Huron Hodgson

  General Notes:

Huron or "Hur" Hodson was born and raised in Guilford County, North Carolina. At the age of 18 he married Elizabeth Pearson and they had thee children, while living in North Carolina. Unable to compete with slave labor, the Quakers began a general exodus for North Carolina and migrated to Ohio or Indiana. At this time, the Quakers in Indiana were urging Friends in North Carolina to leave the slave south and move to the newly established, free Northwest Territory. Land there was cheap, fertile, and abundant. Most traveled from the south in groups of 30 to 40, made up of family members and friends. The wagon trip from the Carolinas took about a month, traveling on the Boone's Trail through the Cumberland Gap on the Wilderness Road, which was blazed nearly 50 years earlier for the earliest western settlers. Most were poor farmers with nothing more than what could be crammed into a single wagon. The Quakers tended to settle together in order to limit their contact with "outsiders". They found Indiana to have good spring water, timber and abundant building rock. These industrious farmers quickly established themselves on the lands and immediately began worshipping in their meeting houses. As early as 1819, the Hodson family initially moved to Wayne County, Indiana. The family at that time had three small children, Jesse age 4, Robert age 3, and Sarah age 1. Hur's siblings, Sarah, Jesse, Mary, Rachel, and Martha, also settled in Indiana. While in Wayne county, Hur and his sons, Jesse and Robert, received a certificate from the New Garden MM in 1919.

New Friends settlements began to spring up in other areas of the state. By 1820 the Hodgson family had moved to Randolph County, north of Wayne County and in the eastern central part of Indiana. The entire county is a level plateau. There is no hills of any consequence what so ever. On Aug. 8, 1821, Hur was appointed on a committee at the Cherry Grove Monthly Meeting. Huron is listed in the Ohio Land Records for buying 80 acres of land in Indiana on March 11, 1825. He is also listed in the 1820 & 1830 Indiana Census in the Township of Green's Fork in Randolph, Indiana. While in Randolph County, Hur and his wife had an additional six children, with at least two dying in childhood - Matthew, Eunice, Jabez, Phebe, Rachel, and Martha.

Huron Hodson was a member of the Society of Friends. Members lived a life filled with what they referred to as their "plain ways." These plain ways of dressing, speaking and personal conduct helped maintain the separateness and discipline that was necessary for the continued existence of their religious society. Living close together in community gave them access to the meeting house and fellowship. Even at mid-century, Quakers were a most rural lot. Living in a rural setting avoided some of the more obvious temptations of the world such as taverns.

Education was an issue of importance for Indiana Friends. Many coming from the Carolinas in the early migration were poor and relatively uneducated, but all saw the value of education in spiritual, personal, and in business life. Educational opportunities in North Carolina had been limited. In counties were Friends settled, Quaker schools were usually the first and sometimes the only schools. Children were to be taught by Friends to read, write, and cipher in order to fulfill the work of the Society.

Hur Hodson lived in Indiana in the community of Quakers for an additional 15 years. He died at the young age of 37 years, 10 months, and 4 days. His death was recorded at the Cherry Grove Monthly Meeting.

Huron married Elizabeth Pearson, daughter of Samuel Pearson and Phebe Farmer. (Elizabeth Pearson was born on 5 Jan 1789 in Guilford, North Carolina, USA.)