Hughes was noted for his hatred of Native Americans, and is said to have killed many in battle, and murdered several others.
[1] "He was as savage as a wolf, and he liked to kill an Indian better than to eat his dinner", said the wife of one of his descendants in 1902.
[2] McWhorter alleges a variety of familial relationships, but without primary evidence, asserting that his father was Thomas Hughes (who died April 1778)[2] and Jesse had a younger brother named Thomas (born 1769).
[8] Jesse and his family lived in a cabin on Hacker's Creek, near a stream that is now known as "Jesse's Run", located in present-day Lewis County, West Virginia See McWhorter's Chapter 23, "Genealogy of the Hughes Family" for more names.
It may have been named for him,[9][10] or for others of the same surname residing in the area during roughly the same time period.