Edith: The Beloved Baby Sister

My grandmother, Hattie Helen Hudson Thompson, was born on September 3, 1899, just before the dawn of the Twentieth Century. Her little sister, Edith J. Hudson, was born on May 28, 1915. Hattie was nearly 16 years old when Edith was born.

Their mother, Judie E Aldridge Hudson, would died on Dec 23, just before Christmas, in 1922. Grandma was adult by then, and married to her first husband, Eleazor McSwain, and just widowed, as he was is World War I and died the same year.

Judie died of bronchial pneumonia, following influenza. The same disease, pnuemonia, that would claim Edith in less than a decade.  Her youngest child, Edith, was only 7 years old.

I can tell how much my grandmother loved her little sister by all the photos she had of her. She had dozens and dozens of photos in her box of Edith at various stages of life. She even had photos of Edith in her white casket. I feel those were too morbid to copy. Instead, I chose to celebrate the life of a young girl who was full of it and whom my grandmother adored. She must have been like a second mother to Edith from birth, and after their mother's death, she must have become a primary caretaker.

Top row, my Grandmother, Hattie H. Hudson McSwain, her brother Walter and his girlfriend Annie B Talbert. Second row were friends Olon Carrol and Ila Biles. First row, the younger Hudson siblings, Craven Reece Hudson, who I knew as Uncle Ted, Aunt JoAnne, who would marry a Pruitt and move to Greensboro, North Carolina and little Edith. This picture, judging from the approximate ages of the children, was made while Grandma's first husband was in service and just before the death of their mother. The wind and the sweaters suggest early fall and Judie would die in December.

In this photo, Grandma designated Edith as 'almost 17.' She never saw 17. She passed away at 16.

Judith E Hudson
Age:	48
Birth Year:	abt 1872
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1920:	Ansonville, Anson, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Wife
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	James R Hudson
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Able to read:	Yes
Able to Write:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age James R Hudson 57 [54]  Judith E Hudson 48 Walter Hudson 18 Joe A Hudson 15 Cravan Hudson 8 Julia Hudson 5

This is the first census that Edith would show up in. She is the child Julia, her middle name, age 5. The Joe A Hudson is actually JoAnne Hudson and Craven is Uncle Ted, Reece Craven Hudson. The two older daughters, Bessie and Hattie are married by this time, and little Robert Lee, born in 1910, only lived a year.

Name:	Edith Hudson
Gender:	Female
Birth Year:	abt 1914
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Race:	White
Home in 1930:	North Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina View Map
Marital Status:	Single
Relation to Head of House:	Sister-in-law
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation: Education: Military Service: Rent/home value: Age at first marriage: Parents' birthplace:	View image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Will Thompson 24 Hattie Thompson 30 Edith Hudson 16 Tom Thompson 62 Tom Thompson 15

In the 1930 census, the family was counted twice. Grandma had already married my Grandpa, William Joseph Thompson, who was a little younger than she was, and they had moved to Albemarle. Living with them was Grandma's little sister Edith and Grandpa's father, Thomas Jefferson Thompson and his youngest brother, Tom Jr.  Being close in age, Tom and Edith may have been good friends.

Edith J Hudson
Gender:	Female
Birth Year:	abt 1914
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Race:	White
Home in 1930:	North Albemarle, Stanly, North Carolina View Map
Marital Status:	Single
Relation to Head of House:	Boarder
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Occupation: Education: Military Service: Rent/home value: Age at first marriage: Parents' birthplace:	View image
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Will Thompson 24 Hattie Thompson 30 Edith J Hudson 16 Tom J Thompson 61 Tom Thompson 15

This census taker made Edith a year older than she was. Maybe she had understood him to ask how old she would be on her next birthday instead of her last. He also designated her as a boarder instead of sister-in-law and he included her middle intial 'J".

The 'J'. I've seen in listed as standing for Julia and also as standing for Junior. As her mother's name was sometimes written as Julia instead of Judie and the fact that Judie's middle initial was E, perhaps her full name was Edith Julia Hudson, Jr. which was sometimes included with daughters named after their mothers.

Edith Junior Hudson
Event Type:	birth
Birth Date:	1914
Birth County:	Stanly
Parent1 Name:	Robert
Roll Number:	NCVR_B_C089_66002
Volume:	14-16
Page:	39

Edith and her brother Walter would be buried side by side under the same tombstone.