Washington E. Hudson

Early life Washington Elias Hudson was born on October 8, 1866, in Neeley's Bend (Davidson County), Tennessee, to Horatio Hudson and Nannie Hudson. His father died in 1882. He attended the Woolwine Training School in Nashville and graduated from South Kentucky College in 1890. He studied law at Vanderbilt University graduating in 1892. He married Annie Dade on May 8, 1894. He served as an assistant district attorney between 1895 and 1902, when he moved to Lawton in Oklahoma Territory. He briefly moved to Frederick, Oklahoma in 1907 and Tulsa in 1912.

Oklahoma Legislature In 1914, Hudson was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives representing Tulsa County as a member of the Democratic Party. He was a supporter of Governor Robert L. Williams and chaired the oil and gas committee in the house. Hudson helped draw up the impeachment articles for A. P. Watson and served as a prosecutor during his impeachment trial. He helped secure funding for Langston University in 1915. In 1943, William Rogers incorporated Hudson's school into the University of Tulsa College of Law.

Family Hudson's son, Robert D. Hudson, served as a district judge in Tulsa County. The Tulsa-based American Inns of Court chapter was named after Hudson from 1987 until 1995, when his name was dropped from the association due to his Ku Klux Klan ties.