JESS HUDSON

The following bio was taken from page 248 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Cemeteries of Texas

Our Hudson ancestors came from Tennessee to Texas and Rusk County before 1835. They stopped first in Rockwall County, and went from there to Short Pone and Compton Community, Rusk County. Daniel Jenkins Hudson and Irene Tiara were parents of James Madison, Daniel Webster, Martha June, Lorrinda Ann, Jesse Francis, Amos Driver, Frank Dowden and John Green.

Some years prior to the Civil War, Jesse and Amos moved to Red Land area of Bossier Parish in North Louisiana, where Jesse married Nancy Covington. Their children included Walter, who married Lou Waldrop of Grayson County, Texas. The latter’s children were: Ted, Frank, Jess, and Mary. Walter worked for the Kansas City Southern Railroad, and his family grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. In 1931, Jess and I, Gertrude Lockwood, were married.

It was not a hard decision for us in 1942 when Ted asked his brother Jess to come to Henderson and go into business with him. Ted Hudson had settled in Henderson in January 1931, working there with several firms with radio, appliances, and, later, trucks. From banking to trucks, lumber, feed stuffs, and later, oil product transports, was a big change for Jess Hudson.

Jess and I were quickly accepted by all our Hudson relatives, and especially the circle of friends of Ted and Bill, Ted’s wife. It was a delight to be able to raise our children, Jessica and James (Jim), with Ted’s girls – Mary Lou, Roberta, Frannie, and Jo. We left Jess’s sister, Mary, and his brother, Frank, along with my parents, in Shreveport.

Gip, Hubert, Dan, and Dollie Dulin are cousins to Jess and Ted. These Hudson’s are considered old-timers, but Jess, Ted, and their families are newcomers. As children, we from Shreveport did not visit much in Rusk County. Travel facilities of that time were used to visit in Grayson County, Texas or to visit our family members in North Bossier Parish, Louisiana. Each year in September at the Compton Community Center, the Hudson’s and relatives gather with friends for a day of potluck dinner, yarn swapping, and singing. Hudson’s have always been noted for their singing, and many play musical instruments.

In 1937, Ted Hudson played a hero’s part in assisting at the New London School after the explosion. Having recently established the first radio broadcasting station in Henderson, he was able to get word of the disaster on the air. For three days and nights he worked tirelessly. His microphone had become the focal point for giving out progress reports from hospitals, for directing ministers, guiding gravediggers and relatives to the mass funerals resulting from the disaster. Ted lost his life nine years later in the crash of a private airplane, of which he was the pilot. Bill Hudson Watt lives in Henderson with her daughter, Joe Hudson.

In 1946, Jess went into an oil jobbership. Many of his customers became good friends. In 1964, the supplying company closed its refinery in Longview, bringing an end to the jobbing venture.

Jess retired from the Eastex Telephone Cooperative, where he served as a senior accountant. Our son, Jim, entered the U.S. Army and at this writing is serving in Germany. Our daughter, Jessica, married James Noble. She teaches school and lives with her two children in Longview, Texas. Our daughter-in-law, the former Dorothy Jackson, lives with her two children in Lawton, Oklahoma. Whether we are old-timers or newcomers, we enjoy Rusk County and Texas. As members of the East Texas Mobile Scouter Travel Trailer Club, we have traveled over much of Texas.

Submitted by Mrs. Jess (Trudy) Hudson