Published Chapters

In 1992, I began to publish the material I had been organizing and transcribing since 1984. I calculated that there would be 50 "chapters," each one self-published as a perfect-bound booklet. By the time I reached Chapter 14, with two unnumbered chapters of additional material, I had edited and written many hundreds of pages, and work came to a halt. Many of the original documents from the published segment of the collection now reside in museums and libraries. First the blog (too slow and cumbersome), and now the web page, are attempts once again to organize and make the materials more widely available. The original work was entitled, Hudson, Joy & Jameson, In Their Own Words, 1610-1984. Their "own words" really began in the 1840s, and although Jameson was the family name in the later generations, most of the letters are from the earlier Hudson and Joy years. My ancestors among these people are George Lewis Joy and Ella Louise Skinner along with George Lewis Joy's parents. George's sister, Helen, married N.C. Hudson, and it was these two people who wrote most of the material and saved the letters.

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SYNOPSES OF CHAPTERS

• RIGHT click any link to download, LEFT click to read online. (If you have a Mac, you know what to do.)
  

Please download the Addenda published with Chapters 2 to 14. In these addenda I corrected several errors and added much new information.

Chapter 1: "Foundations in Vermont," 1610-1846 (72 pages)
This chapter introduces the main characters (real people, not fictional), eight people who exchanged letters and maintained friendships for many decades. Among the eight there were various pairings in marriage and in business. Some background and genealogy is given, along with several early documents.

Chapter 2: "Into the World," 1846-1848 (38 pages)
In letters and journals we follow young N.C. Hudson as he tries his fortunes in the big city of New York, peddles Bibles and other goods in New Jersey, and finally returns to his home state, Vermont, where he hopes to make a more financially profitable second start.

Chapter 3: "Schooling in Townshend: Hudson Meets Joy," December 1849-August 1851 (64 pages)
N.C. Hudson moves to Townshend, Vermont, to attend the prestigious Leland Seminary, a school which was also attended by the three Joy children: Leonard, George Lewis, and Helen. Hudson not only met the Joys, but boarded with them and became friends with all the family. Leland attracted students from all over New England, and the atmosphere was cosmopolitan and stimulating. Many interesting contacts were made here; this is also the part of our story in which the letters begin to become much more animated and conversational.

Chapter 4: "Alliances," February-September 1851 - Part 1 (pages 1-95), Part 2 (pages 96-155)
We learn more about the network of friendships and aquaintances maintained by N.C. Hudson and the Joys. Benjamin Howe (a friend who has written many of the letters in our collection) describes conditions in the South; Leonard Joy talks about his introduction to college; and Nathaniel begins keeping the journal that will depict his life through teaching in Georgia, through law school, through falling in love, until he reaches Iowa as a fledgling lawyer in 1856.

Chapter 5: "Passions and Politics," October 1851-December 1852 (32 pages)
We hear about George Lewis Joy's involvement in running a general store, and speculate on what he was doing in Boston. We'll witness the conclusion of N.C. Hudson's schooling in Townshend, including his valedictory speech, and we hear him declaim vociferously as his hackles are raised over politics. He also gives a scathing review of the local purveyors of slander. In addition, we meet Henrietta C. Clarke, the doctor's daughter, with whom Hudson had fallen quietly and hopelessly in love.

Chapter 6: "Vows and Good Resolves," January 1852-June 9, 1852 (35 pages)
We read more news from Ben How in Georgia (who has changed the spelling of his name), and find that George Lewis Joy has returned to Townshend and begun working in the dry goods business of Cheney & Joy. N.C. Hudson continues to study Latin and Greek, and makes his periodic rounds of nearby villages during vacations.

Chapter 7: "The Sources of Rivers," June 14, 1852-September 20, 1952 (45 pages)
We see N.C. Hudson's reaction to the death of one of his heroes, the great statesman Henry Clay, and hear arguments about another of his heroes, Horace Greeley. We read a letter from John Blandin describing life in Boston, and one from Maria A. Goodnow describing history in Hartford. Ben How tells us more about his experiences in Georgia and anticipates a reunion with Nathaniel. Windham County celebrates the nation's 76th birthday, and on the very eve of entering college, N.C. Hudson makes one of the most tormented decisions of his life.

Chapter 8: "Body in Georgia, Soul in Vermont," September 20-December 31, 1852 (29 pages)
N.C. Hudson travels south and tells us about his trip. He finds work teaching in Marion, Twiggs County, Georgia, and preserves letters from his old friends in Vermont so we may read them a hundred and forty years later. George Lewis Joy is finally baptized in Townshend and writes his sister (now in Boston) a most passionate description of his experience.

Chapter 9: "True Friends, Peculiar Institutions," January-June, 1853 (42 pages)
We read a rare letter from Mr. and Mrs. William Howe Joy to their daughter, Helen, and a second one from Mr. Joy alone. N.C. Hudson writes to Leonard Joy, describing his school in the South. Leonard has decided to count himself as "one of those, whose God is the Lord," and writes to tell Helen about it. Frank Glazier more than hints that he and Hudson were devoted pranksters during their days at Leland Seminary. There is a many-page description of "housewashing" in Georgia - an event which, Hudson tells us (if we were to take him seriously), nearly brought him to the door of death. Hudson admits who broke his heart in Townshend, but he gets over it enough to begin writing poems to a southern belle. We hear by letter from Aunt Sarah Stopne, and Helen travels back and forth between Townshend and Boston in the pursuit of her musical studies.

Chapter 10: "Slander in the Moral Village," July-December, 1853 (47 pages)
In Chapter 10, there are lots of letters. Hudson describes a Georgian "barbecue," and we read letters from most of his friends: F.R. Palmer, E.P. Locke, J.W. Blandin, Ben Howe, C.A. Hodges, F.J. Glazier, and Benjamin Fullerton. Tuberculosis is becoming an epidemic and "death is doing his work all around us." Palmer, Hudson and Hudon's brother fall under the slanderous tongues of Townshend. Hudson admits his love for Netty Clarke, but gets over his heartbreak enough to fall for a young woman in Georgia. Helen is courted by at least one suitor, and cousin George Leonard talks about it. Helen finishes school in Boston and begins teaching in Townshend. Nathaniel writes a long letter to Mrs. Joy and makes plans to visit with Ben How and with his brother William. Friends are surprised by the marriage of George Lewis Joy to Ella Louise Skinner, and they begin giving ther opinions of her, which are generally good, and often amusing.

Chapter 11, "The Skinners of Windsor," has not been completed. It was intended to be (or will be) a discussion of the ancestry and early life of Ella Louise Skinner.

Chapter 12, "A Good One or None at All," 1854 (79 pages)
N.C. Hudson continued teaching school in Georgia and began to study the law at home, appreciating and writing essays about the thoughts of prominent English lawyer, William Blackstone. But he confides that he would rather "read poetry and write letters." One of "that memorable four," of whom Hudson was one, passes from "this dark world," and the other three continue their friendship in letters. Hudson observes events leading to the Civil War as a resident of Georgia while keeping his soul alive in communications with the north. He confides his feelings to both Mr. and Mrs. Joy, saying among other things that he will never teach school again, as it is "killing me by inches;" his relationships strengthen with all members of the Joy family. Talk of marriage is rampant in all quarters, and upon the subject of women, Mr. Joy tells Hudson that he should be sure to "get a good one or none at all."

Chapter 13: "The Letter," 1855 (91 pages)
With so many fascinating letters in the collection, one might wonder how any single chapter can be designated, "The Letter." I think anyone will agree after reading it that this letter is, indeed, unique. On November 14, 1855, fresh out of law school (a six-month course) in Poughkeepsie, New York, and having returned to his native Vermont, N.C. Hudson pled his most important case - not in front of a judge or jury, but on paper - and not to a court of law, but to his future wife. Of course, there were many other wonderful correspondences written in 1855, and they fill the better part of 91 pages.

Chapter 14: "A Change of Heart," January-June, 1856 - Part 1 (pages 1-94), Part 2 (pages 95-131) (131 pages)
Ella Fletcher gives Helen her opinion on whether to marry Nathaniel Hudson. Ben Howe moves further west and writes about customs and turns of phrase in his new locale. Nathaniel gets his head examined once again (phrenology is all the rage), and we hear directly from friends and relatives who we have only known by name until now. Hudson makes an adventurous crossing of the cold and muddy state of Iowa, ending up in Sioux City, where he engages in a famous murder trial - all the while managing to find time to write love letters to Helen.

THINGS TO COME

Chapter 15: "Life in the West," July-August (?), 1856
Since Chapter 15 has been largely compiled but not yet edited or printed, I have chosen to use its material as the starting-point for publishing the text of the Hudson/Joy material on this blog. In that case, the synopsis of Chapter 15 becomes a teaser of the first documents in the series:

In July and August, 1856 (more than 40 pages), Hudson tells us more about the booming and flourishing condition of Sioux City. Indians, steamboats, land sales, the Kansas conflict, law and politics all play a part. He experiences a wonderfully wild night on the prairie during a thunderstorm with some interesting companions. In Townshend, Leonard has "got up a flirtation" with the woman he will marry. Ben How returns home, comments on George Lewis Joy and his "fair lady," then goes south again by way of Cuba, writing Hudson a fascinating account of his trip. Last, but not least, we read a poignant deposition taken of some Indians and their struggle with unscrupulous government agents. Whether Hudson took the deposition himself or copied it for some reason is not clear. In any event, it is a moving account in the words of those who lived it.

ADDITIONAL PUBLISHED MATERIAL

The Civil War Letters of Napoleon Bonaparte Hudson (95 pages)
Edited and compiled by Sheryl Todd. (See also Napoleon Bonaparte Hudson's ancestry chart.)

Bernice Remembers (Interviews and Memoirs) (23 pages)
My grandmother, Bernice Jameson Todd, lived from 1891 to 1993. This booklet describes some of her memories about life and family in Corona, California, as told in her written notes and in interviews with Sheryl Todd and Helen Todd Hewitt between about 1975 and 1984. One interview included information given by Bernice's sister, Adelaide Jameson David. Bernice was the granddaughter of George Lewis Joy and Ella Louise Skinner Joy, mentioned in the chapters above.

Sally Tooker and Her Ancestry: A Recent Breakthrough, by Bradner Petersen (24 pages)
This booklet begins, "The quest to locate Sally Tooker and her ancestry has been a long one, partly because of some inaccurate information and leads." Sally Tooker was the grandmother of George Lewis Joy and our connection to the Howe (How) Family. Most of the book comprises genealogical charts along with Brad's illuminating and to-the-point explanations. Brad compiled and wrote the booklet, and I self-published it along with the above chapters in 1995.



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