10–11.  Washington Judson was born in Byron Township, Kent County, Michigan, on Saturday, December 14, 1844, and died in Kent County, Michigan, on February 9, 1908. Mary Lynn McKenney was born in Westminster Township, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, August 16, 1850, and died in Kent County on July 31, 1883. She died in childbirth. They were both buried in Boynton Cemetery, Byron Township, Kent County, Michigan. They were married in Byron Township on Wednesday, March 17, 1875. She took the name Mary Lynn Judson. He is the son of Ella and Margaret/Nancy (Harmon) Judson. She is the daughter of Samuel A. and Elizabeth Jane (Norris) McKenney. They had five children:

His second marriage was to _____ _____.

The marriage of Washington and Mary is recorded on page 169 of Liber 04 of Record of Marriage, Kent County, Michigan:

After Mary Lynn died, the children were cared for by their aunt Caroline Dibble who lived about a quarter of a mile away.

In The City of Grand Rapids and Kent County, Up To Date, 1900, on page 805, is an entry on Washington Judson, parts of which are given here.

Mary (McKenney) Judson	Washington Judson

Washington Judson, of Byron township, Kent county, Mich., and a native of the county, was born December 14, 1844, only seven years after Michigan was admitted as a state of the Union, and since childhood has witnessed innumerable changes that have wrought from the wilderness a land of elevated civilization and transformed the desert into one great region of advanced cultivation. He is the fourth of six children—three sons and three daughters—born to Edla [Ella] and Nancy (Harman [Harmon]) Judson, and of these children there are four still living, vis: Caroline, widow of Rufus Dibble and a resident of Trowbridge Township, Allegan county; Emeline, wife of Luther Clark, who was a soldier in the Civil War, and is now a farmer at Jamestown, Ottawa county; Washington, the subject of this sketch, and Lewis, a married farmer of Byron township...

The Judson Children: Mable, Homer, Viola, and Rose

Washington Judson well remembers the old log cabin built by his father, and in which he was reared to manhood. There was but one schoolhouse in Byron township, and not a church, during his boyhood days, and at his birth there were not more than thirty families here. Byron Center was a quagmire, and where the Union depot now stands in Grand Rapids was a swamp, not worth more than $1 per acre. But that spot is now a great network of railroads running in all directions, carrying thousands of people each week and conveying millions of dollars' worth of the resources of Kent county to the uttermost parts of the civilized world. Washington can remember when he was first permitted to go with his father, with ox-team, to the then Indian trading-post—which is now a city of nearly 100,000 inhabitants. Canal and Monroe streets, of the city, known by the pioneers as Grabb's corners and now the chief thoroughfares, were unpaved and filled with mud, with scarcely a brick building on either street, and not one of the great factories of today was even dreamed of, nor was Campau square even given a thought. A little knoll, east of the site of the present Union depot, known as Whisky hill, has disappeared as if by magic; not a railroad existed in the place, but the Indians lounged around in great numbers, to collect their annuities from the government agent.

Mr. Judson, in his early farming days, used the old-fashioned four-fingered cradle and scythe in cutting grain, and the first threshing he ever did was with the primitive flail, the next was by tramping out the grain on the barn-floor with horses, in truly pioneer style.

Mr. Judson received his education in the little frame school-house, known as No. 2. The first log school-house No. 1, in the township of Byron, had a row of windows in one end, and the seats were slabs, with pegs for legs; No. 2 was the pride of the township, yet its methods were primitive, and the birchen rod and dunce-block were among its appliances. Some of the early pioneer amusements consisted of taffy-pulling, apple parings, log rolling, etc., and concluded with a dance, such as the Virginia reel, fisher's hornpipe, and so on.

Mr. Judson began laboring out at the age of 14 years, at $7 per month, and his earnings he promptly turned over to his father, but at his majority had saved about $200. He became an expert shingle packer and spend about seven years in the shingle and lumber mills of Ottawa county. He was always industrious and active, and willing at all times to undertake any work that would net him an honest dollar.

March 17, 1875, Mr. Judson wedded Miss Mary McKenney, and to this union have been born five children—two sons and three daughters—of whom four are still living, vis: Rose, who has completed the eighth grade in the public schools, with a per centage of 90; she has received instruction in music, and is also a member of the Rebekahs, Leah lodge, No. 171, at Byron Center and holds the office of vice-grand at the present time; Viola has passed the eighth grade, has received instruction in music, and is now the wife of Henry Sadler, of Georgetown, Ottawa county; Mabel[sic] has passed through the same course of instruction, and Homer, now in the eighth grade, also assists his father on the home farm.

Mrs. Mary Judson was born in Canada, August 16, 1850, and died in Kent county, Michigan, July 31, 1883. She was a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Jane (Norris) McKenney, and was a little girl when brought to Michigan by her parents... She was a model wife and mother, and although her married life was of short duration—but eight years—had always been her husband's faithful counselor and helpmate, and her departure was a sad loss to her husband and children, as well as to her neighbors, with whom she was a universal favorite.

Mr. and Mrs. Judson began their matrimonial life on the Judson homestead, which Mr. Judson had purchased with his own earnings. All the improvements hereon he has himself made and has now a most excellent farm, with a clay-loam soil, adapted to such fruit, grain and vegetables as are usual to the latitude...

The children of Washington and Mary Judson: Rose (and husband, Walter Gilbert) Mable (seated), Ola, and Homer (with wife, Agnes) Young Harry Gilbert looks on.

In politics Mr. Judson is democratic in sentiment, although he cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has held the office of township commissioner three different times, having been the first to be elect to that position, after the law was changed for one man to hold the office instead of three. He has always been a friend of public education, and for 12 years was a school official, and has always had the full confidence of his party and the public at large.

Fraternally, he a member of Halcyon lodge, No. 244, I.O.O.F., at Byron Center, and passed all the chairs, and also has acted as delegate to the grand lodge.

Mr Judson has been very public-spirited and liberal in promoting the advancement of Byron township, and has aided financially in the erection of four different churches in his immediate neighborhood, and the needy are never turned away empty-handed from his door. He and family are ranked with the better class of citizens of the township, and their personal merits have won for them the esteem of the entire community.

The following census record was found.

• Primrose (Judson) Gilbert
• The City of Grand Rapids and Kent County, Up To Date, 1900
• 1880 Census, Kent Co., Michigan, Archives film #587,vol 13, E.D. 130, sheet 9, line 17
• Liber 04, Record of Marriage, Kent County, Michigan, p. 169