Henry A. Hudson was born March 19, 1905 in Watertown to Paul B. and Laurine L. Powers Hudson. He attended Watertown schools.
He filed his law clerkship July 28, 1925 and began the study of law in the offices of attorney Charles A. Phelps of Watertown. He passed the Bar in 1929 and he became a partner in the Watertown firm of Phelps & Hudson.
Mr. Hudson was elected chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Committee in 1934 but resigned in 1935.
He joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1942.
In 1947, Mr. Hudson announced his candidacy for the now non-partisan mayoralty of Watertown against incumbent Mayor Charles Winslow. He won by 2,289 votes and served one term. He declined to run for a second term.
During his term as Mayor, Mr. Hudson designated a five-member Housing Authority Commission, which was vested with full powers, to consider housing needs, under New York State Public Housing Law, for the Watertown area. This was the start of the Watertown Housing Authority.
He was appointed Jefferson County Judge by Governor Thomas Dewey in 1951 and was sworn in as New York State Supreme Court Judge in 1953. He retired in 1977.
He was active in many charitable and civic organizations including the North Side Improvement League, Lincoln League, Black River Valley Club and Ives Hill Country Club.
Mr. Hudson first married Grendolene M. Hubbard who died in 1989. He married Josephine Clapp Taggart Roberts, granddaughter of Mayor Byron B. Taggart, in Watertown on April 4, 1991.
He died in the City of Watertown on October 13, 1995 at the age of 90. He is buried at Brookside Cemetery.
