DNA BREAKTHROUGH ON HUDSON LINE: William Hudson (b. ca 1827, VA - d. ca 1887, Villa Ridge, Ill)

The "brickwall" that was William Hudson born circa 1827 in Virginia and who died ca 1887 in Pulaski Co., Illinois, married Emily Jane Cain and  had son Louis Hudson, daughter Millie Hudson James and was a step-father to Emily's son, Thomas Benjamin Cain, now has some bricks knocked out and daylight is coming inside the murky places.

A close DNA return between this man and a Silas Beverly Hudson born July 1834 in Virginia and who died in 1908 in Howard Co., Missouri was a key.

I had made his father unknown and took a guess based on other returns that his grandfather was David Hudson Jr and Elizabeth Gentry Hudson.

As a result, both David Jr and his father David Hudson Sr. and wife Keziah Plunkett Hudson, also came up, followed closely by his father Rush Hudson.

Searching through the potential fathers for William ruled out some sons of David Hudson Sr. (for instance William Oliver Hudson who was born 1828 in Culpeper Co., Va and died before 1870 , probably in Perry Co., Alabama based on court records related to his surviving daughter Aurelia Hudson Ogeltree).

I found Silas B. Hudson in several places and it became apparent that there were two Silas B. Hudson's (one was in Missouri at the time the other was still in Culpeper Co., Va.) The Silas B. Hudson in 1850 in Rappahannock Co., Va was a Thomas wife presumed wife Sarah and a daughter named Tennessee E. Hudson. Rappahannock and Culpeper are neighboring counties in the time and several sons of David Hudson had settled there to establish their own large families. Later records indicate that several lines of Hudson will marry 1st to 2nd degree cousins repeatedly over several generations. Many are linked to a specific congregation in Virginia where many found spouses as well.

I suspect that, if the degree of closeness between William and Silas is as close as suggested that there may be a first wife to Thomas or he is the product of another close marriage and his parent or parents died resulting in him being fostered out among other family members or taken elsewhere with other kin. Here is where those with deeper and closer readings on the DNA will need to explore to provide more precise kinship.

I found that one son of David Hudson Sr. was William P. Hudson who went into Ohio Co., Kentucky and named a son Louis or Lewis and another son of David Sr. was Martin Hudson who apparently lived with this son of Wm P. in that local as an elderly man. A young William Hudson, perhaps traveling with these families may have made his way further west, just as Silas will to be in Boone Co., Mo on the 1860 census with a wife and two small children.

HUDSON: A THEORY

The port of New Orleans 1820-1873 reveals that some Hudson men traveled that route. Are they the same man or several men? Did they settle into Louisiana or move further north following the river?

1847. Nov. 9, 1847 aboard the "HAVANA", a William Hudson, 23,merchant, from Great Britain (many of these ships originated in Liverpool)

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1849. 20 Oct 1949. "EUPHEMIA".  William Hudson, 25, England, servant to a Mr. McCoy. Set sail from Liverpool.

(New Orleans Passenger Lists, Quarterly Abstracts, 820-1875)

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1850. William Hudson, 25, farmer, English. aboard the "FLORIDA", departed Liverpool, arrived 6 June 1850, S, born ca 1825.

(New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1813-1963)

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The U.S. Register of Patients at Naval Hospitals, 1812-1934, vol 08 (1830-1861) showed the following:

1845.William Hudson (line #250), 18, "land" role on the ship, "JAMESTOWN" suffering from "rubeola" July 13, 1845.

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In Evansville, Vanderburgh County, IND, 20 March 1840 a Susannah BROWN married a William HUDSON.

1850:

Rapides. Louisiana. Nov. 1850. A William Hudson, b 1827, Va working as a carpenter on a construction site.  Cannot clearly locate him in 1860.

Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND. 

A William HODSON, b 1798, England.

A John HODSON, b. 1800, England

Pulaski County, ILL

A Robert HUDSON, 26, b. Engl farmer b.1824

A William HUTSON, 19 born ILL

1851: a William Hudson, aboard the "JANE"

1853: A William HUDSON, aboard the "

1857: A William HUDSON aboard the 

1858

Evansville, IND, a John HODSON, dray, 

1860:

Evansville, IND, a John HUDSON, 1819, England, Pigeon Twp.

Pulaski Co., ILL, a Robert HUDSON, b. England, wife Jennette, son Louis

ILLINOIS, Moses HUTSON, 56, b. KY

Union Co., ILL, John W. HUDSON (later records for Union Co will seem to favor HUTSON and HODSON spellings)

Pulaski Co., ILL, Wm HUTSON b. IND

1865:

Jacobsville, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, a Wm HUDSON, Butcher

Lamasco, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, a Wm T HUDSON, U.S. Army

1866:

Lamsco, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, John W. HUDSON, farmer

Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND. , Wm HUDSON, laborer

Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, Edmund HUDSON, tinner

Pulaski Co., ILL. a John HUDSON md a Harriet RINGGOLD

1867:

Evansville, Vanderburgh Co., IND, John HUDSON, dray

Jacobsville, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, Wm Hudson, dray

1868:

Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, July Wm Hudson md Emily Jane Kane (Cain)

Jacobsville, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND. Wm Hudson, bds Tohills (a business)

Lamasco, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, Wm Hudson

Lamasco, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND. Wm Hudson, dray

Lasmasco, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND. John W. Hudson, farmer

1869:

New Orleans port. Wm HUDSON, mechanic, sailed on the "HENRY CHAUNCEY" steamship. (Note one of his grandsons, son of Louis Hudson, will be named "Herbert Chauney Hudson". Is this a coincidence?)

1870:

Pigeon Township, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IN. Wm Hudson, lab (with wife Emma and son Louis)

Division Str. Evansville, Vanderburgh, IN. George Hudson, lab

Jacobsville, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IN, John Wm HUDSON, at Tohill's

Jacobsville?, Wm HUTSON, b 1825, England

? , a James HUTSON,46,  b ILL

Pulaski Co., ILL, a Zach HUDSON, 1846, Al (African American; wife Texana Pierce)

Pulaski Co., ILL, a John HUDSON, 49. AL (African American?)

Division Street, Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, a George HUDSON. 1845, Ohio

Pulaski Co., ILL, a Robert HUDSON, 29, b England (wife Jennette, son Louis)

Alexander County, ILL, a Daniel HUDSON, 1842, IL

Lamasco, Evansville, Vanderburgh Co., IL, a John HODSON

Lasmasco, Evansville, Vanderburgh Co., IL, a John W. HUDSON, farmer

Lasmasco, Evansville, Vanderburgh Co., IL, a Wm T HUDSON, dray

[of note to line of Wm Hudson and Emily Jane Cain Hudson, is a listing for her mother, Millie PARKER, widow, on 1st Ave. This reflects that her husband, Josiah PARKER, had died previously to this date and she is found on a 1868 directory listings, again as a widow. In 1870, nearby, lives her half brother Thomas Benjamin CARTER and her brother William James CAIN).

1871:

Alexander Co., IL, a Isaac B. HUDSON md a Carrie SAGE, Isaac was born in Ga and worked on a cotton plantation in the county.

1872:

Pine Street, Evansville, Ind, a Wm T. HUDSON, dray

Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, a Robert Hudson, lab

1876:

Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, a Wm Hudson, dray

1878:

Evansville, Vanderburgh, IND, a Wm T HUDSON dray

1880:

Cairo, Alexander Co., ILL, an Isaac B HUDSON, Carrie, Hope, Ruth, Robert W., Isaac Jr.

Mound City, Pulaski Co., ILL, a Wm HUDSON, wife Emily, son Louis, daughter Millie, and step-son Thomas Benjamin CAIN.

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Villa Ridge, Pulaski Co., ILL, a grave for a John HUDSON, 15 Nov 1853 -22 Nov 1902.

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1886:

Villa Ridge, Pulaski Co., IL, a receipt made out to the brother of Emily Cain Hudson (Thomas Benjamin CARTER) for a plot in the Cairo City Cemetery. It is theorized this is when Emily died. On the 1880 census she was listed as having suffered from bilious fever, a term that can include malaria and other severe fevers and illnesses)

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1888

Villa Ridge, Pulaski Co., IL, a news article appears related to an incident of about 29 Dec 1887 in that locale where a William Hudson, was hit in the head by a branch he was cutting down and concussed. He was alive but it theorized he died from his injuries based on his disappearance form local records.

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1889

Pulaski Co., IL, Louis Hudson md Victoria Waters. Louis probably had care of his younger sister Millie HUDSON and his older half-brother Thomas Benjamin CAIN may have lived with them as well for a time. 

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1890:

Villa Ridge, Pulaski Co., IL, Louis and Victoria Hudson have son Jesse Hudson. The next two children have birth places of Cairo so about 1894 they may have moved into Cairo.

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1900-02:

Cairo, Alexander Co., IL, Millie HUDSON marries E.C. JAMES. They will live all their lives in Cairo, most of it on Washington Street. At one time, E.C. James managed a saloon and they lived upstairs.

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1900:

Cairo, Alexander Co., IL. Victoria HUDSON, listed as keeping a boarding house, labels herself a widow (indicating the marriage to Louis had already broken down; Jesse will be found on the 1900 census with her parents and siblings; it is possible that Louis Eugene Hudson with other, unknown relatives, as he is not found on the 1900).

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1904:

Cairo, Alexander Co., IL. Louis HUDSON is staying with his half-brother and his wife in Cairo (Thomas Benjamin and Rose or Anna Brown CARTER).

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1905:

Cairo, Alexander Co., IL, Dec Louis HUDSON remarries Cordelia HOLMES.

Clay County, Arkansas, Victoria Hudson remarries Albert EASLEY.

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1910:

Cairo, Alexander, ILL,  Louis HUDSON is listed with his new family.

New Madrid Co., MO, Victoria and her new  husband are listed with a "Jesse Easley" that is no doubt Jesse HUDSON with a wrong age attached.

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1914:

Cairo, Alexander, IL. Jesse HUDSON, living in Poplar Bluff, Butler Co., MO returns to marry widow Effie Algerty Ray Conner. He will return to Poplar Bluff, establish a home with her two children, have a son of his own.

1917:

Okmulgee County, Oklahoma. Jesse HUDSON and  his family, in a wagon pulled by the mule team he used in  his teamster business, trek from Butler Co., Mo to eastern Oklahoma to work in the forest business but soon move into hauling heavy equipment for the lucrative oil field industry. They have a daughter who dies that summer and is buried in Okmulgee.

1920:

St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, Louis HUDSON is listed with his new family.

Okmulgee, Oklahoma, Jess Hudson is boarding in a home in town, elsewhere in town is his mother in law, Harriet Rowe Ray. It is believed that Effie was staying with on of her siblings in the area of Okmulgee or Henryetta.

1924:

Bristow, Oklahoma, Jess and Effie HUDSON have youngest son, Curtis Ray HUDSON.

1929:

Bristow, Oklahoma. Jess HUDSON, now working for a pipeline company, is called out to a problem near the entrance to the city park one Sunday morning, he and his crew began work and as he attempted to remove a cap on a line, the line exploded, sending him 12 feet and killing him almost instantly. His step-son was one of the crew that day and was a witness.

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A close examination of who was where and when may no doubt help to clarify the travels of the William Hudson of 1880 Mound City, Pulaski Co., ILL.  Knowing where and when his family occupied geographic space may also help to pinpoint crucial information and establish, along with DNA studies, a specific place of origin and parents of that same William.

The idea that he might have come to New Orleans, as a U.S. citizen working and traveling to England, and then traversed the Mississippi to scout out lands in the 1860's when another man from England is Pulaski Co., ILL  and in Vanderburgh Co., IND.  Then, returned to the larger Evansville to work and marry from about 1865 to 1875 before migrating into Pulaski Co., ILL. makes some sense.

His daughter Millie Hudson James, will answer to the census taker that her father was born "at sea", William will say "Virginia" and "England", and a grandson will have a middle name reflecting a ship a William Hudson sailed on in 1869.

It is an interesting idea to follow and since it also supplies some reasons for those census answers, it may be worth a closer look. 

MYSTERY MAN: WILLIAM HUDSON (C1827 - CA 1910?)

Hopefully, DNA will help clear up this family dead end. Since most Hudson groups have chosen to keep their discoveries in that area under wraps (unlike so many others and we thank them for their contributions to connecting families for those facing long strong brick walls by making their ancestors - several generations back- available through various DNA projects).  For now, however, he is a true mystery. Can you help connect the dots?

Note, recently people have attempted to connect this man with the family of Abner and Elizabeth Mason Hudson. Records, however, indicate this man is NOT William Oliver Hudson, son of that couple. He died in Alabama in the late 1860's. 

"OUR" William Hudson: His "known" family include a wife Emily Jane Cain (who may have also used the name Emma and her mother's first husband's name of Carter). Children: Louis Hudson, Millie Hudson James.

Timeline of this William Hudson:

c1827 –

Date generally associated with his birth via census records. His children will generally answer he was born in Indiana, on the 1880 census he will say Virginia, and (if it is him on the 1870) census he says England. His daughter on one census further confuses the issues by saying he was born ‘at sea’.

Evansville, darker area is Pigeon Twp.

1830 – unk

1840- unk

1850 – unk

·Although there is an older William Hudson in Vanderburgh Co., Indiana where ‘our’ William will marry in 1868, there is no known connection between them other than locale. Our William might have had a 'first' family but no clear indication other than his age at the time he marries in 1868. He is, apparently, not the "William T. Hudson" listed as drayman due to the fact that man remains in Evansville.

·In Alexandria, Rapides, Louisiana , there is A Wm Hudson b 1827, single, carpenter, b. Va (Note later listing of work in a bed manufacturing business in Evansville). Anyone, no known relations; pure grasping at straws!

1860-

1863 -City Directory

·The Evansville City Directory for this year lists no William Hudson (however there are several Hodson and these will be listed on and off again under both names).  .

1861-65 – Military Service in Civil War?

·If he was born in Virginia, he may have served and then post war gone ‘west’ – landing in Evansville, Vanderburgh Co., Indiana – a Mississippi port city- would not have been strange.

1868 – Marriages Emily Jane Kane (believe the spelling of her name was Cain)

·July he marriages this woman, daughter of Lewis Cain and Millie Greer Carson Cain Parker , in the same place at this time may also be her step-brother Thomas Benjamin Carter, and William Cain. The Benjamin/Thomas Benjamin Cain labeled her stepson, could be the child of a brother as one seems to disappear.

· City directory lists a widow, Millie Parker (believe this to be Emily’s mother).

1870- Census - Evansville, Vanderburgh, Ind.

·Shows a Wm Hudson (says born England), with wife Emma, and son Lewis. From other documents, Emily may have sometimes gone by the name “Emma” and may have sometimes used the last name Carter. (The death record for her son Lewis/Louis Hudson calls her Emma Carter).

·He might have answered England to hide his southern roots, some men did this in the post civil war days.

·This same census also shows in Pigeon Twp, Vanderburgh, Ind. Thomas Benjamin Carter, William Cain (Kane) and Millie Parker. With them is a small child Benjamin Cain (Kane).This is her step brother, her brother and her mother. The child may be Emily’s or may be the child of a brother (one is unaccounted for and may have died in the Civil War).

· City directory for that year : City Directory (pg.159) lists one Wm Hudson, laborer at bed manuf John Tohill, Jacobsville ( a town within Evansville proper).

1880 – Census / Mound City, Pulaski Co., IL

·Listed is William (b. Va), wife Emily, daughter Millie, and son Lewis. Also, is Benjamin Kane, identified as step-son (i.e., Thomas Benjamin Cain).

·The belief was Emily had married a Kane (Cain) but then once her parents were identified it was clear her mother, Millie Greer, had married 1) Cullen Carter, 2) Lewis Cain, 3) Enoch Sailes/Sales 4) Josiah Parker. Note the naming pattern at work.  Benjamin, whose name appears to have been Thomas Benjamin Cain, may have been Emily’s illegitimate son, or what may be more likely, the son of a brother who died. Emily may have then assumed the oversight of the child when her mother died. Her brother Thomas Benjamin Carter buys a cemetery plot in 1876 in the ‘Mechanicsville’ Cemetery – which may refer to an area in old Evansville. No records of death or burial have been found.

·Pulaski or Alexander Co., Illinois /Family appears dispersed by 1900 so he and wife may have died between 1880 census and 1900 - when they have not been located. His wife's brother buys a cemetery plot in Pulaski Co., but no record found of a grave with names associated with the group. The plot numbers seem difficult to track. Several people known to have been buried in this area (from their death certificates) do not appear in indexes or on databases such as 'Find-a-Grave.' A story of one of his descendants indicates he died in Cairo, IL in 1910.

1890 – Unknown

1900 -Unknown

1910 - Story from one of his descendants indicate he died in Cairo, Alexander, Ill in 1910.