Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/780

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY


third wife was Harriet (Anderson) Hudgins, of Bellefield, Mathews county, Virginia, a daughter of Colonel Robert Anderson, re- tired, of the British army. The elder son of the third wife. Robert Hudgins, inherited "Lamington" from his father. He married Harriet Jones, of King ^\'illiam county, a daughter of Thomas Jones, a wealthy plant- er, and thus two great fortunes were joined. Children : Benjamin Franklin, of further mention below ; Ella, married James Dor- sey ; John; Selena, married Sidney Nichols; Annie, married Robert Drury. and Robert, who still lives in Hampton, and owns "Bloomfield," a plantation adjoining "Lain- iiigton," on Back river.

Benjamin Franklin Hudgins. son of Rob- ert and Harriet (Jones) Hudgins. was born .November 12, 1831. in Mathews county. Vir- ginia, and attended a noted school taught by Colonel John B. Cary. at Hampton, and later the Virginia Military Institute. Fol- lowing this he was engaged in farming on a large scale, until the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1861 he was captain of the Hamp- ton Grays, which enlisted for service in the war. and was afterwards transferred to the Old Dominion Dragoons, in which he was a captain and aide-de-camp on the staff of General Pryor. He was very fortunate in his military service, escaping without any serious injuries after a four years' service. His brother Robert was also a soldier at the same time, in the Old Dominion Dragoons. Returning to his farm at Lexington, Benja- min F. Hudgins continued there until 1881, when he removed to the city of Hampton, and there engaged in the feed and fuel busi- ness until his death. He was a prominent man in the community, and active supporter of the Democratic party, served as a mem- ber of the town council, and was urged to be a candidate for mayor, which he refused. He was a faithful and influential member of the Episcopal church, in which he served nine years as warden, and later as vestry- man. He died at Hampton in 1894. He married. November 14. 1855, Rebecca Bland Worsham. who was born in March, 1831. in Dinwiddie county. Virginia, and died in 1885. Children: i. Maria Bland, married. May 28. 1884. Flenry Clay Marrow, and is the mother of Henry Franklin Marrow, born in 1886. in Hampton, educated at the Catholic College. Virginia Polytechnic In- stitute and William and Mary College; after


pursuing the study of medicine for two years, he was obliged to abandon it on ac- count of feeble health, and engage in out- door activities ; he then became associated with his uncle. Kenneth W. Hudgins, in the fuel and builder's supply business, in which he has continued to the present time. 2. Benjamin Franklin, born May g, 1861, at Lamington, where he attended the district school, and received instruction from a pri- vate tutor ; after a course in a business col- lege at Richmond, he went to Florida, where he engaged in cotton raising and the grow- ing of oranges and grape fruit ; he is now a jirominent citizen of that state, a leading Democrat, and affiliated with his family with the Episcopal church ; he married, in I'ebruary, 1890. Lulie Holliday. and they huxe children : Rebecca Bland, born No- vember 28. 1890; Birdie. May. 1892; Selena Maud. May, 1894; Laura, 1896; Fannie Worsham, November. 1899; Marie, 1901 ; Virginia, 1903; Franklin. 1905; Lelia, 1909; Holliday, August 30, 1910. 3. Kenneth Worsham. of further mention below. 4. Ashley Cooper, of further mention below.

Kenneth Worsham Hudgins was born .'^eptember 29. 1866, in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, where he was educated in the pub- lic schools and under private tutors, and was later a student at Washington-Lee Univer- sity and Colonel Carter's noted school in King William county, Virginia. On leaving school he engaged in farming until 1891. when he removed to Hampton, and engaged in the sale of fuel and builder's supplies, in association with his father, who had estab- lished the business in 1881. On the death of the father, in 1894. he formed an associa- tion with his junior brother, Ashley C. Hudgins, under the style of Hudgins Brothers, and continued this business until 1912. when he purchased the interest of his brother, and has since conducted the busi- ness under the name of K. W. Hudgins, carrying all lines of coal. wood. sand, gravel, cement and various builders' supplies. Like his ancestors, he gives consistent fealty to the Democratic party, and is affiliated with fraternal bodies, including the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. No. 366. and the Royal .'\rcanum. He married, January 16, 1895. Mary Holmes Love; children: Elizabeth Love, born December 4. 1895 ; William S.. April 12. 1897; Roderick Mal- colm, May 12, 1904.