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Erasmus Darwin Hudson, Sr. was born December 15,1806 in Torringford (now part of Torrington), Connecticut, to Daniel and Rhoda Fowler Hudson. He studied medicine with Dr. Remus M. Fowler in New Marlboro, Massachusetts, and continued his studies at Berkshire Medical College (Pittsfield, Massachusetts), a branch of Williams College, where he received his M.D. in 1827. That same year Hudson married Martha Turner, daughter of Deacon Isaac and Martha Humphrey Turner of Marlboro, MA. They had two sons, Erasmus Darwin , Jr. (1843-87) and Daniel Wyatt.
He had a private medical practice in Bloomfield, CT in 1828 to 1833 and worked as a physician and surgeon at the Connecticut State Emigrant Hospital. During that time, he became involved in temperance advocacy, philanthropic work and the Connecticut Anti-Slavery Society, later as the Society's lecturing agent (1838-39) and as the National Anti-Slavery Society's general agent (1839-50). . In 1850 Hudson became a general and orthopedic surgeon in Springfield, Massachusetts, then in New York City through 1880.
During the Civil War Hudson served on the Commission from the Surgeon General of the United States Army for the treatment of wounded soldiers in need of amputation and resection at a number of military hospitals. During this time he invented an orthopedic apparatus for which he received awards. Erasmus Darwin Hudson died of pneumonia on December 31, 1880 in Riverside, Greenwich, Connecticut.
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The Hudson Family Papers relate primarily to physician, abolitionist, and social reformer Erasmus Darwin Hudson, Sr. His correspondence (1825-65) to and from family and friends includes commentary on anti-slavery and Civil War era events and personalities. Notable correspondents or individuals mentioned include abolitionist and women's rights advocate Abigail Kelley Foster, social reformers Parker Pillsbury and Wendell Phillips, and clergyman Theodore Parker. Other items of interest are E.D. Hudson Sr.'s address "Intemperance" (1828), a manuscript and typescript of his journal, "Anti-Slavery Campaign" (1842-43), and E.D. Hudson, Jr's 1864 address, "Conquest Through Self Conquest."
The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.
Copyright to the works created by Hudson Family members is unknown. Copyright to materials authored by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Hudson Family Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
The Hudson Family Papers were given to the Sophia Smith Collection by an unknown donor circa 1963. Additional papers of the Hudson Family are housed at the Department of Special Collections and Archives, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Further processing done, and finding aid revised, by Annie-Sage Whitehurst, Fraenkel intern, 2009