Pioneer Information
Born into enslavement at Monticello in Albemarle County, Virginia, Hughes’ mother, Betty Brown, was the sister of Sally Hemings. Hughes was employed from the age of thirteen, working at various times in the nailery, tending to horses, and under the guidance of gardener Robert Bailey. Written records make note that Hughes excelled in each discipline.
Hughes married the enslaved cook Ursula Granger at an unknown date. Employed as the head gardener by 1806, Hughes was a key figure in shaping the estate’s day-to-day agricultural and ornamental gardens. Hughes is recognized as a frequent presence in Jefferson’s extensive written records. His involvement includes attending to the kitchen gardens, preparing oval flower beds of Jefferson’s design, digging the ha-ha between the central lawn and kitchen garden, clearing roads for the estate’s circulation, and even the blasting of rock for the construction of the Shadwell Canal on the Rivanna River, northeast of the plantation’s grounds.
Hughes dug Jefferson’s grave upon his death in 1826, and was granted an informal freedom by his daughter, Martha J. Randolph. After Jefferson’s estate was sold the next year, his wife and eight of their thirteen children were sold to different people, including a professor at the University of Virginia. Jefferson’s grandson Thomas J. Randolph later repurchased many members of Hughes’ family, intending to reunite them at his plantation. Hughes continued working as a domestic servant for relatives of Jefferson, residing with his great-granddaughter in 1856. He died at the age of 77.
