John H. Hughes 1830s-1850s Western PA

My brick wall for the past 30 years has been with my g-g-grandfather, John H. (middle name was either Henry or Harry) Hughes, born ca. 1833 in Pennsylvania (perhaps from the Pittsburgh area). Some time in the late 1850s, he left PA on a flatboat or a raft and traveled down the Ohio River to Lawrence County, Ohio (near Ironton) where he worked as a furnace hand with the pig iron furnaces that were a major industry there at the time. He married Samantha Susan Angel in Lawrence County, Ohio on March 25, 1860 and had six children with her before he died ca. 1874. He and Samantha were living with her family at the time of the 1860 census. The 1870 census indicates that his parents were not of foreign birth. Oral family tradition has it that his ancestors came from Wales, but the timeframe is unknown. Any information on John's ancestry would be greatly appreciated.