William Hudson/Florence Pratt Theory.
Researching Ancestry, you will find a Mary G. Hudson in Boston. Her father being William Hudson from Canada. Her mother being Florence Pratt of Maine. It feels easy and probable that this is Mary Hudson’s family and that the error is simply in her middle name. But sadly, this isnt her family.
William and Florence Hudson married in Maine, moved to Boston and settled at 146 Massachusetts Ave where they spent their lives. Every Census shows they had one child, Mary G. Hudson who was born in 1873. But also interestingly, they also shared their home with Florence’s twin sister, Clara Pratt.
Every census confirms William, Florence, Clara and Mary living together until they passed. Mary was a public school teacher for all of her life. The last census showing she still lived at 146 Mass Ave with her aunt, Clara. Ultimately Mary passed at 71 years old and her obituary was int eh Botton Globe. She never married and was a teacher for over 50 years.
Thus, Mary G born of William Hudson is not our Mary Hudson.
Here is my working theory. As I have so many Pratt DNA connections and no Hudson connections, I wonder if our Mary D. Hudson was born to twin sister Clara and then given up for adoption. My theory is this. Clara became pregnant and unwed in Maine, didnt tell her family and in an effort to hide it, moved with her twin sister and her husband when they left for Boston. She gave birth later that year in 1872 and gave the baby up. Not wanting to identify the real father she assigned her brother in law’s name to the baby. A year later, her sister Florence gave birth to Mary G and there the four of them stayed and spent their lives.
This works as I have so many DNA Pratt connections but no Hudsons. What is problematic is that you have so many only children, which makes for fewer DNA connections. I have a lot of Pratts though. To further this theory, We would follow the DNA descendants of the two Mary’s as they would be cousins, but Mary G never had children so we lose that possibility and instead need to look for Florence’s other siblings. But anyways, that is my current working theory.
Coming next….An Theory about the issue of Middle names…..