West Virginia Wesleyan College - Murmurmontis Yearbook (Buckhannon, WV)

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HON. W. W. HUGHES

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37?.7S Bo Ifon. W. W. 3fusb s wl)om we Ijonor for Tftis 6evotion to bi 2K.lma 3Ztater: b»s example of true American citizen- hip an6 his noble in- fluence in our state, tbls book is grate- fully ano affection- ately 6eolcated

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William Wellington Ifugbes F the very large number of eminently successful graduates of the Seminary, one of the most successful is William Wellington Hughes, now a prominent lawyer of Welch, McDowell county, West Virginia. Born April S, 1873. in the most fortunate place in the world for a boy, a country home, he spent his sum- mers in working on the farm and his winters in attending the public schools until he was eighteen years old, when he began to teach in the country. In the spring of 1892, he entered the West Virginia Conference Seminary and by attend ing fall and spring terms, and teaching in the winter, he succeeded in completing t he course and graduating in the class of 1896; he then remained in the Seminary another year, making further preparation for his work at the State University, where he entered in the fall of 1898, having taught in the public schools of Weston one year after leaving the Seminary. Few, if any students have left a better record at the Seminary than Mr. Hughes did. A natural orator, he represented his Society (the Chrestomathean) several times on their special programs and contests, and was honored by the presidency of the class of 1896. Brilliant as was his career at the Seminar) ' , it was even more so at the University, from where he graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1900; here he represented his Society (the Columbian ) in joint debate in 1899, and in 1900 won the Wiles prize of $100 in oratory; was editor- in-chief of the Monticola in 1899, and was president of the law class of 1900; was also a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity while in the University. After graduation Mr. Hughes began the practice of law in Weston in November, 1900. but removed to Welch in June, 1901. and became a member of the firm of Rucker, Anderson Hughes in July, 1902, which firm was expanded in 1906 to Rucker, Anderson, Strother Hughes, its present name. As a lawyer, he is clear, quick, and forcible, and is already looked upon in the Circuit courts of his own and adjoining districts and the Supreme court of the state as one of the most prominent lawyers of the younger generation, and has already attained a very enviable reputation as a land lawyer, in which line he has specialized somewhat. But better than school and college honors or distinctions at the bar, is the reputation Mr. Hughes has won as an upright and honest man, and a loyal and devoted citizen. His school loves to honor him because he honors it, and his teachers love and cherish him because in him they see the full fruition of hopes and labor, and because of him it can be said, He is the man.