Scott County Arkansas
Civil War Pension Applications
HENRY W.C. HUDGENS
Contributed by Walta Huard
Henry Hudgens is found on the 1850 Sevier County, Arkansas census in
Monroe Township, Dwelling #209, as the 19 year old son of Ambrose and
Martha Hudgens. Nearby at Dwelling #195 was his future bride, Lucy,
15 year old daughter of John and Jamima King. Henry W.C. Hudgens and
Lucy King were married in Monroe Township of Sevier County, Arkansas
on 29 May 1853 by Green Johnson, J.P. and the record is found in
Sevier County Marriage Book 2, page 3.
H.W.C. Hudgens enlisted in the Confederate army in Sebastian County,
Arkansas on 20 July 1862. His name appears on the Company Muster Rolls
of Company H, Cocke's Regiment of Arkansas Infantry through the
remainder of 1862 and into late 1863. The Company Muster Rolls for
November and December 1863 and January and February 1864 show he was
sick in the hospital at Washington.
After his discharge from the Confederate army he homesteaded land in
Scott County, Arkansas.
Homestead Affidavit}
No. 998}
Waldron, Scott Co., Ark., May 6th, 1868
I, Henry W.C. Hudgens, a citizen of Scott County, Arkansas,
having filed my application No. 998 for an entry under the provisions
of an act of Congress entitled "An Act to Secure Homesteads to Actual
Settlers on the public domain" do solemnly swear that I am a citizen
of the United States and that I am the head of a family and that I make
my application No. 998 for the purpose of actual settlement and
cultivation for my own exclusive use and benefit and not either
directly or indirectly for the use and benefit of any other person or
persons whomsoever and I further certify that I am unable to make
personal application at the Land Office on account of the distance.
Henry W.C. Hudgens
State of Arkansas}
County of Scott}
Sworn to and subscribed before me Clerk of the Circuit Court in and
for the county and state above named on this 6th day of May A.D. 1868.
L.D. Gilbreath, Clerk
Affidavit Required of Homestead Claimants
I, Henry W.C. Hudgens, having made a Homestead entry of the S 1/2
of the SE 1/4 section No. 26 in township No. 2 N, of range No. 31 west,
subject to entry at Clarksville, Ark., under the first section of the
Homestead Act of May 20th 1862 & March 14, 64, do now apply to perfect
my claim thereto by virtue of the first proviso to the second section
of said act; and for that purpose do solemnly swear that I am the head
of a family and a citizen of the United States; that I have made actual
settlement upon and have cultivated said land, having resided thereon
since the 27th day of May, 1868, to the present time; that no part of
said land has been alienated, but that I am the sole bona fide owner as
an actual settler; and that I will bear true allegiance to the Government
of the United States. That I have not heretofore perfected title on
abundance on [word] under this act.
Henry W.C. Hudgens
I, James A. Shipley, Register of the Land Office at Dardanelle, Ark.,
do hereby certify that the above affidavit was taken and subscribed
before me this 15th day of Dec., 1873.
Jas. A. Shipley, Register
Proof Required Under Homestead Acts May 20, 1862, and June 21, 1866.
We, Solomon Moore & William Henry do solemnly swear that we have
known Henry W.C. Hudgens for 6 years past; that he is the head of a
family consisting of a wife and 4 children, a citizen of the United
States; that he is an inhabitant of the South 1/2 of SE 1/4 of section
No. 26 in Township No. 2 N of Range No. 31 W and that no other person
resided upon the said land entitled to the right of Homestead or
Pre-emption.
That the said Henry W.C. Hudgens entered upon and made settlement
on said land on the 27th day of May, 1868, and has built a house
thereon and has lived in the said house and made his exclusive home
from the 27th day of May 1868 to the present time, and that he has,
since said settlement, plowed, fenced, and cultivated about 16 acres
of said land, and has made the following improvements thereon, to wit:
Set out orchard, dug well, built out buildings &c.
S.J. Moore
William (his "x" mark) Henry
Witness:
Wm. B. Turman
I, Jas. A. Shipley, Reg., do hereby certify that the above
affidavit was taken and subscribed before me this 15th day of Dec. 1873.
Jas. A. Shipley, Reg.
We certify that S.J. Moore & Wm. Henry whose names are subscribed
to the foregoing affidavit, are persons of respectability.
Jas. A. Shipley, Register
M.M. French, Receiver
Henry W. and Lucy Hudgens and their three oldest children are listed
on the 1870 Scott County census in Blansett Township. Their fourth
child, my grandmother, was born after the 1870 census but before the
1873 affidavit above. Their four children were Elizabeth, James, Joseph
and Sara "Sallie" Hudgens. Henry's brother William Hudgens was listed
on the 1870 Scott County census, "next door" to Henry's family.
On 13th April 1877 Henry W.C. Hudgens signed a non-mineral affidavit
for the above homestead. Between this time and prior to the 1880 census
his wife Lucy died and then Henry himself died, possibly their daughter
Elizabeth, as well. Neither Henry nor his wife Lucy lived long enough
to apply for a Civil War pension.
Return to Scott County Civil War Records