Trivial Trivia - taking trivia to new levels

[L Verge]

I did find that John Joseph Hughes and his family immigrated to Emmittsburg, Maryland, and that at the age of 20, young John was hired as a "gardener" at Mount Saint Mary's school (founded in 1808 and still in existence today as a university). I chose to put the word "gardener" in parentheses because I believe we are dealing with a little historical/cultural semantics.

My original source states that Hughes was a slave overseer in Maryland, and I believe that may well be accurate. Maryland and its Catholic Church were well-known as a slave holding state and institution. I suspect that young Hughes was a "head gardener," in politically correct terms for today, that oversaw the labors of the enslaved forces under him.

Hughes was a good friend of Seward dating back to days of New York politics as well as Thurlow Weed (who accompanied him on his European mission). Since I'm one of those who probably would not like Fernando Wood, I wonder how close he was with him?