found this at the library today in the History of Taylor County.
In the winter of '60 and '61 Rev. Jerry Hughs
also commenced preaching, while assistant on the Mt. Ayr circuit.
Rev. Hughs
was a young man, fresh from Virginia. This
country was very thinly settled in those days, and in making his way from
one
appointment to another, he endured many hardships.
On February 22, 1861 he got lost in a snow storm, and was out all night
and until the next day before he found a house.
His feet were frozen, and it was a miracle that he did not perish.
The
preachers of those days did not drive to their
appointments in top buggies nor ride in varnished cars. Even had
the cars been
here their salaries were so small they would
have had to steal a ride on the blind Bagge or ride on the bumpers.
Mr. Hughs
married Amy Newton, daughter of Isaac Newton,
and organized an M. E. Church here in 1865, while on the Bedford circuit.
There being no record of this early church in
existence.
Article taken from the Centennial booklet for Mormontown,
Taylor County, IA Marriages:
J. L. Hughes and Amy Newton 30
April 1861
Rev. J. T. Hughes (History of Taylor County, Iowa)
Rev. Jermiah T. Hughes was born Sept. 20, 1834 in
West Virginia and died at his home in Conway, Iowa, March 26, 1920.
He was married to Amy Newton of Platteville, Iowa,
April 30, 1961. To this union ten children were born, five having
died in infancy and to the five they raised -- William,
Isaac and Inza lived in Taylor County. Ellis H. and Eva McGee lived
in
Oklahoma. Several descendants still live
in Taylor County: Mrs. Al "Doris" O'Dell and her family and most
of the Glen
Hughes's family.
He was ordained deacon on Sept. 7, 1862 and elder
on Sept. 4, 1964. He was appointed, in the fall of 1872 to what was
called
Harmony (now Conway). In those days there
was no moving by railroad, so his goods were moved in wagons 40 miles from
Hopeville, Clark County by members of his former
charge. The parsonage was at Lexington and Conway was a new town
started by the railroad, having at that time
only about ten houses, no schoolhouse, and only a store or two. His
circuit consisted
of an appointment north of Gravity, Holt schoolhouse,
a schoolhouse north of Sharpsburg, Grant Center, Wright schoolhouse,
Lexington, and Conway. He preached twice
a month and some of the appointments were during the week. He preached
the
first sermon ever preached in Conway, on the
platform of the Burlington depot. He traveled over the country in
his buggy and
many times forded the rivers, as there
were no bridges in those days. His salary was $500.. However,
the people were
congenial and the work a great comfort.
He built the first parsonage in Conway for $500. He was pastor at
Conway for two
years after which he moved to Afton and later
came back to Conway and made it his home. Father Hughes organized
and
helped to organize the church at Red Oak, Conway,
Mt. Ayr, Clarinda, Glenwood, Diagonal, Afton, Arispe, Hopeville, Hillsdale,
Blockton and Bedford. He was also a member
of MO-Ark Conference. Besides his preaching he spent some time as
a school
teacher. He told the folks in his day he
was a circuit walker, not the circuit rider. He preached his last
sermon in Conway, in
an old Methodist church which was wrecked.
Mrs. Hughes was born at Waterloo, New Jersey,
Jan 30, 1837 and died at her home in Conway, on Oct. 28, 1920. Her
parents,
the Isaac Newtons, lived on a farm near the junction
Highway #2 and #25. Here, many people traveling through the country
would stop to water their oxen team and camp
overnight. Also, the pony express riders would leave mail.
She was the
granddaughter of a Revolutionary soldier and
an early settler of southwestern Iowa. (By Dorothy Kirby
and Darline Ernest)