Frank Hughett
Frank Hughett was Scott County’s ninth sheriff, and the first sheriff to serve two separate stints in office. He was assassinated in 1910, shortly after serving as part of a posse that killed a man wanted on alcohol-related charges.
See Also: Sheriffs of Scott County
Preceded By: Beaty Cecil • Succeeded By: John Goad
Biography
Born John Frank Hughett in March 1851, he was the son of John Hughett (1824-1908) and Christena Lewallen (1829-1875) of Robbins.
He was one of 10 children of John Hughett. His siblings included Lucinda Hughett Sexton, Jasper Hughett, Rachel Hughett Newport, Amanda Hughett Newport, Mary Hughett Walker, Bettie Hughett Robbins, Dr. Horace Maynard Robbins, Joe L. Robbins and Etta Robbins.
Frank Hughett’s mother, Christena, died in 1875. His father remarried to her sister, Lucinda, whose first husband, Capt. William Robbins, died during the Civil War.
The Hughett family lived on Brimstone Creek. Frank Hughett’s brother, Jasper Hughett, was the first postmaster of the Hughett community there, which was located near Slick Rock. Jasper Hughett was later a prominent merchant in the town of Robbins.
Family
Frank Hughett married Amanda Robbins on March 23, 1871. She was the daughter of William Robbins and Lucinda Lewallen. Her sister, Vicie Lewallen, married Frank’s brother, Jasper Hughett. Frank and Amanda had six children together: William, Vicie, Andrew, John Wesley, Reuben and Etta. “Mandy,” as she was commonly known, died around 1891 to 1894.
Following his first wife’s death, Hughett married Abigail Cecil, sometime prior to 1900 (Abigail’s first husband, Millard F. Rosser, died in 1893). They had no children together. He later married Rhoda Shoopman, who was 39 years his junior. They were married in 1907 and had one child together: Dollie, born in 1908.
Sheriff of Scott County
Frank Hughett was elected sheriff of Scott County in 1888, succeeding Beaty Cecil of New River. He was re-elected in 1890 and 1892 before leaving office due to term limits. In those days, sheriffs were limited to three terms. It was not uncommon for sheriffs to serve all three terms.
Hughett was succeeded by his cousin-in-law, John Goad, who served one term and opted not to seek re-election in 1896. Hughett was elected again, and served as sheriff until 1900, when he was succeeded by Thomas Jeffers.
Hughett’s relation to Goad was through the Robbins family. Elizabeth Robbins Goad, John Goad’s mother, was a sister to Capt. William Robbins, whose daughter, Amanda Robbins, married Frank Hughett. Later, Frank Hughett’s father, John “Squire” Hughett, was a domestic partner of Capt. Robbins’ widow, Lucinda.
Death
Hughett was assassinated on Sept. 19, 1910, at the age of 59. He was buried at Robbins Cemetery. At the time of his death, he worked as a foreman for the Cincinnati Southern Railroad.
A newspaper called it “cold-blooded murder in a railroad camp.” According to The Journal & Tribune, Hughett was shot from ambush at Cook’s Camp on Smokey Creek, while working on the Tennessee Railroad. The newspaper reported that the shooting occurred at around 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning, with Hughett’s wife and two-year-old baby present. Hughett was sweeping the steps in front of the commissary when he was shot twice under his right arm. He died 10 minutes later. Another person in the camp saw a man run from a cluster of bushes on the mountainside after the shooting.
The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis reported that Ed Sherrod was also killed in the ambush.
Bloodhounds were brought to the scene from Somerset, Ky. and followed a track that led to the arrest of Joe Low, Nelson Low, Shack Low, John Bunch, and Jeff Bunch, the newspaper reported. The possible motive for the shooting: Joe Low’s brother, Riley Low, had been killed several months earlier by a posse that included Frank Hughett. In fact, Hughett was identified as the man who killed Low, who was wanted on a charge of larceny for allegedly stealing a moonshine still.
The September shooting at Smokey Creek wasn’t the first time an attempt was made on Frank Hughett’s life in 1910. Three months earlier, in June 1910, he was shot and wounded in Oneida. When he fell, the would-be assassin fled the scene, believing he was dead. However, Hughett regained consciousness shortly thereafter and gave chase, though no one was ever arrested. Just days after he was shot and wounded, Hughett was poisoned with whiskey. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported at the time that Hughett “suffered much” in the second assassination attempt, but that he “is a man of great bravery and refuses to move away.”
Hughett had been a candidate for sheriff in the 1910 election.
Twenty years later, in June 1930, Sheriff Hughett’s son was also murdered. Reuben Lafayette Hughett was gunned down at Copper Ridge in Knoxville at age 43. He was a deputy U.S. Marshall. The suspect was named as Harrison Welch, who shot Hughett as he and other federal officers were serving a warrant that accused Welch of selling liquor. When they arrested Welch, the suspect asked permission to tell his wife he was being arrested. Hughett agreed and followed him into the house, where he was shot.
Reuben Hughett was also buried at Robbins Cemetery.
Frank Hughett was the second former sheriff of Scott County to be assassinated in a 13-month period. William J. Jeffers was killed from ambush at his Winfield home in August 1909.
Nelson Low, one of the men accused of shooting Hughett, was himself shot and killed by his brother, Harrison Low, during an argument on Nov. 7, 1911. Nelson Low was shot in the abdomen during the dispute. He was placed on a train to Harriman, then to Knoxville, but he died after undergoing surgery at Lincoln Memorial Hospital. A newspaper said that Harrison Low was threatening suicide. He died eight days later. His death certificate stated that he died of a shotgun blast. Nelson Low and Shack Low were brothers. They were first cousins of Riley Lowe.
Read More: Vengeance on the Sheriff (Murders in the Heartland)
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