Hughston
THOMAS FINLEY HUGHSTON 1842-1935
Biography.
Thomas Finley Hughston was born in Shelby County, Alabama, January 2, 1842. He was the son of Archibald Hughston (1795-1872) and his second wife, Nancy Finley, and was one of twelve children. He was the grandson of John Hughston (ca1750-1812) of Spartanburg Dist., S. C., and Mrs. Elizabeth Adair David, daughter of Joseph Adair, Jr., and Sarah Dillard of Laurens Co., S. C.
After spending his childhood in Alabama, Thomas served from that state in the 18th Regiment Alabama Infantry of the Confederate Army during the entire Civil War. He was in the thick of the fighting, in five major battles, survived Shiloh with a bullet embedded in the Bible he carried in his shirt pocket, was finally gravely wounded by a Minie ball which struck him in the forehead during the Battle of New Hope Church, Ga., in May 1864. Military records list Pvt. T. F. Hughston as one of four men on the Battle of Chickamauga Honor Roll for valor from 18th Regiment, Company K, Alabama Voluntary Infantry. Then after almost a year in the field hospital and disabled camp he was given his discharge with “rations and transportation in kind” to his home. On the way home he was taken prisoner of war by the Yankees.
This was near the close of the war. Thomas was paroled at Talladega, Alabama on May 19, 1865. The following year he came to Texas to Collin County where he settled near the present town of Plano.
About the beginning of World War I, Thomas Finley made a list of the officers and privates of his “Company K, 18th Alabama Infantry,” including their initials or first names. There were 12 officers and 101 privates. Ann, his wife, said, “How can you recall all those names?” He replied, “If you had been with them under the conditions we were, you too could have remembered.”
In 1865, at Talladega he became a Mason, and affiliated with that organization in 1869 at Plano. In 1895, he served as Worshipful Master of that lodge, and later accepted the duties of tiler for 29 years. On his 71st birthday the Plano lodge presented him a gold disc charm for his watch chain, with the Masonic Blue Lodge emblem on one side and his monogram and the occasion and date on the opposite side.
At the Grand Lodge session in Waco, December 6, 1933, when his son Wallace presided, Thomas Finley Hughston was interviewed by a reporter from The Waco Times Tribune. “You say you are from the Waco newspaper? Well, spell my name right and call me Thomas Finley... Yes, I will be 92 years old January 2nd, and I have been attending these Grand Lodge sessions over 40 years. I have been a Mason 67 years... I went to Houston when the boys voted to move the Grand Lodge to Waco.... The Civil War?” Then Thomas Finley pushed back his hair, fingered a lock of white hair and said by the way of answer, “A Yankee Minie Ball did that... I served 4 years. First battle of Shiloh, when Albert Sydney Johnston was killed. Then served under Beauregard and Bragg. That was the Army of Tennessee...” The interview was cut short when a friend came by and interrupted the conversation. One reason why he requested the newspaper reporter to call him “Thomas Finley” was because at that time there were 10 Thomas Hughstons in North Texas, and one Hughston Thomas!
Thomas Finley Hughston came to Plano in 1866 and settled near the John Beverly family, early settlers who had a land grant in Peter’s Colony. Thomas married Ann Beverly, July 29, 1871, in Plano. They were the parents of Wallace Hughston, b 1874. He studied law in the office of his uncle, Tully Beverly, later District Judge of the 59th District Court of Sherman and McKinney. He was county attorney 1898, for two terms; Grand Master of Texas Grand Lodge 1932, State Senator 1934. Nettie Hughston (Morgan) b 1876; Eva Lee b. 1878 and Carrie b. 1882 were school teachers; and Tom Allen b 1884 was head of the Cotton Seed and Oil Industry of Texas for several years. Each of their children graduated from Plano Institute. The Hughstons also reared a niece, Hester Henry, whose mother died when she was a baby. On June 29, 1921, Thomas Finley and Ann Beverly Hughston celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and ten years later their 60th anniversary. For both occasions relatives and friends came to wish them many more years of joy and happiness.
Thomas Finley had united with the Presbyterian Church when in Talledaga, but became a member of the Methodist Church when he married. He and his wife were active and devoted members of the Plano Church. Although his eye sight and hearing were impaired, he never missed a church service.
In December 1973, the Plano School Board met to decide on names for seven future schools. It is a tradition that schools be named after local pioneers. The following paragraph is copied from the Plano Daily Star-Courier: “Another Civil War veteran... Thomas Finley Hughston.....will be the namesake of an elementary school in northwest Plano. Mr. Hughston was a farmer of several different crops near Plano, including corn, oats, wheat and cotton . The Hughston children attended the first public school in the Plano area.... the Plano Institute. They attended school only a few months out of the year, traveling on foot, pony, horse or mule. Thomas F. Hughston was a member of the Plano Masonic Lodge for 70 years, was a charter city council member, a county commissioner (1888), Deputy tax assessor of Collin County, and a member of the Board of Stewards for the Methodist Church for several years.”
It should be noted that in the records of the past the name “Hughston” is spelled variously “Huston,” “Houston,” etc. Thomas Finley Hughston’s grandfather spelled his name John “Huston.” This is the way John’s sons spelled the name until for some reason they all changed the spelling to “Hughston” and it became consistent that way.
It should also be noted that there is a possibility that Thomas Finley Hughston’s father, Archibald, had come to Texas for a short while in 1844. Because in the Peter’s Colony of Texas an “Archibald Houston,” single had entered on July 1, 1844. He settled in old Fannin Co., at the head of the Elm Fork and Mineral Creek in the Cross Timbers. This Archibald apparently left before receiving a land certificate, or fulfilling the obligations required to receive one. If this were Thomas’ father, perhaps his early venture to Texas influenced Thomas to come after the war.
Biography.
Thomas Finley Hughston was born in Shelby County, Alabama, January 2, 1842. He was the son of Archibald Hughston (1795-1872) and his second wife, Nancy Finley, and was one of twelve children. He was the grandson of John Hughston (ca1750-1812) of Spartanburg Dist., S. C., and Mrs. Elizabeth Adair David, daughter of Joseph Adair, Jr., and Sarah Dillard of Laurens Co., S. C.
After spending his childhood in Alabama, Thomas served from that state in the 18th Regiment Alabama Infantry of the Confederate Army during the entire Civil War. He was in the thick of the fighting, in five major battles, survived Shiloh with a bullet embedded in the Bible he carried in his shirt pocket, was finally gravely wounded by a Minie ball which struck him in the forehead during the Battle of New Hope Church, Ga., in May 1864. Military records list Pvt. T. F. Hughston as one of four men on the Battle of Chickamauga Honor Roll for valor from 18th Regiment, Company K, Alabama Voluntary Infantry. Then after almost a year in the field hospital and disabled camp he was given his discharge with “rations and transportation in kind” to his home. On the way home he was taken prisoner of war by the Yankees.
This was near the close of the war. Thomas was paroled at Talladega, Alabama on May 19, 1865. The following year he came to Texas to Collin County where he settled near the present town of Plano.
About the beginning of World War I, Thomas Finley made a list of the officers and privates of his “Company K, 18th Alabama Infantry,” including their initials or first names. There were 12 officers and 101 privates. Ann, his wife, said, “How can you recall all those names?” He replied, “If you had been with them under the conditions we were, you too could have remembered.”
In 1865, at Talladega he became a Mason, and affiliated with that organization in 1869 at Plano. In 1895, he served as Worshipful Master of that lodge, and later accepted the duties of tiler for 29 years. On his 71st birthday the Plano lodge presented him a gold disc charm for his watch chain, with the Masonic Blue Lodge emblem on one side and his monogram and the occasion and date on the opposite side.
At the Grand Lodge session in Waco, December 6, 1933, when his son Wallace presided, Thomas Finley Hughston was interviewed by a reporter from The Waco Times Tribune. “You say you are from the Waco newspaper? Well, spell my name right and call me Thomas Finley... Yes, I will be 92 years old January 2nd, and I have been attending these Grand Lodge sessions over 40 years. I have been a Mason 67 years... I went to Houston when the boys voted to move the Grand Lodge to Waco.... The Civil War?” Then Thomas Finley pushed back his hair, fingered a lock of white hair and said by the way of answer, “A Yankee Minie Ball did that... I served 4 years. First battle of Shiloh, when Albert Sydney Johnston was killed. Then served under Beauregard and Bragg. That was the Army of Tennessee...” The interview was cut short when a friend came by and interrupted the conversation. One reason why he requested the newspaper reporter to call him “Thomas Finley” was because at that time there were 10 Thomas Hughstons in North Texas, and one Hughston Thomas!
Thomas Finley Hughston came to Plano in 1866 and settled near the John Beverly family, early settlers who had a land grant in Peter’s Colony. Thomas married Ann Beverly, July 29, 1871, in Plano. They were the parents of Wallace Hughston, b 1874. He studied law in the office of his uncle, Tully Beverly, later District Judge of the 59th District Court of Sherman and McKinney. He was county attorney 1898, for two terms; Grand Master of Texas Grand Lodge 1932, State Senator 1934. Nettie Hughston (Morgan) b 1876; Eva Lee b. 1878 and Carrie b. 1882 were school teachers; and Tom Allen b 1884 was head of the Cotton Seed and Oil Industry of Texas for several years. Each of their children graduated from Plano Institute. The Hughstons also reared a niece, Hester Henry, whose mother died when she was a baby. On June 29, 1921, Thomas Finley and Ann Beverly Hughston celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and ten years later their 60th anniversary. For both occasions relatives and friends came to wish them many more years of joy and happiness.
Thomas Finley had united with the Presbyterian Church when in Talledaga, but became a member of the Methodist Church when he married. He and his wife were active and devoted members of the Plano Church. Although his eye sight and hearing were impaired, he never missed a church service.
In December 1973, the Plano School Board met to decide on names for seven future schools. It is a tradition that schools be named after local pioneers. The following paragraph is copied from the Plano Daily Star-Courier: “Another Civil War veteran... Thomas Finley Hughston.....will be the namesake of an elementary school in northwest Plano. Mr. Hughston was a farmer of several different crops near Plano, including corn, oats, wheat and cotton . The Hughston children attended the first public school in the Plano area.... the Plano Institute. They attended school only a few months out of the year, traveling on foot, pony, horse or mule. Thomas F. Hughston was a member of the Plano Masonic Lodge for 70 years, was a charter city council member, a county commissioner (1888), Deputy tax assessor of Collin County, and a member of the Board of Stewards for the Methodist Church for several years.”
It should be noted that in the records of the past the name “Hughston” is spelled variously “Huston,” “Houston,” etc. Thomas Finley Hughston’s grandfather spelled his name John “Huston.” This is the way John’s sons spelled the name until for some reason they all changed the spelling to “Hughston” and it became consistent that way.
It should also be noted that there is a possibility that Thomas Finley Hughston’s father, Archibald, had come to Texas for a short while in 1844. Because in the Peter’s Colony of Texas an “Archibald Houston,” single had entered on July 1, 1844. He settled in old Fannin Co., at the head of the Elm Fork and Mineral Creek in the Cross Timbers. This Archibald apparently left before receiving a land certificate, or fulfilling the obligations required to receive one. If this were Thomas’ father, perhaps his early venture to Texas influenced Thomas to come after the war.
