Daughter of John &
Catherine Steck Hill.
Wife of Elwood Hughes

Parents of Mary Catherine John N,
Benjamin F, Charles Hill,
Mark Williams, Elwood Clark,
William F, & Edward A Hughes


Mrs. Elizabeth Hill Hughes was born on the 2nd day of July, 1818, at Hughesville, Pa., and died in Dixon, IL., on August 5, 1909. Her funeral will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. from the residence of her grand-daughter, Mrs. E. H. Brewster, and interment will be in the family lot in Palmyra cemetery.

On her father's side she was a descendant of English ancestry, who migrated to Switzerland at the beginning of the 16th century and from thence to America and settled in Pennsylvania. Her grandfather served throughout the Revolutionary war and her father, John Hill, was a member of the First Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania.
On her mother's side, Mrs. Hughes was of German descent, her mother's family name being Steck, a family which has contributed a number of well known clergymen to the Lutheran church.

Her eldest brother, George Hill, and her youngest brother, Charles Hill, were physicians, the oldest remaining at the family home, where he practiced medicine until a few years before his death, at the age of 84 years. Her second brother, Reuben Hill, a Doctor of Divinity, devoted a long life to the service of the Lutheran church.
Mrs. Hughes had five sisters, four of whom married Lutheran clergymen.
She is survived by one sister, Mary, the wife of Reverend Doctor J. R. Dimm of Selin's Grove, Pennsylvania.

She was married to Elwood Hughes in January 1840, at Hughesville, Pa. More than 25 years of the early part of her married life was spent upon a farm near the Susquehanna river, in Columbia county, Pa. When their sons entered college the family removed to Gettysburg, Pa., from which place in 1870 they came to Lee county, IL. Mr. Hughes having purchased a farm in Palmyra township where they lived until his death in February 1894.

Seven children were born to Elwood and Elizabeth Hughes. The eldest, a daughter, Mary Catherine Hill, resides at Sawtelle, Cal. The oldest son, John N. Hughes, enlisted twice in the federal army during the civil war. He was promoted to be captain of Company B, 210th Pa. Vol., and was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, dying a few weeks later as a result of his wounds. The second son, Benjamin F. Hughes whose profession is the law, resides in Philadelphia and has rendered as public service as a member of the Pennsylvania state senate, and as assistant postmaster of Philadelphia.

The third son, Charles Hill Hughes, preceded her to the grave, having died in May 1907. He was well known in this community, where he had lead an active and useful life for nearly 40 years, and at the time of his death was serving his second term as a member of the Illinois state senate. The fourth son, William Elliot Hughes, died at the age of four years, in 1855. The fifth son, Elwood Clark Hughes, resides in Seattle, Wash., where he is engaged in the practice of law. He is the head of one of the leading firms on the Pacific coast and has recently been tendered an appointment to the federal bench by President Taft. The youngest son, Edward Arthur Hughes, died at Clinton, Ia., seven years ago, and at the time of his death was serving his third term as mayor of that city.

Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Hughes has made her home in Dixon, residing with her son Charles until his death. In 1897 she visited her son in Seattle, remaining there about one year during which time she visited Alaska and California. She also spent the winter of 1905 and 1906 with her son in Seattle.

Since the death of her son Charles, she has spent one year with her daughter in California, returning to Dixon in July 1908, in time to occupy her cottage during the session of the Assembly, as has been her custom for many years. She was preparing to remove to her cottage for the present session of the Assembly, when she was stricken with her last and fatal stroke of apoplexy, her first stroke having occurred on April 4th of this year. She had enjoyed exceptional health and strength for one of her great age, until the beginning of her last illness. By her first attack, her power of speech and left side were paralyzed. Her vitality and recuperative powers were so great, however, that before the second attack she had regained the use of her limbs and in a great measure, the power of speech. She has full possession of her faculties, and conversed freely with her family and friends until she became unconscious about three days before her death.

Mrs. Hughes was endowed with a strong intellect, and was alike remarkable for her great strength of will and vigor of body. She was always a student, and evidenced her great industry and love of knowledge by completing a Chautauqua course at the age of 84. She was a consistent member of the Lutheran church all of her mature life, and her influence for good has been far-reaching, both outside and inside of the church. She was a devoted mother, and her greatest pleasure in her declining years, has been the contemplation of the successes of her sons.


Dixon Evening Telegraph
Dixon, IL.,
Saturday, August 7, 1909, pg. 1