Commems Collection Classic: 1935 Hudson, NY Sesquicentennial - Extended Remarks In House

Representative John Joseph Cochran (D-MO), Chairman of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures, brought the 1935 Hudson, NY Sesquicentennial Half Dollar bill up for consideration in April 1935; the bill was quickly passed. Following the House's approval, Cochran extended his remarks regarding the coin bill by entering the Coinage Committee's Report into the Congressional Record. The Report included a a brief history/background of the city that was drafted by Philip Arnold Goodwin (R-NY) - the man who originally introduced the Hudson coin bill - and presented it in a letter to the Committee.

It stated:

A careful perusal of the journal of the voyage in 1609 of Henry Hudson, in his ship Half Moon, in his endeavor to find a short route via the Hudson River to the Empire of Cathay, shows that on his first visit, he landed at the site of what is now the city of Hudson, in the State of New York. The city bears his name.

Henry Hudson was an Englishman in the employ of the Dutch East India Co. He was the first white man to enter upon the site o! the present city of Hudson. History states, "It is a pleasant thought that his descendants have been residents o! our country."

The city of Hudson was originally embraced within the limits of the town of Claverack and of the county of Columbia formed in 1786, and was known as "Claverack Landing."

At an early period of the Revolution, the whale fisheries of Nantucket were broken up by the English marine. In 1783 a considerable number of the inhabitants, desirous of bettering their fortunes, determined to leave it and make a settlement somewhere upon the Hudson River, and these people entered into a compact with articles of agreement providing for its development. The site of the development was Claverack Landing. On February 17, 1785, it was voted that a petition be drafted to be laid before the legislative authority of the State for the purpose of incorporation, with city privileges.

The General Assembly in session in New York on the 22d of April 1785 granted the petition and the city of Hudson received its charter, becoming the third city in the State of New York. On May 28, 1810, the last meeting of the proprietors of the original company met and delivery of their books and plot of the city was made to the clerk of the city for the passage of a law by the legislature for confirmation of all the divisions made by them. At this time the population of the city was 5,000.

The people of the city of Hudson, descendants of these old Dutch and English families, are particularly proud of their old city and its traditions. A very unusual love and respect for their ancestors is existent, and it is my earnest hope that your Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures will grant to the city of Hudson the privilege of a commemorative coin on the anniversary of their one hundred and fiftieth birthday, after a history of loyalty and allegiance to the United States as one of the first cities of this country.

Though brief, the short history appears to have been a supportive factor in the coin's ultimate approval, as the Committee reported the bill favorably and included the letter of Hudson's history in its Report.

1935 Hudson, NY Sesquicentennial Half Dollar



For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more on the Hudson half dollars, see: Commems Collection.