Los Angeles County CA Archives Biographies.....Hudson, Martin L. 1855 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com December 20, 2005, 1:41 pm Author: Luther A. Ingersoll (1908) MARTIN L. HUDSON is one of the thrifty, successful pioneers in the Irwin Heights Addition to Santa Monica. He is a native of Pennsylvania, was born in Charfield County, in the town of Charfield, June 1st, 1855, a son of Kalita Polk Hudson, a blood relative of James K. Polk, eleventh President of the United States, a bridge builder by trade and likewise a farmer and a man of local affairs. He married Miss Kezia Thompson, a daughter of Isaac Thompson. The family came west in 1865 and located in Floyd County, Iowa, on a farm. There the father died in 1881, at fifty-seven years of age, the mother and seven children surviving. Martin L. is the oldest of the family. He remained on the home farm until twenty-one years of age. Meantime he acquired the mechanic's trade, having inherited from his father the mechanical instinct and a genius for handling tools. In 1883 he left Iowa and spent about five years in Dakota. In 1888 he went to the town of Everett, on Puget Sound, Washington, where he engaged in building and house moving, where he acquired and still owns property. During his residence there he made four trips to Alaska. In 1896 he went to Cook's Inlet. In 1898 he went to Klondike where he had passing success mining. He returned home in the fall of 1899 and made the trip a fourth time in 1900 over the ice and was forty days alone on the way. He there engaged in building, "going" wages being $1.50 per hour. He finally returned home, via Saint Michaels, suffering shipwreck and extreme exposure. In 1902 he located at Santa Monica and followed his trade for a time. He meantime purchased five acres of land, one of the most fertile and sightly parcels of land in the Irwin Heights tract, a portion of which he still owns. Here he has developed a pretty home, the location being between Virginia and Delaware Avenues, on Twenty-second Street. He purposes selling a portion of this tract to desirable purchasers. He also owns valuable property in Ocean Park. Mr. Hudson married in 1891 Miss Hattie Maxfield, of Tacoma, Washington. She is a native of Illinois—a lady of social and domestic accomplishments. They have one son, Fred M. Mr. Hudson is a member of the Woodmen of the World and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Ingersoll's century history, Santa Monica Bay cities: prefaced with a brief history of the state of California, a condensed history of Los Angeles County, 1542 to 1908: supplemented with an encyclopedia of local biography and embellished with views of historic landmarks and portraits of representative people. Los Angeles: Luther A. Ingersoll (1908) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/losangeles/bios/hudson191bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 3.2 Kb