HUGHES, Ralph Montague, was born November 16, 1895 in Clifton, Tennessee to William A. HUGHES an Lillian TAYLOR HUGHES. He graduated from high school at Frank Hughes College in Clifton. He attended the University of Tennessee and entered the United States Army in 1919.

In 1921, Mr. HUGHES, borrowed $6,000.00 and went to Arkansas to raise cotton. The price of cotton dropped from 31 cents a pound to 5 cents a pound and two years later he returned to Clifton broke.

He went to work for Mr. T. S. HASSELL, his uncle, in a general store. In 1924 Mrs. HASSELL backed his son, Tom F. HASSELL and Mr. HUGHES and the three went into the automobile business in Clifton. They did fairly well and opened a second dealership in Waynesboro.

According to Mr. HUGHES, the finest and most intelligent thing he ever did was marry Josephine PARKES of Lawrenceburg on September 22, 1927. They had three children: Betty Jo, born October 19, 1928; Ralph, Jr., born July 7, 1930; and William Harry, born October 10, 1940.

In 1939, Mr. HUGHES joined Mr. Tom F. HASSELL and Mr. Frank HASSELL, Jr. as a partner in the Hassell Lumber Company in Collinwood. Frank HASSELL, Jr. left the organization in 1941 and Mr. Jake NICHOLSON, Mr. Tom F. HASSELL’s brother-in-law, became a partner.

The lumber company became a corporation in 1944 under the name of Hassell & Hughes Lumber Company, Inc. Mr. NICHOLSON died in 1966 and Mr. HASSELL left the company at the end of that year. Mr. HUGHES remained active in the business until his death.

Mr. HUGHES worked very diligently toward developing forest fire protection for Wayne County specifically and Tennessee generally. He believed in, and was active in, educating the general public about the benefits of fire prevention. He was very proud of the fire protection and prevention effected in Wayne County.

Mr. HUGHES was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Waynesboro. He was for several years a member of the Board of Directors of the Peoples Bank of Clifton, First Federal Savings and Loan of Waynesboro and Hassell & Hughes Lumber Company, Inc. He served at various times as a Waynesboro City Commissioner and a member of the Wayne County School Board.

Ralph M. HUGHES died at Wayne County General Hospital on June 29, 1975. Mrs. Josephine HUGHES died October 20, 1984. Both were 79 at the time of their deaths.