As we get ready to see two positions change on the Supreme Court, I was thinking of a distant relative. Charles Evans Hughes was a cousin to my father. Who is he you ask?
Charles E. Hughes (1862-1948)
Mary Catherine (<---like the name?,,,) Conley married David Charles Hughes, a young Methodist preacher from Wales who landed in New York Harbor in 1855. Their son, Charles Evens Hughes was born in Glen Falls New York, April 11, 1862.
He grew up to become Associate and Chief Justice of the Suprime Court.
He was educated by his parents but matriculated at Madison College (now Colgate) when he was fourteen. He graduated in 1881 from Brown University and received a law degree from Columbia University in 1884.
He scored an amazing 99 1/2 on his bar exam at the age of 22. He practiced law in New York for 20 years, with only a three-year break to teach law at Cornell Law School. He earned national recognition for his investigation into illegal rate-making and fraud in the insurance industry. After losing the election, he returned to his law practice in New York.
With an endorsement from Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Evans Hughes ran successfully for New York governor, defeating Democrat William Randolph Hearst in 1906. He was re-elected two years later. He ran but lost the 1916 presidential election to Woodrow Wilson. After losing the election, he returned to his law practice in New York.
After that brief return in private practice, He was called to politics again, this time as secretary of state for Warren G. Harding. He served as Secretary of State from 1921 to 1925. He continued in this role during the presidency of Calvin Coolidge. He subsequently resumed his law practice while serving in the Hague as a United States delegate to the Permanent Court of Arbitrationfrom 1926 to 1930.
On April 25, 1910, President William H. Taft nominated Charles Evans Hughes to the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Senate confirmed the appointment on May 2, 1910. In 1910, He accepted nomination to the High Court from President Taft. He was commissioned on May 2, 1910 and he was sworn in on October 10, 1910. Six years later, on June 10, 1916, He resigned to run against Woodrow Wilson for the presidency as the nominee of the Republican and Progressive Parties. He lost by a mere 23 electoral votes.
On February 3, 1930, President Herbert Hoover nominated Charles Evans Hughes for Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on February 13, 1930. Charles Evans Hughes' nomination to be chief justice met with opposition from Democrats who viewed him as too closely aligned with corporate America. Their opposition was insufficient to deny Charles Evans Hughes the position. He was commissioned on February 13, 1930. After serving eleven years as Chief Justice, he retired from his post on June 30, 1941.
He presided over the court during the Great Depression and the New Deal era. Known as a master of consensus, he guided the court in its transformation from opposing much of the New Deal legislation to acceptance of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's programs for a new national economy.
Charles Evans Hughes authored twice as many constitutional opinions as any other member of his Court. His opinions were concise and admirable. (Thanks to 'FindLaw.com').
And that is a small piece of my family history....the republican side.
C
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