Simon Pollard Hughes, Jr. (14 April 1830 - 29 June 1906) was a Democratic Governor of the State of Arkansas and an officer in the American Civil War.
Simon Pollard Hughes, Jr. was born in Carthage, Tennessee. He was educated at Sylvan Academy and Clinton College in Tennessee. Hughes moved to Arkansas in December of 1849.
In 1853 Hughes was elected Sheriff of Monroe County, Arkansas and served for two years.
He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1866 to 1867 and was a delegate to the 1874 Arkansas Constitutional Convention. Hughes was elected to the post of Arkansas Attorney General and served from 1874 to 1877.
Hughes was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1857 and started private practice in Clarendon, Arkansas.
During the American Civil War he was Captain of the 23rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army and later Lieutenant Colonel of Morgan's Texas Cavalry.
He practiced law and served as Attorney General of Arkansas. He was elected for two terms as Governor of the state in 1884 and 1886. In 1890 he was elected to the Arkansas Supreme Court where he served for 16 years.
He was elected Governor of Arkansas and was sworn in in January 1885. He was reelected in 1886. During his terms public executions were abolished in Arkansas and the sale of liquor was restricted.
In 1889 Hughes was elected to the Arkansas Supreme Court as an associate justice and served 16 years in this capacity.
Simon Pollard Hughes, Jr. died in Little Rock, Arkansas and is buried in historic Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock.
