John HUDSON, 1735-1789, Pennsylvania, USA

John HUDSON, occasionally written as Jonathon, was born approximately 1735 in Churchtown, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He is my 4th great-grandfather through my mother's KUHN line.

John was the eldest of five sons and 2 daughters of Nicholas HUDSON & Jean/Jane BOWEN, all born in Churchtown, PA.  His father Nicholas, grandparents George and Margaret and other family emigrated to Pennsylvania from Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire, Wales, likely between 1720-1734. Several of these family members have already been written up - use the search tool on the right to find more information on the HUDSON, BOWEN, and MORGAN families in Pennsylvania.

On 20th of June 1768, in St. James Episcopal Church, Lancaster, PA, John married Mary MORGAN, the second daughter of Col. Jacob MORGAN Sr. [photo above, free of copyright]

John owned over 300 acres of land in the county, as well as 3 acres in the township of Caernarvon, less than 2 miles from Churchtown.

He and Mary had 7 children:
   1.  Rachel M., b. 19 Mar 1769, d. 29 Apr 1849 Pottsville, Shuylkill, PA;
            m. 25 Aug 1794 to Morgan A. Lewis [1771-1843]; 9 children
   2.  Jacob B., b. abt 1772, d. 1823 PA; m. 1798 to Elizabeth Porter.
   3.  Nicholas, b. abt 1773, d. 1851 PA; m. 25 Sep 1793 to Elizabeth
            McAnnully.
   4.  Rebecca, [ancestor] b. 16 Mar 1777, d. 10 Feb 1844 PA;
            m. 17 Jul 1797 to Edward McCABE [c.1767-1814]; 3 children
   5.  Jonathan, b. 30 Mar 1781, d. 1820; m. Sarah Williams; no information
   6.  Sarah, b. 6 Sep 1783; no information
   7.  George, b. 16 Nov 1785; m. 11 Sep 1808 to Anna Williams.

Between March 1777 and March 1880, John fought in the Revolutionary War against the British troops. He fought with the Berks County soldiers, in his brother-in-law Capt Jacob Morgan Jr's company.

In September 1789, John died in Caernarvon, aged 54. The cause of his sudden death meant he had no will, and died intestate. A bond was required, and a full inventory of his belongings - not land - were valued at £65. 8, 11. I was sad to see 1 Negro man [no description] was listed along with other farm items and was valued at only £1. 2, 6.

His wife Mary died only 6 years later, aged 47.  Again, this is a very young age to die, and the family was fairly well off, so perhaps there was disease in the region. I have no information on cause of death, nor a will for Mary. I would expect there should be bonds and perhaps a guardian assigned as the several youngest children were not yet of age.

More research in the Wills/Probate/Guardians files is needed to clarify what happened to his lands and belongings after John's sudden death, followed by Mary's death. And obviously I will be searching more information on their children's lives as adults.

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 If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

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Nicholas HUDSON c.1712 - 1780, Wales to Pennsylvania

Nicholas HUDSON born approx 1712 in Pembrokeshire Wales, was the second son of George HUDSON, the immigrant, who has been written about previously: [click on link]  

Nicholas is my 5th great-grandfather, the 6th for my children, and the 7th for my grandchildren.

Nicholas' brothers and his own sons seem to have what I would consider as "English" names for the times: Charles, George, John, William, Edward. However, the family definitely seem to have left from Pembrokeshire in Wales to New England after 1720-1730, settling in Caernarvon, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with a number of other Welshmen. Pembrokeshire is the extreme lower eastern part of Wales, as seen on the map here.

The name Hudson is sometimes written as Huttson, by the way. Hudd is apparently a 'pet' name for Hugh, so this is a patronymic surname for 'Hugh's son,' i.e., Hudd-son.

There is a wonderful clear hand-printed map of Caernarvon landowners, drafted in 1834, of the early settlers/land-owners purchases of land in the new township from 1718 onwards. It may be found in the PA Archives, although it's mildly challenging to find - email me and I can send you a PDF of it. [contact info at very bottom of page]. The HUDSON men were in the group of first settlers in Caernarvon, and their names can be found in a number of land plots on this map. Note snippet of the map to the left. Details of Warrent, Survey, Patent dates are quite clear as you can see. One of Nicholas' land patents is at the top, John Bowen's in the middle of this snippet.

In about 1734 [no record found as yet], Nicholas married Jean BOWEN, daughter of John & Elizabeth BOWEN. John BOWEN was one of the first settlers in Caernarvon PA, along with the Hudson family members, and many others who married into our family.

Nicholas and Jean's children were the following, b. in Caernarvon township region:
   1.   John [ancestor], sometimes referred to as Jonathan, b abt 1735,
             d. Sep 1789; m. Jun 20, 1768 to Mary MORGAN; 7 childen
   2.   George, b. 1738
   3.   William, b. 1740
   4.   Elijia/Elijah, b. 1743, d. 1820; m. Jan 2, 1785 to Ann ____, at Little
              Conestoga, Chester, PA, 5 children
    5.   Joyce, b. 1747; m. to Thomas Douglass
    6.   Margaret, b. 1749; m. to Thomas Loyd
    7.   Edward, b. est 1751

Clearly I need to do more research on the 5 children about whom I know little. Both girls married a Thomas: Joyce to Thomas Douglass, Margaret to Thomas Loyd. Nicholas mentions his sons-in-law in his will, making Thomas Douglass one of the executors.

Nicholas was a prosperous landowner in the area, buying and selling land. Several land warrants are to be found: 150 acres, 200 acres. After his father died in 1748, he continued to care for his step-mother Margaret, with direct care of her when she required more care for the three years before her death, before March 3rd, 1761. He also held the inheritances for his younger brother, William's three children, William having left Pennsylvania to the French colony in Louisiana. Two of the 3 children of William did return to Pennsylvania, and received their inheritances set aside from their grandfather George Hudson, held for them by Nicholas.

In 1772, he is listed as "Constable" for Carnarvon region, a one-year commitment. The link gives some details on what the duties of a Constable might be.

He is listed in the 1779 Septennial Census in Pensylvania; these censuses were taken for taxation and representation purposes, every 7 years. Unfortunately this Census list was transcribed alphabetically, so no information about neighbours can be gleaned. Oh to see the original!

His Will was written February 2, 1780, and is recorded in full (almost 3 pages), detailing his land (by the descriptions clearly he has walked it many times), large money disbursements to various adult children, grandchildren, nephews, etc. However, there is no mention of his actual death date. It was brought to the county, with Inventory pages, and proved September 28, 1780, so we may assume he died a month or so before that date. Here is a snippet of the transcribed will:

His will does not mention his wife, Jean, so I must assume she predeceased him. No record of her death has been found to date. It is fairly legible, so I will be transcribing it in full in the next month.

I have no further information. My research plan now has more individuals to research, more details to search for or write for, plus the wills to transcribe - his and his father's wills. My early genealogy work had me simply filling in my direct ancestors, and bare bones information on the siblings. Although when there were several children with duplicate names living in the same area, that problem forced me to do better research. So late, I grow wiser.

If you haven't yet found the map of Caernarvon township settlers' land plots, remember you can simply email me for a copy. Or, click on this link, and look under Lancaster County. It should work for you. The drafting on the map is so clear it may be downloaded and expanded to see all details! A true treasure. I love to delve into old maps like this.

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If you have any further details or suggestions about Nicholas HUDSON or his family, I would love to hear from you; contact through my email address at the very bottom of the blog page.  

Blooger has a glitch which is stopping me from replying to your comments, but please do know that I appreciate your comments very much. You make my day! Thanks so much for stopping by to read my family blog. 

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No. 23, Wedding (NOT) : George HUDSON, 1680-1748

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog based on Themes. Last week's theme was Commencement / Beginnings.  This week, the theme is Wedding and I'm writing about... NOT Weddings.  I couldn't find any wedding photos or wedding stories, nor is there any particular tradition/history about weddings. On the other hand, here is Bangor Church where the children of George HUDSON were likely married, in Pennsylvania!   

I've chosen to write about George HUDSON/HUTTSON, who emigrated from Wales to Pennsylvania, possibly along with the MORGAN family (Thomas MORGAN). George was the 8th of the 9 known children attributed to Charles HUDSON and Joice/Joyce (unknown), in Pembrokeshire, Wales. There were only 2 girls in this family - another male-heavy line in the family. George HUDSON is my 6th (my children's 7th) great-grandfather. 

George married an unknown woman in Wales, who apparently died shortly after the birth of their fifth child.  Shortly afterwards, George married a second time to a Margret Griffith, but the couple had no further children. George and his first wife had the following children, all born in Pembrokeshire, Wales:
  1.  Charles, b.~1710, d. Jan 1748/9 in Pennsylvania; m. Mary Love in PA abt 1735, 3 boys
  2.  Nicholas [ancestor], b. ~1711/12, d. bef 9 Sep 1780 in PA; m. abt 1735 in PA to Jean/Jane BOWEN, 8 children (7 boys, 1 girl)
  3.  Joyce, b. ~1715; m. est 1730 to Even/Owen Hugh, 6 children (5 boys, 1 girl)
  4.  George jr., b. ~1718, d. 1747 PA; m. est 1740 in PA to Ann___; 2 children (1 each)
  5.  William, b. 1720, d. 1753 Evangeline Co., Louisiana; m. est 1746 LA to  Frances Morgan; 3 known children (2 boys, 1 girl)

This HUDSON family, written as Huttson at times, apparently immigrated sometime soon after 1720.  He was one of the earliest settlers in Caernarvon township.  George is listed as receiving a warrant for 400 acres of land reaching south from the King's Highway and west of the land of Gabriel Davies. An early map of Caernarvon township showing land boundaries may be seen in this link; scroll down, and under Lancaster county, select Caernarvon township. This is a wonderfully detailed map - I've spent hours poring over it! 

George left a very detailed will, apparently written on 09 Dec 1746 but not witnessed until 10 Jul 1747. A Codicil was added and then witnessed on 15 Sep 1747. The will was probated on 11 Apr 1748.  It lists the children, a number of grandchildren, describes his youngest son William as living in Louisiana, and other family details.  A transcription of the will may be found here.  The person transcribing the will used [sic] for all unusual or mis-spellings. Of course, spelling as we all know, was somewhat irrelevant at the time, and although correct, I find the constant [sic] quite intrusive to reading it.  I've taken each sentence and separated it, to clarify each item and each person in the family.

His will affirms that he and Margret had no children, as he states   "...she having no Child of her own nor neare relation in this Country...", and his will appears very generous in looking after her. Margret died before 3 Mar 1761, almost 13 years after George's death.

George provided funds to the Bangor church to build a stone wall surrounding it, plus yearly funds from his land estates to the church. The Bangor Episcopalian church, originally built around 1722, is a National Heritage building, and there is apparently a plaque inside the church mentioning him.   

Here is where more information may be found on the HUDSON, MORGAN, & other Welsh surnames in the interior area of Pennsylvania:  Click Link.  

If any of these people are your ancestors as well, please contact me via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below. I would love to learn more about my various ancestors. 

Blogger is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day.