Simon Pollard Hughes

Simon Pollard Hughes Jr. (April 14, 1830 – June 29, 1906) was the 15th Governor of Arkansas and a Confederate officer in the American Civil War.

Early life

Hughes was born in Carthage, Tennessee, the son of Simon P. Hughes and Mary Hubbard Hughes. Hughes Sr., originally from Prince Edward County, Virginia, was a farmer, sheriff and a member of the Tennessee legislature from 1842–1843, Mary Hubbard was a native of Oglethorpe County, Georgia. In 1842, Mary Hughes died and the family moved to Bowie County, Texas. Hughes Sr. died in Texas in 1844, making Hughes at orphan at the age of fourteen.

Hughes moved to Arkansas in December 1849, and was educated at Sylvan Academy and Clinton College in Tennessee. In 1853, Hughes was elected sheriff of Monroe County, Arkansas and served for two years. Hughes was admitted to the bar in Arkansas in 1857, and started private practice in Clarendon, Arkansas.

Civil War

During the American Civil War, Hughes was voted captain of the 23rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Later in the war, following a reorganization of the 23rd Arkansas, Hughes enlisted as a private in Morgan's Texas Cavalry.

Political service

Following the war, Hughes served in the Arkansas house of representatives, from 1866 to 1867, and was a delegate to the 1874 Arkansas constitutional convention. Hughes was elected to the post of Arkansas attorney general and served from 1874 to 1877.

Hughes was elected governor of Arkansas, being sworn-in, in January 1885. He was reelected in 1886. During his terms, public executions were abolished in Arkansas and the sale of liquor was restricted.

In 1889, Hughes was elected to the Arkansas supreme court as an associate justice and served in that capacity for sixteen years.

Death

Hughes died in Little Rock, Arkansas, and is buried in historic Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock.