Hugh Judge Jewett (July 1, 1817 – March 6, 1898) was an American
railroad executive and politician. He served in the United States House of
Representatives from Ohio’s 12th congressional district in the 43rd
United States Congress.
Jewett was born at Harford County, Maryland, but spent most
of his life in Ohio at Zanesville and Columbus. He
was the son of John Jewett and Susannah Judge. He was also the younger brother
of Joshua Husband Jewett, a United States
Congressman from Kentucky.
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 1848, he moved to Zanesville, where he formed a law
practice with John O'Neill, a member of Congress. He
also served as president of the Muskingum branch of the State Bank of Ohio in
1852. In 1857, he served as president of the Central Ohio Railroad Company and
organized the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis
Railroad Company as well as the Pennsylvania Railroad.
In 1852, he was presidential elector, and supported Franklin
Pierce for president. He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and
the Ohio State Senate. In 1860, he ran for Congress
and, in 1861, for Ohio Governor. He was a candidate for the United States Senate in 1863, losing
each time as a Democrat. From March
4, 1873, to June 23, 1874, he served as United States Representative from Ohio's 12th congressional district in
the 43rd United States Congress.
Jewett
resigned his seat on June 23, 1874, and moved to New York City in
order to become president of the Erie Railroad, 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. In 1884, he retired from the New York, Lake Erie and
Western Railroad and resided in New York City until his death.
On June 20, 1840, Jewett was married to Sarah Jane Ellis in
St. Clairsville, Ohio. Sarah was one of five daughters born to Judge Ezer
Ellis and Nancy McKinley. One of her sisters was married to Ohio
Governor Wilson Shannon, another to U.S. Representative William Kennon, another to Commissioner of
Indian Affairs George Washington Manypenny, and another
to Col. Isaac Eaton. Her mother was related to President William
McKinley. Together, they were the parents of four children
After his first wife's death in 1850, he remarried to Sarah
Elizabeth (née Guthrie)
Kelly in Putnam, Ohio, on April 10, 1853. Together, they
were the parents of three children. Through his daughter Sarah, he was the
grandfather of Julia Wainwright Robbins, the prominent actress
who appeared both on stage and in silent films.
Jewett died on March 6, 1898, at the Bon Air Hotel in Augusta,
Georgia. He was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Zanesville,
Ohio. The borough of Mount Jewett, Pennsylvania, is named for
him.