Haldain Bayne Hughes (1871-1923)

Portrait from the Canonsburg, Pennsylvania "Daily Notes", July 14, 1919.

  During a brief life that extended just 51 years, Haldain Bayne Hughes carved a career as a leading figure in the Washington County, Pennsylvania bar. A practicing attorney for over two decades, Hughes was elected as the inaugural holder of the office of President Judge of the Washington County Orphan's Court in 1919 and continued until his unexpected death four years later. A lifelong Washington County native, Haldain Bayne Hughes was born in Amwell township, Pennsylvania on August 15, 1871, the son of James and Sarah (Bayne/Bane) Hughes.  One should note that Hughes' middle name has a variation in spelling, being given as both Bayne and Bane.

  Young Haldain was a student in schools local to Washington County and in 1887 graduated from the Washington High School. Shortly thereafter he enrolled at the Washington and Jefferson College, and, following his graduation in 1892, turned his attention to law studies, reading law in the office of future Washington county judge James Franklin Taylor. Hughes was admitted to the bar in 1895 and in January of the following year joined with his brother Blanchard in establishing the law firm of Hughes & Hughes, continuing until his election as orphan's court judge. 

  Appointed to the Washington County Board of Law Examiners in 1909, Hughes married two years later to Charlotte Martin, to who he was wed until his death. The couple's union was childless. In 1912 Haldain Hughes was elected as president of the Washington County Bar Association and was reelected the next year. Acknowledged by his contemporaries as having "studiously observed the ethics of his profession", Hughes led an active life outside his profession and was a leading club-man in his state, holding memberships in the Washington County Golf and Country Club, the Union and Republican Clubs of Pittsburg, and between 1922 and 1923 held the presidencies of both the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and the county's Kiwanis Club chapter. Sources also denote Hughes as a leading mason, holding memberships in several masonic lodges in both Washington County and Pittsburgh.

  In July 1919 the Pennsylvania State Assembly passed legislation that provided for an additional judge for the state's 27th judicial district, under the title President Judge of the Orphan's Court of Washington County. One of several counties in the state with a similar judicial office, the court would oversee the claims of orphaned children and any rights they had to a deceased family member's estate.  With the creation of this court, preparations were made for the election for the judge of that court, and in short order, Haldain Hughes entered into the race to be the inaugural holder of that office.

  The state election of November 1919 saw Hughes elected as President Judge of the Orphan's Court, and he entered into his duties on January 5th of the new year. Hughes' time on the bench proved to be brief, as he died in office on June 15, 1923, at age 51. He was survived by his wife Charlotte and was interred at the Washington Cemetery.

Hazlewood Power Farish (1880-1958)

Portrait from the Official and Statistical Register of Mississippi, 1908.

    A practicing attorney for over five decades, lifelong Mississippi native Hazlewood Power Farish was for many years at the forefront of legal and political circles in both Issequena and Washington County, being elected as a state representative and senator from that county before he turned thirty years of age. Late in his life, Farish achieved further prominence when he was selected as the President of the Washington County Bar Association in 1951.

   Born and raised in the Issequena County town of Mayersville, Hazlewood P. Farish was born on September 14, 1880, one of five children born to Confederate Army veteran Robert Davis (1845-1900) and Caroline Power Farish (1855-1918). Inheriting his unusual first name courtesy of his grandfather, Hazlewood M. Farish (died 1851), Hazlewood Power Farish began his education in the public school system of Mayersville and would later attend the Jefferson Military College in Washington County, Mississippi. In the late 1890s, Farish enrolled at the University of Mississippi's Law School (graduating in the class of 1899) and shortly thereafter entered into practice in Mayersville.

  Within a few years of beginning his practice, Hazlewood Farish entered county politics, becoming secretary of the Issequena County Democratic Executive Committee. He would later serve as the attorney for the Issequena County Board of Supervisors beginning in 1903.

                                         Farish's senior class portrait from the 1899 Ole Miss Yearbook.

  

     On November 14, 1906, Hazlewood Farish married in New Orleans to Mildred Lillard (1880-1907), who died several months after their marriage in June 1907. Farish would later remarry to Sarah Lafon Hunt (1885-1966), with whom he would have two daughters, Elizabeth (1913-1989) and Sarah Hunt Farish (1917-2002).

   In November 1905 Farish was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives from Issequena and served during the house session of 1906-07. In 1907 he was elected to the Mississippi Senate for one term (1908-1912) and during his service held seats on the senate committees on the Judiciary, Public Education, Claims, Corporations, and Levees. Following his brief tenure in state government, Hazlewood Farish returned to practicing law, eventually removing from Mayersville to Greenville around 1910. After his resettlement, Farish took on the post of attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad and later was a member of the Greenville-based law firm of Farish, Keady, and Campbell. He would also serve as the city attorney for Greenville and as the attorney for the local Levee Board.

   In December 1951 the then seventy-one-year-old Farish was selected as the President of the Washington County Bar Association, succeeding outgoing president Holland O. Felt. Active in numerous fraternal organizations in his home state, Farish was a Scottish Rite Mason, a past Chancellor Commander of the local Knights of Pythias Lodge, and a past president of the Greenville Rotary Club. Farish died at age 77 on January 17, 1958, and was survived by his wife and two daughters. Following their respective deaths both Hazlewood and his wife Sarah were interred at the Greenville Cemetery.

       Hazlewood Farish, from the December 10, 1951 edition of the Greenville Delta Democrat Times.