Representative Hugh Judge Jewett

Hugh Judge Jewett (July 1, 1817 – March 6, 1898) was an American railroader, lawyer, and Democratic politician who served as the United States Representative from Ohio’s 12th congressional district in the 43rd United States Congress. Born in Harford County, Maryland, he was the son of John Jewett (1777–1854) and Susannah Judge (1778–1853). He was the younger brother of Joshua Husband Jewett (1815–1861), who later served as a United States Representative from Kentucky. Although born in Maryland, Hugh Jewett spent most of his life in Ohio, particularly in Zanesville and Columbus, where he established himself in law, finance, politics, and railroading.

Jewett received his early education at Hopewell Academy in Chester County, Pennsylvania. As a young man he moved west to Ohio, where he continued his studies at Hiram College. He read law under James Black Groome—who would later become governor of Maryland—and was admitted to the bar at St. Clairsville, Ohio, in 1840. Soon after his admission, he entered into legal practice with Isaac Eaton, who later became a prominent lawyer in Kansas. On June 20, 1840, in St. Clairsville, Jewett married Sarah Jane Ellis (1819–1850), one of five daughters of Judge Ezer and Nancy (née McKinley) Ellis. Through this marriage he became connected to several notable Ohio families: one of Sarah’s sisters married Ohio Governor Wilson Shannon, another married Representative William Kennon, another married George Washington Manypenny, and another married Colonel Isaac Eaton. Sarah’s mother was related to future President William McKinley.

In 1848 Jewett moved to Zanesville, Ohio, where he formed a law partnership with John O’Neill, who himself served as a member of Congress. His professional interests soon expanded beyond the law. In 1852 he became president of the Muskingum branch of the State Bank of Ohio, marking his entry into banking and corporate management. That same year he served as a presidential elector and supported Franklin Pierce for president, reflecting his growing prominence within the Democratic Party. Jewett’s first wife, Sarah Jane Ellis, died in 1850. On April 10, 1853, in Putnam, Ohio, he married Sarah Elizabeth (née Guthrie) Kelly (1823–1901), the widow of Chauncey Regan Kelly and the daughter of Julius Chappell and Pamelia (née Buckingham) Guthrie. She was a descendant of several prominent colonial figures, including Thomas Welles, Chad Brown, and Abraham Pierson, further extending Jewett’s connections into established American families.

Jewett’s political career developed alongside his legal and business activities. A Democrat, he served in both the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio State Senate, participating in state-level legislative affairs during a period of sectional tension preceding the Civil War. He was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1860, for governor of Ohio in 1861, and for the United States Senate in 1863, though he was unsuccessful in each of these races. Nonetheless, these campaigns underscored his status as a leading Democratic figure in Ohio. In addition to his political pursuits, Jewett became increasingly involved in railroad development. In 1857 he served as president of the Central Ohio Railroad Company and played a key role in organizing the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad Company as well as in the development of the Pennsylvania Railroad, helping to build the transportation infrastructure that linked the Midwest with the eastern seaboard.

Jewett’s national political service came later in life. As a member of the Democratic Party representing Ohio, he was elected to the 43rd United States Congress and served from March 4, 1873, to June 23, 1874, as the United States Representative from Ohio’s 12th congressional district. His single term in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, in the aftermath of the Civil War and during Reconstruction, when issues of economic development, federal authority, and civil rights were prominent. During this time he contributed to the legislative process and represented the interests of his constituents in central Ohio. He resigned his seat on June 23, 1874, before the completion of his term, in order to accept a major corporate appointment in the railroad industry.

Following his resignation from Congress, Jewett moved to New York City to become president of the Erie Railroad, assuming the position in July 1874. Under his leadership, the company was reorganized as the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad. Jewett’s tenure as president, which lasted until October 1884, was marked by significant technical and operational changes, most notably the conversion of the railroad’s track from a 6-foot (1,829 mm) broad gauge to the standard gauge of 4 feet 8½ inches (1,435 mm) on June 22, 1880. This conversion facilitated greater interoperability with other rail lines and helped integrate the Erie system into the broader national rail network. His influence in railroad expansion is commemorated in the borough of Mount Jewett, Pennsylvania, which was named in his honor when the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad brought rail service to that area. After retiring from the railroad in 1884, Jewett continued to reside in New York City, remaining a figure of some prominence in business and social circles.

Jewett’s family life was extensive and closely intertwined with other notable American families. With his first wife, Sarah Jane Ellis, he had four children: John Ellis Jewett (1841–1895), who served in the U.S. Civil War and later married Emma Stevens and, subsequently, Bessie Jacobs; Mary Kennon Jewett (1843–1849), who died in childhood; George Manypenny Jewett (1845–1915), an inventor who married Helen M. Applegate (1849–1923); and Charles Clarence Jewett (1849–1879), who died unmarried. With his second wife, Sarah Elizabeth Guthrie Kelly, he had three additional children: William Kennon Jewett (1857–1935), who founded the London Gold Mines Company of Colorado, one of the largest gold-mining enterprises in the United States, and who commissioned Arden Villa in 1913 before marrying Elisabeth “Patty” Kyle Stuart (b. 1858) in 1881; Helen Pamelia Jewett (b. 1858), who married Thomas Hunt, son of Judge William Hunt, former U.S. Minister to Russia, in 1888; and Sarah Guthrie Jewett (1862–1939), who married Julian Wainwright Robbins (d. 1934). Through his daughter Sarah Guthrie Jewett Robbins, he was the grandfather of Sarah Jewett Robbins (b. 1890), a women’s suffragist who married John W. Minturn in 1910, then Van Rensselaer Choate King (1880–1927) in 1918, and later William Lawrence Marsh, as well as Julia Wainwright Robbins (1897–1955), a prominent stage and silent-film actress.

Hugh Judge Jewett died on March 6, 1898, at the Bon Air Hotel in Augusta, Georgia. His remains were returned to Ohio, where he was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Zanesville, the city that had long been central to his legal, political, and business career.