Hugh J. Jewett

Hugh Judge Jewett (July 1, 1817 – March 6, 1898) was an American railroader and politician. He served as the United States representative from Ohio's 12th congressional district in the 43rd United States Congress. He was the son of John Jewett (1777–1854) and Susannah Judge (1778–1853). He was also the younger brother of Joshua Husband Jewett (1815–1861), a United States Congressman from Kentucky.

Career He attended Hopewell Academy in Chester County, Pennsylvania, before moving to Ohio as a young man and attending Hiram College. He was admitted to the bar at St. Clairsville in 1840 after studying with James Black Groome, who later became Governor of Maryland. He formed a law practice with Isaac Eaton, who became a prominent lawyer in Kansas.

In 1852, he was presidential elector, and supported Franklin Pierce for president. which he served from July 1874 until October 1884. At the beginning of his tenure, the railroad was reorganized as the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad. On June 22, 1880, he led the railroad in converting from a broad gauge to standard gauge. In 1884, he retired from the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad and resided in New York City until his death.

Personal life On June 20, 1840, Jewett was married to Sarah Jane Ellis (1819–1850) in St. Clairsville, Ohio. One of her sisters was married to Ohio Governor Wilson Shannon, another to Rep. William Kennon, another to George Washington Manypenny, and another to Col. Isaac Eaton. who married Helen M. Applegate (1849–1923). who founded the London Gold Mines Company of Colorado, one of the largest gold mines in the United States. He commissioned Arden Villa in 1913. He married Elisabeth "Patty" Kyle Stuart (b. 1858) in 1881. Sarah Guthrie Jewett (1862–1939), who married Julian Wainwright Robbins (d. 1934).

Jewett died on March 6, 1898, at the Bon Air Hotel in Augusta, Georgia. He was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Zanesville, Ohio.

Descendants Through his daughter Sarah, he was the grandfather of Sarah Jewett Robbins (b. 1890), a women's suffragist who was married to John W. Minturn in 1910, Van Rensselaer Choate King (1880–1927), from 1918 until their divorce in 1923, and William Lawrence Marsh. He was also the grandfather of Julia Wainwright Robbins (1897–1955), the prominent actress who appeared both on stage and in silent films.