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L. C. Hughes

American politician, editor and lawyer (1842–1915)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ289180 ↗
Source-derived summary

Louis Cameron "L. C." Hughes (May 15, 1842 – November 24, 1915) was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, union organizer, and politician who served as the eleventh Governor of Arizona Territory. A Gilded Age Democrat, he was an active supporter of women's suffrage and the temperance movement.

Background

Hughes was born on May 15, 1842, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Welsh immigrants Samuel and Elizabeth (Edwards) Hughes. The ninth of ten children, which included siblings Samuel, Thomas and Annie he was orphaned in 1845 and lived in an orphanage for several years. At the age of ten, Hughes was indentured to a "Calvinist farmer". At sixteen, Hughes gained his release and lived in Meadville, Pennsylvania, working his way through a local academy until the start of the American Civil War.

A strong abolitionist, Hughes attempted to enlist in the Union Army but had difficulty doing so due to generally poor health and his small stature. He did enlist with Company A, 101st Pennsylvania Volunteers for two years before health problems forced him to leave. Returning home, he enlisted in a government machine shop and, after becoming a journeyman, joined the Machinists and Blacksmiths Union #2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Once his health recovered, he re-enlisted in the army as a sergeant with Knapp's Pittsburgh Battery stationed at Washington D.C., and served 100 days before the end of the war.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “L. C. Hughes” as american politician, editor and lawyer (1842–1915). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Hughes, American and politician.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1842, 1915, 1845—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1842-05-15. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Hughes, American and politician providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “L. C. Hughes”, the useful work is to connect “american politician, editor and lawyer (1842–1915)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q289180. VIAF identifies the subject as 1756156317453502350005. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1842, 1915 and 1845.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “L. C. Hughes”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow L. C. Hughes primary sources, L. C. Hughes archive and Hughes research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “L. C. Hughes”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “L. C. Hughes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.