The Hudson Family papers document the diverse business and personal activities of four generations of the Hudson family of Newburyport, Massachusetts. The collection contains the papers of James Husdon (1719-1792), shipping merchant and store owner, Henry Hudson (1748-1823), shipping merchant, auctioneer, insurance agent, and church assessor, John Rogers Hudson (1784-1831), shipping merchant, bank cashier, bookseller, and militia adjutant, and Charles Hodge Hudson (1812-1898), hardware store owner, telegraph company superintendent, Probate Court register, and inventor. Papers of additional family members are included. The collection is divided into six series.

Series I. James Hudson (1719-1792) Papers contains legal and financial papers and typescript drafts of his anonymously-authored biography. James' papers include shipping accounts, a shipbuilding agreement, general store records, and diagrams of the Salisbury salt works.

Series II. Henry Hudson (1748-1823) Papers contain business, personal, and church papers. The correspondence includes letters from foreign and domestic shipping merchants, and personal and shipping correspondence with his father- and brother-in-law, John Rogers, Sr. and Jr. Also included are Henry's letters to his sons, John (1784-1831) and Henry (b. 1787) Hudson. The financial papers and account books document Henry's shipping and insurance, his involvement in running the Hudson family wharf, and his work as an auctioneer and appraiser of ship cargos and estates. Of interest are estate inventories of a number of Newburyport individuals: Captain John Fletcher, Eleazur Johnson, John Boardman, Nathan Poor, Captain Samuel Bowers, Captain James Nowell, John W. Murray, Ebenezer Stone, Jacob Moody, Janus Smith, and Sarah Brown. Also included are Henry's repair accounts for work overseen on the Boston home of James Ivers. The legal and miscellaneous papers contain Henry's auctioneer licenses, deeds, and a plan of the Newburyport wharves. Of note are memorandums noting John Rogers' household goods (1792), the production of various weavers (1793), and repairs made to the home and store of Henry's uncle, Eleazur Hudson (b. 1712). The First Religious Society Records include notices, bills, receipts, and parish tax assessments documenting Henry's activities as church assessor and a member of the committee for the church proprietors.

Series III. John Rogers Hudson (1784-1831) Papers consist of shipping, business, personal, and military papers. Subseries A. Shipping Papers containing ships' papers and correspondence, documents the cargos John consigned on vessels voyaging to Europe, India, the East and West Indies, and coastal United States ports. (See Appendix I for a list of these vessels.) Subseries B. Business and Personal Papers contains letters from his brother Henry (b. 1787) regarding their subscription bookselling partnership, correspondence with the Balch family, and letters relative to the Mechanics Bank, where John was employed as a cashier. Also included are meeting minutes and correspondence generated by John's involvement in the Newburyport Academy and the First Religious Society. Letters for John from his mother, Anna (Rogers) Hudson, may be found in Box 8 Folder 8. The financial papers include personal accounts, bookselling subscription books, notes and stock of the Mechanics Bank, and accounts of the Newburyport Academy and the First Religious Society. John's military papers document his membership in the Washington Light Infantry Company and his activities as adjutant of the Massachusetts Militia 6th Regiment 2nd Brigade 2nd Division. These papers include notices, correspondence, accounts, and memorials regarding the disbanding of the Regiment in 1817. Also of interest are lists of warrant officers, commissioned officers, guards on Plum Island, and substitutes for drafted men. Of note in the miscellaneous papers are copied religious correspondence of John Q. Adams, a memorandum book of sermons preached in 1797, and the will of Rowley, Massachusetts, resident, Anna Hunter, of whose estate John was executor.

Series IV. Charles Hodge Hudson (1812-1898) Papers document his hardware stores in Newburyport and Roxbury, his involvement in telegraph companies, his activities as Probate Court Register, his inventions, and his interest in the First Religious Society and politics. Subseries A. Hardware Store Records consist primarily of orders, and account and inventory books from Charles' Newburyport store at #5 West Row.

Subseries B. Telegraph Company Records document the companies for which Charles acted as superintendent. The correspondence contains letters, circulars, and editorials regarding line repairs, office regulations, prices, stock, errors in transmitting newspaper stores, and news of rampant competition among telegraph lines. The meeting minutes and charters include papers of the Boston & Newburyport, Boston Salem & Newburyport, and Boston & Portland Telegraph Companies. The legal and court papers contain contracts, patent and sale deeds, and documents from stockholder and patent suits. The financial papers consists of monthly company balances, bills and receipts for the line's upkeep and repair, stockholders' shares and dividends, and rate of competitive companies. The miscellaneous papers include clippings, printed pamphlets, advertisements, and miscellaneous messages transmitted over the line.

Subseries C. Business and Personal Papers documents Charles' activities as a member of the Whig Party and the First Religious Society, a register of the Probate Court, and an inventor. Charles' correspondence includes political, register's and inventor's correspondence, as well as personal letters from his parents and siblings. The financial and legal papers contain personal accounts, Whig committee subscription lists, Probate Court papers, Charles' patent for an atomizer, and the charter of the Newburyport Screw Manufacturing Company, of which Charles was a founding member. The invention drawings include sketches of Charles' improved versions of skates, armor plating for ships, and a steamship engine signaling device base on the telegraph. The miscellaneous papers contain copied business correspondence of John T. Balch, miscellaneous notes and printed material from the Probate Court, and pamphlets describing Frederick Gisborne's engine signaling devices.

Series V. Family Papers contain business and personal papers of family members and genealogical notes. Anna (Rogers) Hudson's (d. 1831) papers consist of correspondence with her mother Mary Rogers, and her siblings, John and Mary. Also included are letters to her son, John Rogers Hudson (1784-1831). Letters to Anna from her daughter-in-law, Louise C. Hudson, may be found in Louise's papers (B9 F2). Henry Hudson's (b. 1787) papers document his personal and bookselling activities. Also include is a memorandum book noting sermons preached in 1799. Letters for Henry to his brother John (1784-1831) are located in Box 3 Folders 4 and5. Hanna (Balch) Hudson's (d. 1828) papers contain a diary, and correspondence with her sister, Elizabeth G. Balch. Louise C. Hudson's personal correspondence consists of letters to her mother-in-law, Anna (Rogers) Hudson, and her niece, Sarah H. Hudson. John Rogers Hudson's (b. 1810) papers include business and personal correspondence with John T. Balch, a shipping receipt book, and almanac diaries noting personal and political events, and arrivals and departures of vessels from Newburyport harbor. The miscellaneous family papers contain correspondence and accounts of Hudson, Balch, and Rogers family members. Of interest is a photograph of John Roger's portrait. The genealogies consist of notes and essays regarding the Hudson family in the 17th and 18th centuries, and a number of related Newburyport and Newbury families, such as the Fairfields, Davenports, Toppans, Atkinson, Sewalls, Dummers, and Greenleafs.

Series VI. Miscellaneous Papers contains personal and business correspondence, accounts, shipping memorandums, clippings, shorthand exercises, silhouettes, and poetry. Of interest is a 1778 Rhode Island army battle order plan, legal case materials regarding a seaman's loss of wages (circa 1842), an undated map of Newburyport, and a Lafayette badge.