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Hudson Township.
Hudson township is fairly watered and drained by Panther creek and Camp branch and their tributary streams.
Timber is along the creeks. It is a fine agricultural township.
Rev. Israel Robords, a Missionary Baptist, came in the spring of 1843 and settled near the then town of Hudson.
He was a New Yorker, from Saratoga county. Col. George Douglas came to America from Scotland, and settled in the
northwest part of the township in 1837. Before the war he owned eight thousand acres of land in one body, and was
one of the largest stock raisers in the state. He was one of the first judges of the county court. When the war
came on he went to Texas and took with him forty five slaves. He died there in 1869. George Rains was an early
settler, but we have been unable to learn the date. John D. Myers came to Hudson township in 1842, and he became
one of the forceful men of the early building days of the county. Hence larger mention of Judge Myers will be made
elsewhere., The Gilbreaths, William, Simeon and Stephen came and settled in Hudson in 1840. John Gilbreath, the
father of the three sons, died in 1865, aged eighty years.
The town of Hudson was located April 10, 1867 by Judge Charles I. Robards who purchased the land for a company
of twenty one men. The first building was a general store, erected by Smith Brothers of Clinton, and William E.
Brinkerhoff and V. A. Wallace put in charge. The second house was a residence erected by Judge Robards. Then a
business house owned and operated by James Hodkins and E. M. King. The first blacksmith was Alexander Gordon. Joel
Pratt was the first postmaster. The ambitious little village had visions of greatness, but when the Missouri, Kansas
& Texas railroad went by and Appleton City was started three and one half miles east its dreams faded, and
the village has for years been only a memory. Its fate was only typical of many others - predicted too much upon
what never occurred, and hence death. In 1877 a postoffice was established called Lahia which was discontinued
after four years. John W. Brown was the first postmaster and Clark Wix the second and last.
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