Ezekiel Hughes

Ezekiel Hughes (22 August 1766 – 2 September 1849) was one of the earliest Welsh settlers in the Midwestern United States. Hughes, along with Edward Bebb, were the first Welsh settlers in Ohio. Historian Daniel Jenkins Williams said that Hughes and Bebb "were responsible for the first definite step westward on the part of Welsh emigrants."

Biography Hughes was born on 22 August 1766 in Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire, Wales, the son of Richard Hughes.

In July 1795, Hughes, his cousin Edward Bebb, George Roberts, and others left Llanbrynmair and walked to Bristol. On 6 August, they set sail for Philadelphia. They made landfall at Philadelphia on 25 October 1795 and stayed the winter. They then travelled down the Ohio River in a flatboat before eventually making it to Cincinnati. They squatted on the east bank of the Miami River, a tributary of the Ohio, while they waited for the government to survey the west bank of the river. Historian Daniel Jenkins Williams said that Hughes and Bebb "were responsible for the first definite step westward on the part of Welsh emigrants."

In September 1802, Hughes returned to Wales and married Margaret Bebb in May 1803. He then returned to Ohio but Margaret died within a year. She was buried in the first grave at Berea, Ohio. In 1805, Hughes was put in charge of planning a road from Miami River to Hamilton, Ohio. In 1808, he married Mary Ewing, a native of Pennsylvania, and had nine children. Hughes was the first justice of the peace in his district as well. He acquired a large amount of land, which he rented out. He built a chapel in 1822.

Hughes died on 2 September 1849. According to the Dictionary of Welsh Biography, he was a "great personal friend" of William Henry Harrison. They went to the same church.