Where was the land of Andrew Hughes?
In one of my recent posts, I reported that my 4th great grandfather, Andrew Hughes (1755-1843) settled on 600 acres of land “on the south fork of Brush Creek” in the Ninety-Six District of South Carolina in 1787.
This information is included in a record that I obtained from the S.C. Department of Archives and History. Unfortunately, that record does not provide a description that enables me to figure out exactly where those 600 acres were.
Since then, I have received another document from the South Carolina Archives for 640 acres of land on “Brush Creek” (now known as Brushy Creek) that belonged to a man named Charles Hughes (I’m not sure if he’s related to Andrew, or not). That document, from the year 1791, includes a drawing that shows where this plot of land was. It also includes a notation, written just to the east of the Charles Hughes tract, that says “Andw. Hughes Land.”
Using the information reported in this document, my brother, Brian Hughes, created this image that shows where he thinks the land of Charles Hughes might have been:
If my brother is correct, then the land of Andrew Hughes was likely located close to the current intersection of Mt. Airy Church Road and 3 Bridges Road in Anderson County.
Do you have good, accurate information that either supports or contradicts my brother’s educated guess about the location of the land? If so, I’d love to hear from you! E-mail me at tahughesnc@gmail.com.
South Carolina pension application of Andrew Hughes, 1826
In my last post, I mentioned both the federal and South Carolina pension applications filed by my 4th great grandfather Andrew Hughes (1755-1843) for his service as a militia soldier in the American Revolutionary War.
Partial transcripts of his federal pension application are available online in at least two different locations that I know of, and there may be others. However, I have never seen a transcript of his South Carolina pension application online anywhere. So, below I am posting my transcription of a photocopy of the document. (I purchased my copy of the document from the S.C. Department of Archives and History.)
To the President and other members
of the Senate and to the Speaker
and other members of the House of
Representatives of the State of
South Carolina.The Petition of Andrew Hughes
Humbly Showeth
That your petitioner
was a volunteer and turned out to defend
his Country against the British Tories
and Indians during the Revolutionary
War. He went a tour of duty against
the Cherokee Indians. The next tour
of duty he went a volunteer in Capt.
Waddy Tate troops of light horse to
Cross Creek where the Scotch were
defeated. The next he was at the
Battle of Camden under the same
Capt. Tate. The next tour of duty he
did was a tour of 9 months. He was
at Charleston, from there to Purysburg
Capn. Jameson. He went from there
up to Augusta and pursued the British
to Briar Creek where he was in
the Battle there. He did four tour,
One of six months, one of nine months
and two of three months each.
He was out from the time he was three
and twenty years of age until the
close of the war. Was in the
Minute Service during the whole
time. Always was ready & went
when called on. Was almost constantly
out on duty. He found himself most of
the time. Found his own horse and
equipage. He says he never received
any pay or anything for his services.
He says he is now seventy one years of
age last April. He has a wife aged
about sixty one years. He says he is poor
and now needs the assistance of his country
for support.He therefore prays your Honorable
Body to grant him a pension or such
other relief as shall to your
Honorable body seem need.
And he will ever pray.
Andrew Hughes (signature)
Pendleton
11th Nov. 1826The State of South Carolina Before me personally
Pendleton District came Andrew Hughsa very respectable citizen of
the District and made oath that
he has resided in the District
constantly for the last thirty-
nine years. That all the
facts stated in the annexed
petition are substantially true.Sworn to 11th Nov. 1826 Andrew Hughes (signature)
Before (?) Grisham
Not. Pub.
Ex Off
G.W. 2State of South Carolina Personally came John
Pendleton District Wilson before me thesubscribing justice, and being sworn in due form of
law, and on his oath saith, that he knew Andrew
Hughs to serve a tour of duty in the Revolutionary War
of six month, under General Rutherford, and that he
himself served with him; and at another time, he
served another tour of duty of nine months with the
said Hughs, under General Aash, and was with
him in the battle at the mouth of Brier Creek.
And that he knew the said Andrew Hughs to
serve in two other campains in the same war.Sworn and subscribed to
before me this 11th day of (Belden?) 1826
John Wilson (signature)A. Douthit Qu.
South Carolina We the undersigned have
Pendleton District for a number of yearsbeen acquainted with Andrew Hughes of this
Dist. and know him to be an honest
endusterous good citizen, now far advanced
in life and not in circumstances to procure
a livelihood without hard labour and
as we believe he rendered important services
in the American Revolution we think
he aught of right to be placed on the pen-
sion list. Sept. 20th 1826(Signed) Ja. Osborn
William Wilson
James Douthit
John Wilson
Andrew HamiltonThe committee on pensions to whom was reported
the petition of Andrew Hughes praying for
a pension, respectfully report
that they have considered the same, and
recommend to this house that the prayer
of the petitioner be granted and that the said
Andrew Hughes be allowed a pension.December 1826
John McComb
Chairman
My earliest Hughes ancestor, Andrew Hughes (1755-1843)
In 1787, 600 acres of land in SC were surveyed for my ancestor, Andrew Hughes.
The earliest Hughes ancestor that I can claim with a reasonable level of confidence is a fellow named Andrew Hughes, who was born near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on April 4, 1755, and died on or about Sept. 1, 1843, in Pickens County, South Carolina.
Much of what I know about Andrew Hughes, including the locations and dates of his birth and death, is recorded in documents related to two separate pension applications he filed for his service as a militia soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He applied for a pension from the state of South Carolina in 1826 and received payments from the state until 1834, when he applied for and was awarded a federal pension.
According to his federal pension application, Andrew was living in Orange County, North Carolina, when he joined a North Carolina militia unit that formed in Caswell County soon after the Declaration of Independence was signed in July 1776. Some of the campaigns and battles that he took part in were the Rutherford Expedition, Cross Creek (I believe this refers to the battle at Moore’s Creek Bridge), Camden, and Brier Creek.
By 1787, Andrew had settled in the Ninety-Six District (later called the Pendleton District) of South Carolina and he then lived in that area for most of the rest of his life. A land grant record shows that 600 acres of land along “the south fork of Brush Creek” (now known as Brushy Creek) were surveyed for him in September 1787. I believe that this land was probably located somewhere between the present-day town of Easley, S.C. and the Saluda River.
Andrew and his first wife, Obedience Sumner, had several children together; I’m not sure of the exact number. (I do know that I am descended from one of his sons, Elisha, who was born in the Pendleton District about 1800.) Obedience died in 1829. Then in 1835, when Andrew was 75 years old, he married Nancy Mauldin, who was 63. It was a second marriage for her as well.
Andrew and Nancy moved from the Pendleton District to Gwinnett County, Georgia, in 1835, apparently so they could live closer to her children. But the move to Georgia created a problem for Andrew: In 1836 he had to travel back to South Carolina to collect his annual pension payment because there was no other way for him to get it. But while there, he was injured in a fall from a horse. After that, he never returned to his second wife in Georgia. He died in South Carolina seven years later, in the house of one of his sons, Charles Hughes.
Twelve years after Andrew’s death, Nancy filed an application seeking both pension benefits and bounty land as Andrew’s widow. Her application was contested and was the subject of much legal wrangling for more than a year before she was awarded a small pension of $40 a year.
A letter written on her behalf in February 1856 by her attorney, Thomas S. May, provides one possible explanation for why Andrew never returned to Nancy in Georgia. I advise taking this with a grain of salt:
Andrew Hughes returned to South Carolina in the forepart of the next Summer Sometime in June; his Hughes sons all living there in S Carolina Kept the Old man there he being very feeble and old & injured by a fall was not able to return to his family without help which his sons would not afford him, being a drunken set, & perhaps kept him there in order to git his pension money; he being very anxious all the time to return (???) Nancy Hughes then with her children & being very old & infirm could not go back to him in consequence of Bad Health and for want of means.
Note: The above is from my own transcription of the letter. (???) means I could not decipher what was written in that space.
There is still a lot that I don’t know about Andrew Hughes. For example, I don’t know who his parents were, and I have never seen a portrait, drawing or any other likeness of him, so I have no idea what he looked like.
But this much I do know. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of descendants of Andrew Hughes, myself included, are alive today. I personally know of Hughes families in upstate South Carolina, northeast Georgia, the area between Tuscaloosa, Ala. and Columbus, Miss., and in Jacksonville, Fla. that can trace their lineage to him. There are probably many other Hughes families descended from Andrew that I am not aware of.
Perhaps one day we will be able to trace the line back to Andrew’s parents and even farther. I certainly hope so!
Hughes' Views & News 
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