Charles Hudson (November 14, 1795 – May 4, 1881) was an American minister, writer, historian and politician. Hudson served in both houses of the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

, on the

Massachusetts Governor's Council The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Council ...

, and as

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Early life

Hudson was born in

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

on November 14, 1795. Hudson was the son of Stephen Hudson, who served during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, having been captured and confined by the British in Philadelphia.

Education

Hudson attended the common schools and later an academy, taught school, served in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and studied theology. Hudson was ordained as a Universalist minister in 1819 and located in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, where he served as pastor for 20 years.

Public service

Hudson was elected a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

, where he represented the town of

Westminster, Massachusetts Westminster is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 8,213. History Westminster was first settled by Europeans in 1737, and was officially incorporat ...

from 1828 to 1833. From 1833 to 1839 Hudson represented Worcester County in the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

. In 1839 he became a member of the Executive Council, and served until 1841. He was a member of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. Hudson was elected as a Whig to the

Twenty-seventh Congress The 27th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., between March 4, ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Levi Lincoln Jr. Levi Lincoln Jr. (October 25, 1782 – May 29, 1868) was an American lawyer and politician from Worcester, Massachusetts. He was the 13th governor of Massachusetts (1825–1834) and represented the state in the U.S. Congress (1834–1841). Lin ...

Hudson was reelected to the Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirtieth Congresses and served from May 3, 1841, to March 3, 1849. Hudson was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1848 to the Thirty-first Congress, and moved to Lexington. Hudson lived in a large house on the town Common ("Battle Green"), about where the driveway of the Hancock Church is today. The house was moved to Belfry Terrace in the early 1900s. Hudson served as a

selectman The select board or board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms. Three is the most common numb ...

of Lexington from 1868 to 1875, and wrote a comprehensive history of the town, first published 1868. Hudson presided at the centennial celebration of the

battle of Lexington The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

in 1875, and delivered an address. He was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1844. From 1849 to 1853 Hudson served as a naval officer of the port of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Custom House, edited the

Boston Daily Atlas The ''Boston Atlas'' (1832–1857) newspaper of Boston, Massachusetts, was published in daily and semi-weekly editions in the mid-19th century. John H. Eastburn established the paper in 1832. Editors included Richard Hildreth, Richard Haughton, ...

for many years. Hudson was the assessor of Internal Revenue for the Sixth Collection District, 1864–1868. Hudson was reportedly a close friend of President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. Hudson was an author of religious textbooks.

Death and burial

Hudson died in Lexington on May 4, 1881. Interment was in Munroe Cemetery, on Massachusetts Avenue in that town.

Hudson, Massachusetts

The town of

Hudson, Massachusetts Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, with a total population of 20,092 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Before its incorporation as a town in 1866, Hudson was a ne ...

is named after Charles Hudson. Though many mistakenly believe that the naming of the town was the result of his gift toward the construction of a public library, in fact, the naming honor was granted prior to his offer. The town was established on March 31, 1866, and after being notified that the town had been named in his honor, Charles Hudson responded in 1867 with an offer to contribute $500 in matching funds toward the establishment of a new library.

Publications

* ''Letters to Rev.

Hosea Ballou Hosea Ballou D.D. (April 30, 1771 – June 7, 1852) was an American Universalist clergyman and theological writer. Originally a Baptist, he converted to Universalism in 1789. He preached in a number of towns in Vermont, New Hampshire, an ...

'' (1827) * ''Reply to Walter Balfour'' (1829) * ''History of Westminster'' (Boston, 1832) * ''Doubts Concerning the Battle of Bunker Hill'' (1857) * ''Historical Address at the Centennial at Westminster'' (1859) * ''History of Marlborough'' (1862) * ''History of Lexington'', with ''Genealogical Register of Lexington Families'' (1868) Hudson prepared congressional reports on the "Protective Policy," legislative reports on "Capital Punishment," "The Northeastern Boundary," and "The Incompetency of Witnesses on Account of Religious Belief," besides articles for periodicals and newspapers.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Charles 1795 births 1881 deaths Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts state senators Politicians from Marlborough, Massachusetts American newspaper editors Members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council Christian universalist clergy Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Politicians from Lexington, Massachusetts People from Westminster, Massachusetts 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court