David Hudson (pioneer)

Hudson was born in Branford, Connecticut, on February 17, 1761, the youngest child of David Hudson and Rebecca Fowler. Four years after his birth, his family moved to Goshen, Connecticut. According to a family legend, Hudson served as a drummer boy during the American Revolutionary War (which began in 1775, when he was 14). His service is unconfirmed, however, and his name does not appear in the Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army. There is also doubt about Hudson's claim that his property was "spent" at the hands of the British. If his land had been raided, he would have received a share of the Firelands, a tract of land given residents of Connecticut in compensation for war damages, and Hudson would probably not have later invested in and settled land in the Connecticut Western Reserve. On December 22, 1783, Hudson owned a substantial farm there. On October 10, 1795, Hudson bought $1,200 worth of stock of the Connecticut Land Company, owner of the Connecticut Western Reserve (a tract of land which was to be subdivided and sold). Religion According to Hudson, his early religious experiences shaped his later life. His father, a Presbyterian, became a Baptist when Hudson was nine. Six years later, his father became a Quaker. The elder Hudson's frequent changes of religion made his son a skeptic; Hudson claimed disgust with the "failings and immoralities" of "many professing Christians." Later, however, he cited the French Revolution as his religious "awakening". Hudson was repelled by the uprising's violence and disregard for life; in 1798 he proclaimed himself a "political Christian", and later a "speculative Christian". From then on, Hudson felt it his duty to lead a religious life. He was quiet about his beliefs, however: "My pride would not permit me to unburthen my soul to any living person. I hated company". In his writings, Hudson cited the principles of "morality, religion, law observance and education" which may have influenced his later actions, including the settlement of land in the west. == Establishment of Hudson ==

Travel in 1796 In 1795, the Connecticut Land Company bought land in Northeast Ohio, then known as the Connecticut Western Reserve. The parcel was divided into 129 townships, each measuring . Hudson bought a plot of land in the Reserve (township 4, range 10) in 1798 in partnership with a group including Birdsey and Nathaniel Norton, who provided three-fourths of the money for the purchase. Of the group, only Hudson left for the land with a small group of settlers (including his son Ira and employees Jesse Linsley and William McKinley), on April 22, 1799. The group reached Albany, New York, two days later, where Joseph Darrow was hired. They agreed to travel together by boat, On May 16, 1799, the group, consisting of Hudson, Darrow, Blin, McKinley and Tappan, traveled north to Lake Ontario. Departing in several boats from Oswego, they traveled west towards Lake Erie. Although Hudson anticipated that the trip would take less than a month, it took 56 days. Although ice on Lake Erie and the Buffalo River near Niagara Falls destroyed one boat, the group reached Cleaveland (present-day Cleveland, Ohio) on June 9, 1799. After purchasing more supplies, they set off down the Cuyahoga River. When Hudson returned to Cleveland, he found few settlers and no food to spare. There, Hudson obtained food and brought it back to the settlement. The following day Hudson, his son Ira and two other men returned to Goshen, Connecticut, Hudson's boat was leaky and the trip was difficult due to cold, inclement weather, On January 1, 1800, Hudson and his family left Goshen for the township, their new permanent residence. arriving on May 20. On October 28, Anna Hudson gave birth to Anne Maria, the first person born in the settlement. By the end of the year, Hudson's colony was the first established settlement in present-day Summit County. A few more settlers arrived in 1801, and in 1802 the settlement became officially known as Hudson Township. == Post-establishment ==

After establishing Hudson Township, Hudson played a significant part in the buying, selling and farming of land in his and neighboring towns. By 1808, he owned a total of of land in Hudson and Chester Townships. On this land Hudson grew hay, potatoes, corn and wheat, and managed hogs, oxen, cows, sheep and horses. He also provided accommodations for visitors to the town. Hudson was party to about 200 financial transactions, making him a prominent figure in the area. During this period, it was typical for employers to pay employees partially in whiskey. Hudson broke this tradition by declining to pay his workers with alcohol, to their disgruntlement. (At the time, use of alcohol was viewed much more negatively than it has been since the 1933 failure of Prohibition in the United States. Many called for it to be outlawed. To not pay with liquor would have been seen as progressive.) Hudson's home, built in 1805–06, was the first frame house in town. Two-and-a-half stories tall, it measured . In addition to housing Hudson's family, it was the town's first post office, tavern, and courtroom. The courtroom was used for trials heard by justice of the peace Arthur St. Clair, whom Hudson appointed in 1800 in one of his first actions after founding the town. Hudson served as the township's first postmaster, holding the office until he was removed from the position in 1829 after opposing Andrew Jackson in the 1828 presidential election. The house was also a frequent source of food and shelter for travelers, including fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad, due to the township's central location in the Western Reserve. David Hudson Jr., Hudson's son, recorded the names of hundreds of people who passed through the house in his diaries. Hudson's wife, Anna, gave birth to the last two of their nine children in the township. David Jr., the youngest, Anna Hudson died in August 1816. The following January, Hudson married Mari Robinson. == Notes ==