4'. Rwl .n'. ; vL-J ILAIM being developed. He was only at times communicativeegenerally reticent. He lived alone, and in an humble cabin on the north side of Liberty street, Cincinnati, and, if now standing, would be west of , Sycamore street. I have written that he lived alone. I mistake. At the time of which I am writing ,he had a confiding compan- ion-a sorrel dogeand other pets in his select chickens, for which .he had names, at least for a few of the most distinguished; and in addition to these he had a sorrel pony. THOMAS HUGHES was fully as graceful a horseman as was Moses Dawson tdeeeaseda, and who, by the way, also had a sorrel pony. It has been said by some that Mr. HUGHES was never married. This is incorrect. He was at one time a married man, of and about which he seldom eonversed. The mere mention of the subject gave l evidence of its unpleasantness. That he was at one time by occupa- tion a shoemaker, there is not a doubt; and that he made but an indifferent living from off his land is also a matter of no question. From interviews and conversations with Mr. HUGHES, as to his nativity, I-at the time thought, and do now, that he was a native of England, and was born near the borders of' Scotland, and of Welsh descent. I never thought from anything I ever heard him say, the manner of his talking, pronunciation of words, and, in short, from all of his manner and from all about him that his nativity was in any one of the New England States of America. A

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12 The Hughes Tropertwaocazfion and Value. recorded in Book No. 2,13. 465, Record of Wills, of Ham. Com. Pleasj In April, 1827, the tract of' land referred to was laid out into lots by the trustees. EBook 29, p. 17, Land Recs. of Ham. 100.1 March 3, 1845, a lot on Ninth street was purchased for $9,000, for the purpose of a High School, but in May, 1851, the same was sold for $15,700,- and the proceeds invested in a lot on the south side of Fifth street, at the end of' Mound, in Parlds Subdivision, the lot being 95 feet in front, and 200 feet deep. This ground cost $18,000, and is now occupied by the Hughes High School Build- ing, tDeed Book 168, p. 561.1 THE HUGHES PROPERTY-LOCATION AND VALUE. HE following data are from a verbal statement made by John C. Nye, Collector of the Hughes Fund: All of the Hughes property, except the Hughes High School lot, is situated between Main and Sycamore streets, and extends from Schiller street tthe next street above Libertyh, to the Young Ladies, Seminary, on Mount Auburn. There are also two lots, between Main and Sycamore, below Schiller street. Mr. Nye was understood to say that all of' the ground included in the Within boundaries originally belonged to this grant. The fee of but few of the lots has been parted with. The distance from Schiller street to the Young Ladies Seminary is about ten squares. There are now about one hundredland' twenty tenants; these rent about two hun- dred lots in all, or property capable of being divided into that number of lots. Three whole squares are yet undivided; one