Biographies
For
Muscatine County Iowa
1889



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 512

WILLIAM C. HUDSON, one of the pioneers of Muscatine County of 1847, is a leading farmer of Goshen Township, residing on section 8. He was born in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1842, and is a son of John and Elizabeth ( Bell ) Hudson, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of Virginia. They were married in the former State, and to them were born six children, two sons and four daughters, namely: J. B., the present County Recorder of Muscatine County; Mary B., now Mrs. Millhouse, of Keota, Iowa; Ann Elizabeth, now Mrs. Chambers of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Sallie, now Mrs. Millhouse, of Keota; Fannie, who is also a resident of Keota; and William of this sketch. The father of this family was a ministe rof the Presbyterian faith. He received a call to a church at Franklin, Ohio, of which he remained pastor for some time, and then had charge of a seminary in Tennessee for a few years. Later he reutrned to Franklin, and from there removed to Xenia, Ohio, where he had charge of a church until 1847, when he came to Bloomington, Iowa, now Muscatine. He remained the pastor of the church in this city for two or three years, during which time the first house of worship was erected, and in 1849 removed to the farm where our subject now resides. Purchasing 300 acres of partly improved land, he began its cultivation, but subsequently sold it. He is now living in Keota, Iowa, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. His life has been one of labor and usefulness, and he is now resting from the toils of former years. His wife died in 1884, aged seventy-six years.

Nearly the entire life of our subject has been passed in Muscatine County, his parents having become residents of Bloomington in 1847, when he was a lad of five years. His education was received in the graded schools of West Liberty, and he also took one year's course at the University of Iowa City. In 1875 he was united in marriage with Flora Alger, their union being celebrated in this county, of which the lady is a native. Her parents, Pierson and Susan ( DeMoss ) Alger, were born in Butler County, Ohio, but came to Iowa in 1840, settling upon a farm in Goshen Township, where they resided for forty-five years, and then removed to Wayne County, Neb., where they still continue to reside. In early life Mr. Alger engaged in milling, but after his removal to the West followed the occupation of farming.

Pierson and Susan ( DeMoss ) Alger were the parents of ten children, all of whom grew to man and womanhood, only seven of whom are now living: Sarah R.,who became the wife of Henry Mill, and died in Muscatine County in 1876; Elsie B., who is also deceased; Joseph M., who is a resident of St. Louis, Mo.; John D., a resident of Wayne, Neb.; James I., a farmer of Wayne, Neb.; Mary A. K., now Mrs. Fisher, also of Wayne; Flora, the wife of our subject; Ola G., at home; Kate P., wedded W. S. Dickinson, a farmer of Butler County, Neb.; and Catherine died at the age of six years.

By the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hudson three children have been born: Ralph P., the eldest, died at the age of two years and four months; Homer H. and Elizabeth Susan are both yet at home. Since his marriage Mr. Hudson has been engaged in farming on the old homestead, and is the owner of sixty acres of fine land. He casts his ballot with the Democratic party, but has never been an office-seeker, preferring to devote his attention exclusivly to his business. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church of West Liberty, and take an active interest in the advancement of their Master's cause. He is numbered among the prominent pioneers of Muscatine County, in which he has resided for about forty-two years. Wild game of all kinds abounded in those early days, the Indians were almost as numerous as the white settlers, and the land was mostly undeveloped prairie. In the changes that have transformed this region into one of the finest counties in the great State of Iowa, Mr. Hudson has always borne his part, and his sketch deserves a prominent place among those of the leading citizens.


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