Bio of HUDSON,Josiah B. (b.1850), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical

JOSIAH B. HUDSON - Vol III, pg 30-33
Josiah B. Hudson was born in Greenfield, Ohio, August 1, 1850, son of James D.
and Mary (Bell) Hudson. James D. Hudson was a Virginian, of English ancestry,
while his wife was a native of Ohio, of Scotch-Irish descent. J. B. Hudson
attended school continuously until he was twelve years of age. At that time the
Civil war was distracting the country and financial conditions were stringent,
so, although he was a mere boy, it became necessary for him to start out to
work. Accordingly, he secured a position as a clerk and was so employed for six
years, but during that time he was able to study intermittently and thus
supplement his early education. When he reached his eighteenth birthday he was
clerking in a jewelry store. In 1876 he started a small store of his own in
Washington Court House, Ohio, which he con­tinued for ten years before coming to
Minneapolis in 1886. Here he opened a store in the Nicollet House block at No.
230 Nicollet avenue, his premises consisting of a single room, eighteen by
twenty-two feet. His business prospered, however, and he moved into much larger
quarters in the old Syndicate building. The business continued to grow, so in
1905 he incorporated it under the name of J. B. Hudson & Son, becoming president
of the new firm. His son, Walter G. Hudson, is vice president. In 1920 they
moved into their present location at No. 33-35 South Sev­enth street, where they
have a truly magnificent establishment. The firm holds the honor of conducting
the finest jewelry house in the Northwest and one of the best in the whole
United States.
Mr. Hudson was married in Portsmouth, Ohio, to Mary Emma Gibbs, daughter of Dr.
George Gibbs. Mr. and Mrs. Hudson have two children, a son and a daughter:
Walter Gibbs Hudson, who is vice president of the J. B. Hudson & Son corporation
and treasurer of the Van Dusen-Harrington Company; and Bertha, who is now Mrs.
Archie D. Walker of Minneapolis.
In the Masonic order Mr. Hudson has reached the thirty-second degree. He became
a Scottish Rite Mason in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was one of the first class of
Masons inducted into the Syrian Temple Shrine of that city. He is now affiliated
with Minneapolis Lodge, No. 19, F. & A. M., Minneapolis Consistory, and Zuhrah
Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has been a Shriner since 1884, is past potentate
of Zuhrah Temple, and one of the oldest members of that body in America.
More­over, he is one of the few men in the United States who belongs to both the
northern and southern jurisdictions in Masonry. His clubs are the Minneapolis,
Minikahda, Lafayette and Automobile Clubs of this city.
Mr. Hudson is a stanch republican and in his younger days in Ohio took quite an
active part in politics. At one time he was a member of a committee on which
Harry M. Daugherty, now attorney general of the United States, was serving, and
the friendship then formed between the two men has continued with undiminished
warmth to the present day. Since leaving his native state, however, Mr. Hudson
has not been an active participant in public affairs, nor has he cherished any
pet hobbies nor recreations outside of his business interests, with the
exception of an occasional game of golf. To him his business has always been a
pleasure and a source of recreation, as well as his means of livelihood. To
spend a little time in his establishment so beautifully and perfectly appointed
in the minutest detail, knowing that this store has grown from the most modest
of beginnings, is to realize that Mr. Hudson's heart, as well as his mind, has
been in his work all of his life. This is undoubtedly the secret of his success.
It should be added that his winning personality has been a strong factor in
promoting his commercial progress. Un­consciously he makes friends and his
friends are many. It is needless to comment upon Mr. Hudson's business ability.
Every prominent man in Minneapolis recognizes his worth, while his unrivaled
jewelry house is a tangible evidence of his superior, constructive work as a
merchant.