Biography - Hiram A. Hudgens
HIRAM A. HUDGENS. An honored resident of Goreville, Hiram A. Hudgens has
for twenty and more years been an important factor in advancing the
mercantile interests of this part of Johnson county, and as an enterprising
and keen-sighted merchant has never allowed anything to escape his
observation that might improve his methods of carrying on business or add to
the welfare and prosperity of the community. He was born January 31, 1868,
in Williamson county, Illinois, a son of the late Zachariah Hudgens.
A native of Tennessee, Zachariah Hudgens came to Illinois with his father,
John Hudgens, in 1855, locating in Williamson county. Imbued with a fine
spirit of patriotism, he enlisted during the Civil war in Company E, One
Hundred and Twenty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served for a
year, being commissioned first lieutenant of his company. Receiving his
honorable discharge from the army, he returned to Williamson county, and was
there employed in tilling the soil until accidentally killed by a locomotive
at Marion in 1902. He married Mary J. Corksey, who was born in Tennessee,
and died in Williamson county, Illinois, in 1888, succumbing to an attack of
typhoid fever. Ten sons and four daughters were born of their marriage, as
follows: J. B., of whom a brief account appears elsewhere in this work;
Robert L.; Hiram A., the special subject of this brief biographical review;
Joshua: Zachariah; Herman; Egbert; Hugh; Lee; Arthur; Emeranda, deceased,
married Dr. Theodore Hudson; Mrs. Mary E. McInturff; Mrs. Nancy P. T.
Nelson; and Alice, wife of T. A. Bradley.
After leaving the district schools Hiram A. Hudgens studied for two years in
Ewing College, in Ewing, Illinois, and in the fall of 1888 completed a
commercial course in a business college at Lexington, Kentucky. Locating
then in the old town of Goreville, Mr. Hudgens was there engaged in
mercantile pursuits until 1899, when he moved to the new town of Goreville,
where he continued in business as a partner in the firm of Hudgens & Bradley
until August, 1910. Since that time Mr. Hudgens has been in business alone,
having bought out the building and stock of his former partner. The building
is of brick, and he carries a fine stock of general merchandise, including a
good line of dry goods, groceries and boots and shoes, his investment,
including his stock of goods, exceeding seven thousand five hundred and
sixty dollars. Mr. Hudgens has acquired a substantial property, owning a
good residence in Goreville, and forty acres of land lying southwest of the
village. He is active in public matters, having been village treasurer since
the incorporation of the town, and is also treasurer of the school district.
Fraternally he is a member of Goreville Lodge, No. 528, Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, of Goreville.
Mr. Hudgens has been twice married. He married first, December 23, 1894,
Emma Mighell, a daughter of John and Hattie Mighell, early settlers of
Goreville. She died in 1904, leaving three children, namely: Eula, a student
in the Southern Illinois Normal University, at Carbondale; Gus; and
Genevieve. Mr. Hudgens married, September 20, 1907, Bertie Kelley, daughter
of John R. and Harriet Kelley, old and honored residents of Johnson county.
Extracted 14 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, pages 677-678.
