Returning to Omaha, he made preparations and in the spring of 1866, he brought his family out, but located temporarily on the Elkhorn River in Antelope County. They returned to Omaha in the fall of 1866 because they were not prepared to spend the winter on the prairie. In the spring of 1867, they came back, this time to Madison County. And in the fall went to Columbus for the winter of 1867-68.

Frank P. Hughes and family arrived in Omaha in the spring of 1868 and he established a Blacksmith shop there. The Philip Hughes family spent the summer of 1868 in Madison County and returned to Omaha in the fall of 1868.

In the spring of 1869, with a small reserve they had managed to accumulate, they came to Madison County to remain permanently. They reached the homestead on the Elkhorn River north of Battle Creek on May 4, 1869 and set about establishing themselves. They had four small children, the youngest, Jim Hughes, only about six weeks old. They built a small sod home near the river to be close to the water supply. Philip Hughes worked with sod breaking and any labor available until he was able to get a team and wagon of his own, and he then did "teaming" to Wisner and Columbus, which were railway terminals. He hauled small amounts of corn and wheat to be ground and any produce which the settlers had to sell, such as dressed wild turkeys, dressed venison, turnips, etc. to the towns and brought back flour, lumber, etc. More than once they took a heavy loss on perishable produce because of the change in weather.

In the spring of 1870, the Frank Hughes family came to Madison County and homesteaded a quarter section, two miles west of his brother, on the Elkhorn River. They had four small children, and the fifth, a baby girl, (Rose Hughes Donahoe) was born a few weeks after they arrived. Frank set up a Blacksmith shop and for a number of years did work for homesteaders over a large territory. The two Hughes families shared the experiences of their homesteading days very intimately. From the time they were established in Madison County, they wrote to friends and acquaintances further east and lauded the opportunities of this county and encouraged others to homestead. Among those who came through this encouragement were the Pat O'Neils, the John O'Neils, the Mannings, the Knipes and others.

As time went on the Hughes families were instrumental, with others of their faith, in getting the services of a priest for the colony of Catholic settlers, and established what is still known as St. Patrick's parish in Battle Creek. In the early '70's they built their first church on the property just east of Battle Creek, which Jim Orr, a son-in-law of Philip Hughes, had donated for a Catholic Cemetery. It has since served that purpose. This second church built by this group was on the site now occupied by their third church in Battle Creek. This last church was built in 1902. The second church building is the frame building on main street now occupied by Leonard Dufphey. It was moved to this location when the present church edifice was erected.

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