~1798 - ~1840
North Carolina - Illinois
Amelia is for the people who like puzzles. Basically, all we know about is her life with Henry Deweese - and we know precious little about that (Henry is one of the more elusive Deweeses). They were married 12 February 1816 in Butler County, Kentucky. Assuming she was at least 16 when she married, that gives her a possible birth date of 1800 or earlier. (Henry was about 20 at the time.) In the 1820 census, we assume she was the female aged 16-26, which gives a range of 1794-1804; in 1830 (we assume) she was the female aged 20-30, which gives a range of 1800-1810; in 1840 the oldest female was 40-50, range 1790-1800. Put them all together and your guess is as good as mine.
We don’t know where she was born. Henry came to Butler County from North Carolina - and there were Hudsons living in the same area at the same time. But this was an age of movement. The British had tried to suppress settlement in the Appalachians and beyond, in order to preserve peace with the Indians - in case they needed them as allies against the French. But after the Revolutionary War, the place was overrun. The US did try to control settlement - Indians as allies were useful to them too - but whatever treaties were made were soon broken. People moved onto land guaranteed to the Indians, the Indians would attack, the settlers would petition the government for troops, forts, whatever (or, indeed, would build their own forts, and man them with their younger sons), a “war” would be fought, a treaty would be made with new guarantees in return for new cessions of land (or promises of subsidies) - and often the treaty would be made with Indians who were not directly involved (as if your next-door neighbor agreed that your house should be torn down for the new expressway) - and the process would start over again. People were on the MOVE, and many of them (our ancestors included) didn’t stay put for long, but kept moving, on and on, to the next new place. So - to return to the specific - the Hudsons in North Carolina may or may not have been related to Amelia. Although it should be mentioned that her probable sister was born in North Carolina in 1797.
There were also Hudsons in Logan County, Kentucky (which is the next place the Deweeses appeared) and obviously there were Hudsons in Butler County, Kentucky, although actually, there were more of them in the next county over, Ohio County.
Here is how it looks:
North Carolina - Buncombe County -
The Deweeses had their property on the Ivy, Little Ivy, and Rims Creek
Thomas Hudson
1794 Sep 10 ? on McDowell Creek from John Sharp
1794 Sep 10 ? on McDowell Creek from John Sharp
1800 July 15 1 a on Jacks Creek to Julius Robertson
John Hutson
1801 Nov 16 25 a on French Broad River to William Bayley
Wooley, James E. Buncombe County, North Carolina, index to deeds, 1783-1850.
(Easley, S.C. : Southern Historical Press, c1983)
Kentucky - Logan County -
List of taxpayers - Hudsons only appear one year. Deweeses arrive 1799
1795 - Hudson, Ezikiel Thomas
Logan County, Kentucky taxpayers, 1792-1799. (Miami Beach, FL : T.L.C. Genealogy,
c1990)
Marriages
Hudson John - Elizabeth Duncan - I didn’t copy down the date!
Logan County, Kentucky, marriages, 1790-1865. (Russellville, Ky : Logan Co Gen Soc, c1981)
Cemeteries - I need to look at the book again, I didn’t copy down the Hudsons
Kentucky - Butler County -
Marriages (I have only included the early ones)
John McMurtry - Milly Hudson Dec 17, 1814 Dec 18, 1814
consent by Jas Hargrove (R.B. Morrison)
Henry Deweese Amelia Hudson JP Taylor Feb 12, 1816
Frances Shrode - Rebecca M. Hudson Jno P. Taylor Nov 16, 1816
consent of bride’s father proved by F. Estick
William Williams - Susan Hudson Ben’m McReynolds Jan 3, 1817
Richard Berry - Sally B. Hutson Benj’m Talbert Feb 3, 1823
Butler County, Kentucky marriages, 1810-1865. (Madisonville, Ky. : Hopkins Co Gen Soc, 1974)
Cemeteries - the only Hudsons were born after 1814 so I haven’t included them here
Kentucky - Ohio County - (many Warrick County people came from Ohio Co - and there were no Hudsons in Butler in 1810)
census 1810
p. 74 (444) Thomas Hudson 10010 40010
Martin Hudson 31010 20010
p. 75 Barnett Hudson 00100 00010
William E Hudson 00010 00000
(447) William Hudson 00101 00101
p. 86 (469) Edward Hudson 32001 10010
p. 89 (475) William P Hudson 20010 20010
Thomas looks promising, doesn’t he - he’s in North Carolina and then in Logan and then Ohio County, Ky (if it’s the same Thomas). But there are a lot of Hudsons out there. Someone, sometime, put out the information that the parents of Amelia were William and Susannah Hudson, so that gives us another possibility. And then there’s the name Absalom: it was not a Deweese name (although there were Hugheses who were named Absalom), so that’s another possibility. And finally, there’s the name Amelia. One branch of the Hudson family is known as the “Hudsons of Amelia” after a county in Virginia.
(But about the name Amelia. If her parents were William and Susannah, it is possible that Susannah was Susannah McDonald, daughter of William McDonald and Amelia Retherford. So.)
Then there are the Hudsons of Warrick County, Indiana. John McMurtry, Francis Shrode and William Williams all moved to Warrick County, along with many Hudsons, and half the population (it seems) of Ohio County, Kentucky. The Deweeses didn’t get there until 1860, but when they did, they camped out at first with the Shrodes. Most of the Hudsons in Warrick were the descendants of Isaac Hudson, a Revolutionary War soldier who was born in Kent County, Delaware, but there are a few who aren’t directly related, and our Amelia seems to be connected with them. In fact, it seems likely that Rebecca M (the M stands for Merit or Merritt) Hudson was her sister.
So. Mix this all together and what have we got?
My best guess goes like this (remember it is only a guess):
Amelia Hudson, the daughter of William and Susannah McDonald Hudson, was born about 1798, probably in North Carolina. She married Henry Deweese in 1816 (Feb 12) in Butler County, Kentucky. Her sister Rebecca married Francis Shrode, also in 1816 (Dec 17), also in Butler County. Her widowed mother (or her very older sister) married William Williams in 1817 (Jan 3), also in Butler County. Her sister Margaret married Ezekiel Perigo in Warrick County in 1822 (March 7). Her brother William M Hudson died in 1844 and is buried in Warrick County. The others moved to Warrick County between 1817 and 1820; Amelia and Henry stayed in Kentucky, for a while, but 5 (at least) of their children eventually moved to Warrick County.
However, I am still looking at the other possibilities.
After they married, Henry and Amelia had 10, possibly 12 children:
JW - b.~1816 - d. before 1860 - married Emeline Unknown - 3 children
Jack Vaughan does not list him as a son of Henry
and since there is another John AND another William, it is difficult to think what JW might stand for
Emeline moved to Warrick Co & remarried, possibly twice
Absalom - our next ancestor - b. 12 Mar 1818 - d. 9 June 1875
- married (1) Elizabeth Sams - 5 children
(2) Mary Ann Armer Sharp - 3 children
died in Warrick Co
Isaac - b. 25 Mar 1820 - d. April 27, 1905
- married (1) Louisa Sams - 6 children
(2) Ann Smith
died in Warrick Co
Louisa - b ~1821 - married John Davis
John - b. ~1823 - married Nancy Unknown - 1 child (known)
Rebecca - b. ~ 1825 - married John W Deweese
Garrett - b. ~1827 - married Mary Lee Walton
William - b. 1 March 1830 - d. 27 Dec 1875
- married Elizabeth Maryann Jones - 14 children
died in Warrick Co
Elijah - b. 8 Apr 1833 - d. April 1907 - married Sarah Margaret Shrode
died in Warrick Co
Talbert - b. 29 Aug 1838 - d. 24 June 1912
- married Mary Elizabeth McCool
died in Vanderburgh Co
Nancy - b. ~1840 - d. 17 June 1905
M (female) - b. ~1838 Jack Vaughan does not include her
They lived in Butler County, Kentucky for a few years after their marriage (until the 1820 census at least), and then they moved on, further west, to Hickman County, Kentucky. Amelia’s people went to Warrick County, Indiana, but Henry’s mostly moved on to Hickman and he did too. They were there for the 1830 census, but by 1840 they had moved on again, to Johnson County, Illinois (they were there for that census). Then something happened. They both died, I guess, and most of the children moved back to Kentucky, to what had now been named Ballard County. Some of the children were fairly young, and stayed with Henry’s sister and husband (who was also their mutual cousin), her brother-in-law (who was another cousin), and Henry’s son Absalom.
Between 1850 and 1860, something else happened (maybe the looming Civil War?) and most of Henry and Amelia’s children moved to Warrick County, where her relatives had been since the 1820s.
And that’s it. That’s all we know about Amelia Hudson.
Back to Hudson Home Page
Back to Deweese Home Page
Back to Home
To Henry Deweese
To Possible Parents of Amelia
To Possible Siblings of Amelia: Margaret, Rebecca, Susan (actually I think she's the
mother)
To Children of Henry and Amelia
contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com
page last updated 2 September 2004