Achilles Pugh was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, on March 10, 1805, the son of Thomas and Esther (Gatchell) Pugh. In 1809, his family moved to Harrison County, Ohio, where Achilles Pugh lived until about 1827, when he went to Philadelphia to work as a printer. In 1830 he moved to Cincinnati, where he lived until 1854. That year he moved to Waynesville, Ohio, a strong Quaker community in Warren County. He lived there until 1875, when he moved back to Cincinnati. He died there October 31, 1876. Pugh became well-known as a printer. Much of his business came from his Quaker connections. He printed the 1839 and 1854 editions of the Orthodox Indiana Yearly Meeting Discipline, as well as several Quaker memoirs and controversial works. He also printed Indiana Yearly Meeting minutes. In 1847 he began publishing the Western Friend, "Devoted to Religion, Morality, Literature, General News, and the Markets." It lasted only two years. His best-known undertaking was to serve as printer for James G. Birney's abolitionist journal, the Philanthropist. Twice in 1836 an anti-abolitionist mob invaded Pugh's office and destroyed his press in rage against Birney's sentiments. Pugh was also active in Quaker affairs. He served on numerous committees. In 1869 he headed a committee of investigations formed by the Associated Executive Committee of Friends on Indian affairs to visit various tribes in Kansas. In 1832 Achilles Pugh married Annamariah Davis (1806-1877), a fellow Orthodox Friend and a native of Campbell County, Virginia. She was also active in Quaker affairs.

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