James Lucillus Hughes

John Corbly Hughes (1804–1854) and his wife, Jane Washburn Hughes (1809–1876), were married in 1825. They had eight children: James Lucillus, Rowland, John Jr., William, Sonora, Daniel, Elizabeth, and Susan.

In 1849, John and Jane began their journey to California with their eight children. One day after leaving Independence, Missouri, their son James Lucillus returned to Missouri to marry his sweetheart, Mary Ann Wright, on May 5, 1849, in Mount Pleasant Township, Missouri. John and his family arrived in Ophir, California, on October 10, 1849, where they spent the winter mining.

John and Jane later purchased a ranch in Sacramento County, where they farmed and raised livestock. Their son Rowland purchased a ranch in Sonoma County near Sebastopol. In 1852, John and Jane also moved to Sonoma County and continued raising stock. John died there in 1854 and was buried in Macedonia Cemetery. In 1867, the land was deeded to the Methodist Church for use as a cemetery and church by his son Rowland and John’s widow, Jane.

In 1858, Jane Hughes and her son James L. Hughes moved to Redwood Valley. James continued farming and raising stock until 1865. James and Mary Ann had six children: Sarah Mary (1850), Martha (1852), George (1852), James (1857), and Frances (1861). Mary Ann died on December 17, 1861, following the birth of her daughter Frances. Mary Ann is buried in Redwood Valley. 

In 1865, James moved his family to Potter Valley, settling in Upper Potter where the Powerhouse now stands at the center of his ranch. He purchased 365 acres from John George Busch and also homesteaded hill land over the mountain and along Hale Creek.
James married Atlantic Ocean McGee on January 8, 1866. She was born on October 17, 1845, in Missouri. They had eight children, all born in Potter Valley: Rosa (1867), Richard (1869), Luella (1873), John (1877), Frank (1879), Otto (1882), Lucinda (1886), and Myrtle (1887).

Jane Hughes, James’s mother, passed away in Potter Valley on March 28, 1876, and is buried with her husband John in Sebastopol. James continued farming and raising livestock until his death in 1890.

After James’s death, his sons continued farming and helped their mother run the ranch. The property was divided among the children he shared with Atlantic, as James had previously settled with the children from his marriage to Mary Ann. Eventually, the land was divided among James’s sons after they bought out their sisters’ shares.

James’s brother Daniel also moved to Potter Valley and purchased 160 acres of hill land. James’s son Richard later purchased this property from his uncle Daniel and homesteaded additional land beyond Hale Creek along the Eel River to Tomki Creek. In 1920, Otto purchased Richard’s property, except for 160 acres.

Otto continued farming and expanded the ranch by purchasing the 520-acre Coble place and an additional 800 acres over the hill toward the Eel River in 1929. This brought the total to 1,700 acres, which he sold in 1962 to Woodward and Wilson—now part of McFadden Farms.
James Hughes died on January 14, 1890, in Potter Valley. Atlantic Ocean Hughes died on February 19, 1925, and is buried in Petaluma.

James’s children married into the Hopkins, McGee, Grover, Pickle, Starbuck, and Eddie families, among others. Numerous family members and descendants are interred at the Potter Valley Cemetery.