William Hudson was born in Maryland but became a resident of New York. He served in the U.S. Navy and as a merchant seaman. He was last at sea aboard
the Ship Prince
Albert in 1853. After being injured on the Ship Prince Albert, William Hudson became a resident of Sailors' Snug Harbor on October 8th, 1854. He would remain at the Harbor for 20 years and 11 months. He is buried at Snug Harbor Cemetery,
Plot 2, Row 5, Grave # 13. This gives William Hudson a burial marker on the cemetary map as 904.
William Hudson served on
USS Constellation after the rebuilding her hulls and decks. The Constellation was launched from Elizabeth River, Chesapeake Bay Virginia, on July 16, 1829 (Footner,151). In command of the Constellation was Alexander Scammel Wadsworth. The Constellation went to New York Harbor to pick up the American Minister to England, Louis McLane, and the Minster to France, William C. Rives, and James Biddle (Footner, 151). James Biddle was under orders to take command of the Mediterranean Sea Squadron. The passage to England was under rough seas, and the Constellation almost lost one seaman, who fell overboard. The Constellation arrived in England in early September. The ship left English Waters and set sail for France on September 20, 1829, and reached Le Havre the next evening and transferred the minister and his family to a Harbor Steamer (Footner, 152). The Constellation then headed to the Mediterranean. Once in the Mediterran Constallation began duty in protecting American Merchant Vessels. The Constallation would serve two years in the Mediterranean and return to the United States in November of 1831 (Footner, 153). William Hudson then served on
the USS Peacock, which was under the command of C.K. Stribling. The Peacock sailed to Brazil and then around
the Cape
of Good Hope to Zanzibar to ratify two treaties (Navel History and Heritage Command). In 1838, the Peacock came under a new Captain
William L. Husdon.The Peacock would join
Wilkes US Exploratory Mission and William Hudson would be aboard.
The USS Peacock on July 17 – 19, 1841, would be wrecked on a bar of the Columbia River in Oregon (Wilkes, 492). All of the crew members, including William Hudson, were rescued and most of the scientific equipment (Wilkes,494). William Hudson, soon after the sinking of
the Peacock, would go on to work as a merchant sailor until injured in 1853.
Excerpt from United States Exploring Expedition, Wilkes
"Mere description can give little idea of the terrors of the bar of the Columbia: all who have seen it have spoken of the wildness of the scene, and the incessant roar of the waters, representing it as one of the most fearful sights that
can
possibly meet the eye of a sailor. The difficulty of its channel, the distance of the leading sailing marks, their uncertainty to one acquanted with them, the want of knowledge of of the strength and direction of the currents, with the
necessity of approaching close to unseen dangers, the transition from clear to turbid water , all cause doubt and mistrust" (Wilkes,293).
- Drawn by Agate,A.T., Engraved by House, T.. The Wreck of the Peacock , United States Exploring Expedition: Durring the Years 1838-1842, Vol IV, Charles Wilkes U.S.N., New York, George P. Putman, 1851.
- Footner, Geoffrey. USS Constellation - From Frigate to Sloop of War, Navel Institute Press Annapolis, Maryland, 2010.
- Navel History and Heritage Command. Peacock Sloop of War, August 19, 2015, URI: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/peacock-i.html .
- William Hudson, IDENTIFIER: SSHRegisterA_Inmate70_Hudson_William_H.jp2, ABSTRACT: Register page of Sailors' Snug Harbor resident William H. Hudson, date created: September 15 1869, Sailors’ Snug Harbor, New York (State), Staten Island,
the collection is on permanent loan at the Stephen B. Luce Library of SUNY Maritime College, URI: SUNY Maritime Digital Archive : Text : William H. Hudson Register Page [SSHRegisterA_Inmate70_Hudson_William_H.jp2]
(maritimedigitalcollections.com)
- Wilkes, Charles, U.S.N.. Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, Durring the years 1838,1839,1840,1841,1842, VolIV,George P. Putnam, New York, 1851
Suggested Book
Reynolds, William,
The Private Journal of William Reynolds: United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842, Penguin Books, New York, 2004.
