Ralph Erskine Hudson
Born: July 12, 1843, Napoleon, Ohio.
Died: June 14, 1901, Cleveland, Ohio.
Buried: Alliance, Ohio.
Hudson’s parents, Henry and Sarah Hudson, moved to Pennsylvania when Ralph was
a boy. Soon after the outbreak of the American civil war, Ralph enlisted in the
10th Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served over three years. After discharge from
the army, he became a successful music teacher. From 1872-1874, he was Professor
of Vocal Music at Mount Union College, and for the next quarter century lived in
the Mt. Union-Alliance, Ohio, area. For a while, he was in a real estate
partnership with Rev. D. D. Waugh. However, he was best known as a hymn writer
and music publisher, and for evangelism and temperance work. He was a lay
preacher and member of the Mt. Union Methodist Episcopal Church, and was one of
the few supporters of the Salvation Army when it struggled to gain a foothold in
Alliance in the mid-1880’s.
In 1897, Hudson moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he continued
to publish music, and to travel as an evangelist and temperance worker. In late
May, 1901, he left Cleveland for an extensive trip to promote his latest
songbook. He stopped in Upland, Indiana, to attend commencement exercises at
Taylor University, where he was a trustee. He stayed there several days and
delivered a lecture. Shortly after, he fell ill and died. At the time of his
death, he was a member of the Local Preachers Association, the Epworth Memorial
Church in Cleveland, and the Protected Home Circle.
Hudson’s works include:
Hymns