Big Thicket Area resident, James (Jim) Hughes Hardy, acknowledges that his mind tells him the most logical place for his family heirloom to be stored and displayed in would be a museum or archives. However, in his heart he feels the 135 year-old Confederate Infantry flag his ancestor, Needham Hughes, fought under in the Civil War should remain in the custody of the Hardy family.

He believes it should continue to be passed down from generation to generation, well into the Twenty-first century. "It's a treasure and it's authenticated by my grandfather's obituary; it gives me a sense of reverence when I look upon it and think about it," Hardy says. Hardy, 77, a local historian, is the grandson of Needham Hughes, a Civil War Veteran from the State of Alabama. He is the son of Ovide Hardy and Nannie Hughes Hardy who were settlers of Nacogdoches, Texas.

Hardy's grandfather, Needham Hughes, was born on October 10th, 1836, in Dale County, Alabama, near the cross roads town of Ozark. Near the outbreak of the War Between the States,at the age of 25, he volunteered his services in the first company, that of Captain W. T. McCall, which was made up in January, 1861. 75 men marched off together to the War from Ozark, Alabama. Subsequently,he became a member of Capt. Robert F. Crittenden's Company, which served with distinction throughout the Civil War in the 33rd Alabama Infantry Regiment. He was elected First Lieutenant of Co. "I" and subsequently was elected Captain of the Company.

This company followed Confederate Generals Bragg, Johnson, and Hood to the last day. When the Brigade of Lowery was surrendered in North Carolina, though but a Captain, Hughes was commanding the brigade and was occupying the position of Brigadier General. The Confederate soldiers were told to turn in their weapons, artillery, and flags. "Not willing that the flag of his regiment, which had floated over the heads of the boys in gray, should fall into the hands of the enemy", Hardy says, "my grandfather went off into the woods and secretly wrapped it around his body underneath his uniform. He brought it home with him, and kept it as a sacred relic of the great struggle upon the part of the South for independent existence."

Needham Hughes was said to be a man of bravery and great courage. "He had the impulse of a hero," Hardy says. In 1874 Needham Hughes was elected Sheriff of Dale County, Ala. He served one term to the entire satisfacton of the courts and the people. But he was never again a candidate for elective office. He became interested in other endeavors. He was, also, a Clerk in a dry goods store.

In l901 he moved his family to Nacogdoches, Texas, and became a farmer. He brought the Confederate Infantry flag with him to Texas. Although solicted to do so many times, he could not be induced to surrender the flag into the archives of the State of Alabama, in Montgomery. At the time of his death,at the age of 69, on June 8, 1905, the flag remained in the care and custody of his widow, Elizabeth Ann Dowling Hughes until her death on December 14, 1916. It then went to the care and custody of her son, Reverand Will C. Hughes, a Methodist minister. He had no sons. His widow left the flag with her three daughters, Juanita Hughes Phelps, of Beaumont, Gertrude Glasco, (decd.), and Louise Johnson, of Houston.

Approximately ten years ago Hardy requested the three daughters to consider passing the care and custody of the flag to him, and upon consideration, they agreed to do so. It was from Rev. Hughes' three daughters that the flag was passed down to Hardy. Hardy says his mother told him that her father referred to the flag as a "Bonnie Blue" Flag. He has been told the colors of the flag were navy blue with a white moon in the center with a white border trim. The colors, through the ensuing 135 years have faded to beige and greenish-gray. Hardy thinks the material is wool because of it being moth-eaten in several places. The flag, which is 35 inches by 31 1/2 inches, was kept wrapped in newspaper because newsprint at that time was thought to be moth repellant.

According to Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr.'s The Flags of the Confederacy it states:

The Hughes Family flag very definitely has all the characteristics of the design issued to General William J. Hardee. It was common practice for men of the Regiment to write the names of the Battles on their flag, and different companies may have had similarly designed flags.

Needham Hughes and his wife, Elizabeth, are buried in the Old North Church Cemetary, at Nacogogdoches, where the first Protestant sermon in the State of Texas was preached under an oak tree. They had eight children,four boys and four girls, one of which, Nannie Hughes Hardy, is the mother of Jim Hardy. Hardy is from a family of four boys and three girls. He is the only surviving male.

On April 27th of this year Hardy attended a family reunion in Alabama, of one branch of his mother's family, and there was a great deal of interest in the flag. "I was requested to bring it to the reunion in Alabama, which I did," Hardy states. "I made the remark at the time that it was the first time the flag had been back on Alabama soil in 95 years, having been brought to Texas in l901." The flag was the centerpiece of the whole reunion and there were dozens of photos made by family members with it. Family members are interested and would like care and possession of the flag to remain with them, and it will remain in the family, Hardy says. "My grandfather was sharp enough to outsmart the Yankees, and didn't surrender the flag at the end of the Civil War. I'm not going to be the one to surrender it now," Hardy states, with a hearty laugh. He knows, in his heart and soul, that the Confederate flag is home where it belongs--- with the Hughes Family---where it has been for all these many, many years.