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Rowland Hughes was tthe
son of John Corbly and Jane (Washburn) Hughs and he was the first male child
born in Greenton Valley ...he lived there until 1849 when the Hughes Family
crossed the plains along the Oregon Trail to California. They crossed the
Sierra on the Truckee Route and saw the effects of the Donner Party Camp high
in the trees where they had camped in the high snows. Rowland mined and then
bought the land which became known as the Hughes Ranch in Blucher Valley,
Sonoma County, California. He and Mary Jane gave
seven acres for a church and cemetery which was named Macedonia, and is located
just off the Gravenstein Highway #116. Rowland died 15 January 1903 in Santa
Rosa, and he and Mary Jane are buried in Macedonia Cemetery.
Rowland and Mary Jane had a beautiful ranch along
the Laguna which flows into the Russian River. There were large spreading oak
trees under which were ferns and beds of violets, Madrone trees (called
Matherone by the family), with their large shiny green leaves and smooth red
bark which when peeled reveals a cream colored layer, grew there as well as two
redwoods which Roland brought down from the redwood forests and planted. In the
Spring Lot, in the boggier places, native azaleas and tiger lilies grew. While
most of the ranch was pasture, there was an area of rich black sandy loam on
which unusually fine vegetables grew.
My mother, Julia Roleen (Hughes) Tweedt, lived with
her grandparents from the time she was a few months old. She said that she
never heard them say an unkind word to each other and that they were devoted.
She said that her grandfather was a very kind, soft spoken man; His favorite
Bible verse was well chosen: "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine
heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in Heaven, and though
upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." Ecclesiastes 5:2.
There was a time when
Rowland Hughes became very angry. Sabin Thrift squatted on part of the Hughes
Ranch. It happened that a road was put through the county and it cut off
acreage on the Hughes Ranch. Squire Delaney, their neighbor, had lost the same
amount of land onto the Huges side, so the men agreed to trade acreages. They
sent in their deeds, but Rowland's was lost. One rainy night about this time,
Sabin Thrift rode up in his wagon and asked Rowland if he might camp in his
lower pasture, that his wife was too ill to travel futher. Rowland gave him
permission and Thrift settled and never moved. He somehow had found out that
Rowland's deed was lost and that Rowland couldn't put him off the land. Rowland
Hughes had been a Forty-Niner and was an excellent shot; his family worried
about what he would do because they had never seen him angry before. However,
his common sense took hold and kept him from taking drastic action
Rowland Hughes was very tall and lean and had deep
set blue eyes. ...Their old age was saddened when Roland signed a note backing
a favorite nephew whose store went bankrupt. The Hughes lost property and a
great deal of money.
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