Lucy's Husband, Moses Hughes (1835-1906), Was Found on June 7th, 1906 Killed in Union County, SC

This blog post was written on behalf of the Union County Community Remembrance Project (UCCRP) which seeks to document and recognize the history of lynching and racial terrorism in Union County. We seek to foster ongoing collaborative education, justice, and healing.

Contact: Nate Johnson, Park Manager

Rose Hill Plantation State Historic Site

South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism

2677 Sardis Road

Union, SC 29379

864-427-5966

SCPRT.com

"United States Census, 1900," database with images,FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6LD9-FM6?cc=1325221&wc=9BWC-L2T%3A1030550901%2C1030609901%2C1033564201 : 5 August 2014), South Carolina > Union > ED 68 Fish Dam Township Carlisle village > image 9 of 45; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

This is the 1900 US Census where Moses Hughes (1835-1906) lived in Fish Dam, Union County, South Carolina with his wife, Lucy Hughes, and son Clarence. They were married 16 years and had six living children and one deceased. Clarence, the only child at home, was only 14. He probably helped his dad with the farm.

Probably little did Lucy know that in six short years Clarence would be in jail and Moses would be found dead. Her testimony appears in one of the articles about her husbands death:

The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.), 10 Aug. 1906. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn93067853/1906-08-10/ed-1/seq-1/>

Lucy saw her husband for the last time on Friday, June 3rd, 1906 when he was leaving to take some clothes to Clarence who was in jail. Moses was supposed to return from seeing his son on Sunday. He did not return.

She talked to John Renwick's wife on Monday. The Renwick's lived about one mile from her. John Renwick came by Tuesday morning and told her he had seen Moses walking between two white men. He tried to say something to Renwick, but he could not understand him.

He had received a shot in his neck. John Renwick said that Billy Gilliam, one of the men Moses was walking in between said, "Mose, you are not shot bad. I believe I will shoot you again." Douglass English was the other white man that was with them.

A series of other witnesses were called. Each had worked to find him. They knew he would not be found on land. He was tied with rope and overall suspenders. His hand were tied behind his back, and his feet were tied together. Several rocks were found in his pockets.

He was found that following Thursday. When some of them went in the river, they saw a buzzard in the river and wondered what it was looking to find.

If you have any information regarding the relatives of Moses Hughes (1835-1906), please give this article to them we are seeking them out on behalf of the Union County Community Remembrance Project.