James H. Hudson House

Description:	Drawing of the James H. Hudson House by Juliet A. Peddle, Terre Haute Artist and Architect. THE HUDSON HOUSE AT FOURTH AND CHESTNUT. Drawn By Juliet A. Peddle, Terre Haute Artist and Architect.The JAMES H. HUDSON HOUSE is located at the northwest corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets.Family tradition says that this house was built by James H. Hudson in the late forties. This is borne out in the deed records which show that Mr. Hudson bought the property in 1846.The Hudsons were of English stock and had settled on the eastern coast of Maryland on a land grant from the crown. They were largely seafaring people until this particular branch of the family decided to move west into the new country opening up beyond the mountains. James H.s father settled in brookville, Ind., in 1810.The three sons who came to Terre Haute were born in Indiana. They were James H., Major B. and Col. Robert N. Hudson. Upon coming to Indiana, the family moved to Centerville, Ind., near Richmond, where James met Susan Forkner whom he married there. They came to Terre Haute to live soon after their marriage.In an account of the life of Col. Robert N. Hudson, it says that he came to Terre Haute in 1840 and went to Asbury College (now DePauw University) where he graduated in 1844. I believe the other brothers must have come about the same time, but certainly James came before 1846 when he purchased the above property. His daughter, Miss Emma Hudson, remembers hearing the family refer to an earlier home on Third Street, which puts their coming at least a little while before the above house became their home. In earlier years, Mr. Hudson was an expert sign painter and glazier, but in later years worked in governmental service connected with the distilleries here. He died in 1882. Within the year following his death his two sons, Lawrence and Frank, also died leaving his widow and daughter, Emma, alone. They disposed of the house in 1884 and it has passed through a number of hands since then.The general exterior of the house has not been changed much since the days when the Hudsons lived there, but the setting has, and I have attempted to restore the early setting as described to me by Miss Hudson from her memory of her early home. At that time the house was always painted white and had green blinds. There were also large trees in the yard and flowering shrubs and vines. At the rear there were the usual barn, carriage house, washhouse, etc. Characteristic of the period, all of which have disappeared today. It has always had two front doors as it has now. The north one lead into a hall and the south one opened into the living room.This house was located in a substantial residential area which developed as the town grew toward the east away from the early village which lay along the river front. In this neighborhood lived many of the early builders of our city, a few of whose homes remain today.
Origin:	01/01/2005
Contributor(s):	Peddle, Juliet, 1899-1979
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/rose/id/858
Collection:	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Logan Library
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Subjects:	Architectural drawings Architecture Houses Hudson, James H., d.1882 Architecture Domestic Life

Further information on this record can be found at its source.