Thomas Richard Hudd (October 1, 1835 – June 22, 1896) was an American lawyer from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

who represented that state for two terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, as well as serving in both houses of that state's legislature and holding other public offices.

Background

Hudd was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

on October 1, 1835 ''Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River Valley Counties of Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of Many of the Early Settled Families''. 1895. Chicago: J. H. Beers, pp. 109–110. to immigrants from England: his father Richard Hudd was a painter and decorator from

Lacock Lacock is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) south of the town of Chippenham, and about outside the Cotswolds area. The village is owned almost in its entirety by the National Trust a ...

, and his mother Mary née Harrison was from Barby. After the drowning death of his father in 1841, Hudd moved with his mother to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, in 1842 and to

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, in 1853. He attended the

common schools A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary o ...

and

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducation ...

in Appleton. He worked as a "printer boy" in the office of the ''

Appleton Crescent ''The Post-Crescent'' is a daily newspaper based in Appleton, Wisconsin. Part of the Gannett chain of newspapers, it is primarily distributed in numerous counties surrounding the Appleton/Fox Cities area. History ''The Appleton Crescent'' was f ...

'', studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1856, and went into practice in Appleton.

First public offices

He served as

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Outagamie County Outagamie County is a county in the northeast region of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 190,705. Its county seat is Appleton. Outagamie County is included in the Appleton, WI Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

in 1856 and 1857. He was first elected to the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

in 1861 for a two-year term from the

Wisconsin Senate, District 22 The 22nd Senate District of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin State Senate. Located in southeast Wisconsin, the district comprises parts of eastern Kenosha and Racine counties, including most of the cities of Racine and Kenos ...

(

Door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

, Oconto, Outagamie and Shawanaw '' ic' counties) as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

(Democratic incumbent Benjamin Ferguson was not a candidate). He was defeated for re-election in 1863 by Joseph Harris, who was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

/ Union Party candidate. He was elected to the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

's Outagamie County seat in 1867, succeeding fellow Democrat W. H. P. Bogan, but did not run for re-election, since he was leaving the county. The seat was taken by

C. E. McIntosh Charles Eduard McIntosh (April 13, 1838 – July 26, 1915) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and a Union Army soldier. Biography McIntosh was born on April 13, 1838 in Goderich, Ontario, Goderich, Canada West. He moved to what is now ...

, another Democrat.

Move to Green Bay

Hudd moved to

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

in 1868 and continued the practice of law there. He served as city attorney of Green Bay in 1873 and 1874, and in 1874 was elected to the Assembly's First Brown County district (the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Green Bay, and the

Towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

, Eaton, Green Bay, Humboldt, Preble and Scott) as a "Democratic Reform" candidate (the Reform Party was a short-lived

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

of Democrats,

reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Republicans, and

Grangers The Grange, officially named The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, is a social organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and ...

formed in 1873 which secured the election of one

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's army and air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Wiscons ...

and a number of state legislators). Incumbent Morgan L. Martin, a former

War Democrat War Democrats in American politics of the 1860s were members of the Democratic Party who supported the Union and rejected the policies of the Copperheads (or Peace Democrats). The War Democrats demanded a more aggressive policy toward the Con ...

turned

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

who aligned himself with the Liberal Republicans in opposing the re-election of

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

), was not a candidate. Hudd won 1,160 votes to 1,075 for Republican Hosmer Kellog Cowles. He was elected once more to the Senate, this time to the Second District (Brown,

and Kewaunee counties) for the 1876-1877 term, as a "Democratic Reform" candidate, winning 4018 votes to 2036 for Republican George Grimmer. In 1877 he was re-elected as a Democrat (the Reform coalition having collapsed by then), with 1874 votes to 1593 for Republican State Representative William Fisk and 638 for Greenbacker B. F. Smith. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1879, and was succeeded by Republican Speaker of the Assembly David M. Kelly. Hudd served as a delegate to the

1880 Democratic National Convention The 1880 Democratic National Convention was held June 22 to 24, 1880, at the Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, and nominated Winfield S. Hancock of Pennsylvania for president and William H. English of Indiana for vice president in the United Stat ...

, and was elected once more to the Senate in 1881, in a new Second District consisting solely of Brown County. Kelly was not a candidate, and Hudd took back the seat with 2152 votes to 1777 for Republican State Representative James Rasmussen. He was re-elected in 1884 for what was now a four-year term, with 3,585 votes to 3,087 for Republican Charles W. Day.

Congress and after

On February 23, 1886, Hudd was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth Congress to fill the vacancy for

Wisconsin's 5th congressional district Wisconsin's 5th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in Wisconsin, covering most of Milwaukee's northern and western suburbs. It presently covers all of Washington and Jefferson countie ...

caused by the death of

Joseph Rankin Joseph Rankin (September 25, 1833January 24, 1886) was an American businessman and Democratic politician. He was elected to two terms as U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 5th congressional district, but died during his second term. Earlier i ...

; Charles Day succeeded him in the Senate seat they had contested. Hudd was reelected to the

Fiftieth Congress The 50th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1887, ...

and served from March 8, 1886, to March 3, 1889. He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior (Fiftieth Congress). He did not seek renomination in 1888, and resumed the practice of law. He died of a stroke in Green Bay on June 22, 1896, and was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery.Thomas Hudd, Wisconsin Historical Society
/ref>

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudd, Thomas Richard 1835 births 1896 deaths Politicians from Buffalo, New York Politicians from Appleton, Wisconsin Politicians from Green Bay, Wisconsin Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Lawrence University alumni Wisconsin lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin 19th-century American politicians Lawyers from Buffalo, New York 19th-century American lawyers