From "Biographical Memoirs of
Wells County,
Indiana," Logansport, B. F. Bowen, 1903, pp. 218-219.
HUDSON FAMILY.
Twenty-five Hudsons, among whom were five
Johns, came from
England and Ireland in the year 1600, the principal portion of this number landing in
Pennsylvania. They were given between three and four thousand acres of land for their transportation and taking allegiance to the old country. The
Johns aforementioned were distinguished from each other by John
Pond, John Delight, etc., according as they happened to live by a pond, or other appellations suggested by surrounding circumstances. They described their land as follows: "On north side of marsh of Wicomico." This is a sample of deed: "John
Hudson, 'John
Pond,' thirty-four acres, surveyed October 9, 1674, in
Dorchester county, on the north side of a marsh of Wicomico river." Dennis
Hudson, great-grandfather of the subject, was born in Ireland. Grandfather
Selby Hudson was a sea captain, commanding a vessel during the Revolutionary war. He was on his way to some point with a vessel loaded with soldiers, when he met vessels returning with the news that peace had been declared. He then moved to
Rochester county,
Maryland, where he lived for several years, still retaining the position of sea captain, and made his stopping place at his home at Snow Hill, from which place he removed to
Brown county,
Ohio. He constructed the first steamboat that was built at Cincinnati,
Ohio. He had two sisters, Margaret and
Hester Ann, and three brothers, Melvin,
Eli and Elihu;
Eli died in
Jay county,
Indiana.
Selby
Hudson was twice married. His first wife was Hettie Davis and to them were born two children who lived, Thomas and Katie Ann. His second wife was Elizabeth
Richardson, by whom he had several children. To both marriages were born twenty-two children. When
Selby Hudson came to Cincinnati,
Ohio, he moved his family there. James W. Hudson was born in
Maryland, his father later remvoing his family onto a farm in
Brown county,
Ohio, when James W., the father of the subject, was a small boy. Soon after his removal to
Brown county,
Ohio, James was sent on an errand to his uncle's. He started, wearing a new pair of trousers. It being a customary thing in those days to wear long shirts, he hung his trousers in a tree by the wayside and thus dressed in the usual costume for boys of the period, he continued his journey, performed his errand, and returning by the same way, he repossessed himself of the, what seemed to him, unnecessary part of his apparel which he had left hanging in the tree and wore them back home. Selby
Hudson died in
Clinton county,
Ohio, at the age of eighty years; James W. grew up on the farm in
Ohio, and there met and married Catherine Sharp, a daughter of Stockdale and Mary Sharp.
After his marriage James W. Sharp settled in
Ohio, where he remained until 1853 (1833?), when he removed to
Jefferson township, Huntington county,
Indiana. About 1883 he moved to
Wells County and lived virtually with
Wilson Hudson until his death. Catherine, his wife, died November 1, 1894, aged eighty-two years ten months and twenty-two days. James W. died August 19, 1899, aged eighty-seven years ten months and six days.
[poster is not related to this family and has no additional information]