William Hughett

William Hughett (about 1793-1865) was the first Hughett of present-day Scott County. His son, John Hughett, was a justice of the peace for 44 years in the Robbins area. His grandson, Frank Hughett, served as sheriff of Scott County, and another grandson, Jasper Hughett, was the first postmaster at Hughett (Brimstone) and a prominent merchant in Robbins.

Biography

Born about 1793 in Virginia, William Hughett wound up in present-day Scott County. Online sources often place his birth in 1813. That is problematic because his oldest son, John Hughett, was born in 1824 — which would have made William only 11 at the time of his son’s birth.

This likely comes because a census enumerator recorded his age as 37 when the 1850 census was taken — or at least that’s how the cursive handwriting is interpreted. However, a census enumerator in 1860 recorded his age as 67, which would place his birth year as 1793.

William’s parents are sometimes said to be William T. Hughett and Catherine Corum, of Virginia. However, this could not be, because they were about the same age as William. It is possible that he was the son of William E. Hughett (1758-1837) and Elizabeth Goad (1767-1850). Elizabeth Goad was the daughter of Abraham Goad, who later moved to present-day Scott County.

William married Jane “Jincy” Jeffers (1808-1905), the daughter of James Gould Jeffers (1777-1860) and Rhoda Reed (or Roach, 1784-1860). Their children included John Hughett, Malona Hughett, Allen Hughett, Pleasant Hughett, William Alexander Hughett, Robert Hughett, and Pheriba Hughett. Another child may have been Bettie Hughett Robbins.

Adult Life

Little is known about William Hughett’s life. When the 1840 census was taken, he was living in Campbell County, Tennessee, with eight people under 20 living in his household. He lived in Scott County, Tennessee, in 1850. (Scott County was created from part of Campbell County in 1849.)

Hughett died about 1865, but it’s not known where he was buried. He last appeared in the 1860 census with his wife, Jincy, their daughter, Melona, grandchildren Polly and Rosey, and his father-in-law, James Jeffers.

Jincy died in 1905. It isn’t known where she was buried, either.