Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Hudson, Charles

HUDSON, Charles, author, b. in Marlborough, Mass., 14 Nov., 1795; d. in Lexington, Mass., 4 May, 1881. His father, Stephen Hudson, a Revolutionary soldier, was captured by the British and confined in the Philadelphia jail. The son taught for a time, studied theology, and was licensed as a Universalist preacher in 1819, with a charge in Westminster, Mass., over a society of Restorationists, which he served as pastor for twenty years. He was a member of the state house of representatives from 1828 till 1833, and of the state senate from 1833 till 1839. In 1839 he was a member of the executive council, serving till 1841. He was elected to congress as a Whig, serving from 1841 till 1849, when he removed to Lexington, where he resided till his death. He served as naval officer of the port of Boston from 1849 till 1853. He was a member of the state board of education, and held other public offices, among which was that of U. S. assessor of internal revenue from 1864 till 1868. For many years he edited the “Boston Daily Atlas,” a Whig journal, and was an active student of local history. His publications include “Letters to Rev. Hosea Ballou” (1827); “Reply to Walter Balfour” (1829); “History of Westminster” (Boston, 1832); “Doubts Concerning the Battle of Bunker Hill” (1857); “Historical Address at the Centennial at Westminster” (1859); “History of Marlborough” (1862); and a “History of Lexington,” with “Genealogical Register of Lexington Families” (1868). He prepared congressional reports on the “Protective Policy,” legislative reports on “Capital Punishment,” “The Northeastern Boundary,” and “The Incompetency of Witnesses on Account of Religious Belief,” besides articles for periodicals and newspapers. He presided at the centennial celebration of the battle of Lexington in 1875, and delivered a spirited address.