Joseph Hutchison was born about 1756 in Loudoun County, Virginia, the son of William Hutcherson (variously, Hutcheson, Hutchinson, Hutchison) and his wife, Sarah. Joseph’s mother’s maiden surname has not yet been proven. His father, William, was believed to have been the son of Andrew Hutchison but this claim has not been adequately documented.
Joseph was first married to Susannah Dodson on June 7, 1775, in Loudoun County, Virginia. She had one or two daughters by him and at least one son. The known son, John Hutchison, was born in 1782 in Loudoun County. He died about 1852 in Jasper County, Illinois. John had married Susan Heineman[1]. Based upon early census data, it was apparent that Joseph Hutchison had other children by Susannah; their names were not known.
While in Loudoun County, Joseph served for a time as a Deputy Sheriff for that county. There was a letter from Joseph’s mother, Sarah, to the Probate Court in Loudoun County in which she implored the court to appoint Joseph as the administrator of his deceased father’s intestate estate[2]. At the time, Joseph was yet in Virginia tending to his gravely ill wife. The court approved this request. However, Joseph found that he was not able to care for his wife and family and also administer his father’s estate. He petitioned the Loudoun County Court to relieve him of his duties as administrator and to appoint three others whom he recommended. Eventually, the Court appointed two of them. They were: William Bronough and Benjamin Grayson. Their appraisement and sale to settle the estate of William Hutcherson was returned to the Court and ordered to be recorded on October 13, 1788, Loudoun County, Virginia[3]. Following the payment of debts and expenses, the account balance returned to Joseph Hutchison was two hundred and twenty five pounds five shillings and one penny three farthings. Whether there were other legal heirs to the intestate estate of William Hutcherson remained an open question.
Joseph was a Revolutionary War soldier and patriot. He was drafted for three months service in 1777 from Loudoun County, Virginia. He was a Pvt. in the Company of Capt. Alexander McMickin of Col. Josiah Clapham’s 15th Virginia Regiment, Virginia Line. Other officers under whom he served were: Major George West and General Dark. The 15th Regiment, Virginia Line, was raised on December 28, 1775, in eastern Virginia for service with the Continental Army. The regiment saw action at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown, among others. Joseph was not involved in any battles and joined the regiment after a long forced march from Virginia to Pennsylvania. The regiment was disbanded on November 15, 1783. Joseph was again drafted for three months service in 1781 by Col. Francis Peyton but was excused from active duty because he recruited five men to serve in his stead. During the years 1780-81, he provided beef, wheat and clothing for the patriot Army[4].
Joseph departed Virginia after the death of his first wife, Susannah, for Bourbon County, Kentucky. In 1787, he purchased 270 acres of land on Townsend Creek, a branch of the South Fork of the Licking River. He purchased the land from William Hoy and his wife, Sarah, for one-hundred pounds. The land was part of a pre-emption granted William Miller, an assign of John Townsend. The witnesses for the deed were: John Edwards, Clerk; Leonard Tucker, John Tucker, and Robert Collins. The deed was recorded in Bourbon County, Kentucky, on 19 June 1787[5].
He married his second wife, Hannah Hall, in Bourbon County, Kentucky, on May 21, 1798. Hannah was the daughter of John Hall of Bourbon County. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1773. The marriage date was certified on June 24, 1850, by Thomas P. Smith, Clerk of the County Court, as part of Hannah’s application to the federal government for land grant rights the result of her then deceased husband’s military service during the Revolutionary War. The nuptial ceremony for her marriage was performed by John Whitaker[6]. At the time of her marriage to Joseph, Hannah was about 17 years younger than Joseph; she was about 25 years of age in 1798 and Joseph was 42 years old. Hannah had two daughters when she married Joseph; she had not been previously married. The daughters were Mary "Polly" Hall and Deborah. They were mentioned in the will of Hannah’s father[7].
In May of 1797 while in Bourbon County, Joseph sold fifty-two acres of land belonging to the estate of his deceased father, said lands located in Loudoun County, Virginia. The grantee was Levin Powell who paid one-hundred pounds for the acreage[8]. Joseph paid personal property taxes in Loudoun County for the last time in 1794.
The Library of Virginia (Land Office Grants) had a record of Joseph Hutchison having received 1200 acres on the waters of Eagle Creek in Fayette County, Kentucky.[9] Then, in March of 1799, Joseph received two land grants from the State of Virginia, both in Kentucky. One was for 620 acres on Simpson Creek in Nelson County, Kentucky; the other was for 560 acres on Jack Creek in the same county.[10]
Joseph Hutchison’s Revolutionary War pension was assigned Claim No. W 7838. He was allowed a pension of $20 per annum; his pension application was executed November 20, 1832, while he was a resident of Breckinridge County, Kentucky. Subsequent to his death, his widow, Hannah [Hall] Hutchison, was approved to receive his pension.
Joseph’s son, John Hutchison, was in Breckinridge County, Kentucky with Joseph in the 1810 federal census. Joseph was the founder of the Township of Hudsonville which later became simply, Hudson. Joseph had also begun to use the surname, Hudson, after he left Bourbon County. He attempted to name his township Hutchison but learned from the postal service that his request was denied because another Hutchison Township already existed in Bourbon County, Kentucky. It was deemed likely that he changed his name to Hudson so that it would match the township he founded in Breckinridge County. He signed his will twice; once as Joseph Hutchison and again as Joseph Hudson.
On May 21, 1836, Joseph Hutchison/Hudson purchased 100 acres of land from John Hall. John was a brother of Joseph’s wife, Hannah. The land was in Breckinridge County.[11] At the time, John was located in Mason County, Kentucky, as mentioned in the deed.
Joseph and Hannah had eight children. They were: Deborah Hutchison/Hudson, born between 1796-8 in Bourbon County, Kentucky; Esquire Hines Hudson, born December 1799 in Bourbon County; Nancy Hudson, born 1802, Bourbon County; Samuel Jefferson Hudson, born 1804, probably Bourbon County; Theophilus Hall Hudson, born April 8, 1806 in Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky; Elizabeth Hudson, born 1809 in Breckinridge County; John B. Hudson, born 1812 in Breckinridge County, and James M. Hudson, born April 17, 1816 in Breckinridge County, Kentucky.
Joseph Hutchison/Hudson died on or about May 15, 1842, when he was 86 years of age. His will was probated and can be found in Will Book 1, 1800-1893, p. 120, Hardinsburg, Breckinridge County, Kentucky. In his will, Joseph mentioned, among other matters, the following respecting his estate:
"I desire that immediately after the decease of my wife Hannah that a sale be made agreeable to law of said estate and the total amount of said estate be equally divided amongst our children begotten with her said Hannah and only reserving ten dollars each for the use of my first wife Susannah’s children if demanded not in less than twelve nor more than eighteen months from the sale of the aforesaid property.[12]
He did not list the given names of his children begotten by either Hannah or his first wife, Susannah. This was a departure from the standard format for the drafting of wills. Most Hudson family historians reported only seven children for Joseph and Hannah. However, the distribution of the estate was to eight children the eldest of whom was Deborah Shelby, wife of David Shelby of Breckinridge County, Kentucky. Deborah was born prior to Joseph’s marriage to Hannah. She would not have received an equal share of Joseph’s estate had she not been his natural child.[13] (See his statement from his will, above.) Deborah’s birth prior to his marriage to Hannah was likely the reason that he did not mention each child by name in his will.
On the basis of Joseph’s military service record and after his death, his widow, Hannah Hutchison, applied for and received 160 acres of bounty land in Marquette County, Michigan. Before Hannah’s death, she sold these lands which eventually were assigned to a Peter White.[14]
Hannah died at about 88 years of age in 1861 in Breckinridge County. Her tombstone was engraved with her name as Hannah Hudson, wife of Joseph Hudson. The bronze NSDAR markers on the graves of Joseph and Hannah were placed by Doris Kreatschman, deceased, and the James Campbell Chapter of the NSDAR which is now defunct.
The old Hudson Cemetery No. 3 in the Town of Hudson where Joseph and Hannah were buried was behind a log home where they had lived in Hudson. The log home has recently been razed. An old barn remained on the property. The cemetery was behind the barn in a copse of trees in a pasture. The old cemetery was in disrepair. The cemetery location was across the road from the Methodist Church on the east side of Hudson. This land was once the J.T. (Burk) Keesee farm according to records in the Breckinridge County Archives. Bronze NSDAR (National Society for the Daughters of the American Revolution) markers adorn the graves of both Joseph and Hannah. Hannah’s gravestone has been broken. Joseph’s tombstone was engraved with his name as Joseph Hudson, died 1844, age 88 years. This was a mistaken engraving as when both Hannah and her daughter, Elizabeth, were deposed under oath in matters pertaining to Joseph’s Revolutionary War service, they both stated that Joseph died in the middle of May in 1842.[15] The NSDAR marker upon Joseph’s grave gave his name as Joseph Hutchison and his death year was correctly listed as 1842.
Joseph and Hannah were the patriarch and matriarch of literally hundreds of Hudson descendants who have spread to all corners of the world. At one time, the Town of Hudson was a thriving community. There was a stave business there which produced the staves for the barrels so needed in other businesses of the era. The old war patriot, Joseph Hudson, was a crafty and intelligent businessman. Breckinridge County and the residents of Hudson as well as all of his descendants can be justifiably proud of his life and accomplishments.
Francis W. Keenan, Ph.D.; Life Member, Breckinridge County Historical Society; Emeritus Professor; 111 Sherwood Drive Brockport, New York 14420; 585-637-2506; kkeenan@rochester.rr.com
[1] Letter from Joy Smith of California to Francis Keenan, dated November 23, 2002. Smith completed documented research concerning the Hutchison family.
[2] Letter from Sarah Hutchison to the Court dated ___ (?) the 10th, 1787, filed with Miscellaneous Administration Papers, Archives, Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia.
[3] Estate Inventory, Book D, 3 December 1788 , p. 7, Leesburg, Loudoun County , Virginia ; for the estate account, see Ibid., p. 299.
[4] Joseph Hutchison, Microfilm M804, Roll 1385, National Archives and Records Administration [NARA], Washington, D.C.
[5] Deed Book A, Vol. 1, 6 March 1787, Bourbon County, Kentucky, pp. 75-6.
[6] NARA, M804, Roll 1385, Washington, D.C.
[7] See: Will of John Hall, Will Book C, p. 461, Bourbon County, Kentucky.
[8] Deed Book D, pp.152-4, Bourbon County, Kentucky.
[9] Land Office Grants No. 17, 1788, p. 705, Reel 83. Archives, Library of Virginia. Note: Fayette County was formed May 1, 1780.
[10] Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, Kentucky: Vol. 12, Surveys 2925 and 2926.
[11] Deed Book L, p. 340, Breckinridge County, Kentucky.
[12] Will Book 1, 1800-1893, Will dated June 22, 1840, Joseph Hutchison, Joseph Hudson, Breckinridge County, Kentucky. Probated June 20, 1842.
[13] Deeds, July-December 1856, Box 14, Folder No. 2, Archives, Courthouse, Hardinsburg, Breckinridge County, Kentucky.
[14] NARA, Joseph Hutchison, Land Bounty Record Group (RG) 49 Box 2308, No. 26100-160-55, Washington, D.C.
[15]NARA, Joseph Hutchison, M804, Roll 1385, Washington, D.C.
Editor’s Note Francis Keenan’s wife, Kaye, is not mentioned in the essay, but Joseph Hutchison/Hudson was one of her 4th great grandfathers. Both Kaye Shelby Keenan and Francis Keenan were born in Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois in 1935. In 1971 the Keenans relocated to Brockport, New York, where both were involved in education; Francis at the State University of New York at Brockport and, Kaye in Student government administration at Brockport College. Dr. Francis Keenan is also the co-author with Perry T. Ryan of the Keenan history book- The Keenan Family of Breckinridge County, KY