Born in
Vigo County, Indiana, Hughes attended
DePauw University and the
Indiana University Maurer School of Law. In 1911, Governor
Thomas R. Marshall appointed Hughes as the first judge to serve on the newly established 64th Indiana judicial circuit, encompassing
Putnam County, Indiana. Hughes served in that capacity until his election to the Indiana Supreme Court in 1932, for which he took office in January 1933. He declined to run for re-election in 1938, and instead accepted a posting as an assistant attorney general of the state, working under
Omer Stokes Jackson. He later resumed the practice of law in
Greencastle, Indiana. From 1942 to 1943, Hughes served on a federal railway strike panel. Hughes died at his country home near
Greencastle, Indiana. ==References==