John Belchor, the son of Enoch who was born in 1818 in Verona, New York State, was born in Hudson. He married Lucena as it was spelled by the census taker. She was a member of the Van Akin or Vanakin family. Variations in the spelling of both her first and last name occur frequently in the census taker’s recording. Later census records spell her first name as Lucinda and Lucina. This confusion in spelling can be traced to the 1600’s and its Spanish origins. (Margaret’s family could also trace their origins to the English court of Henry VIII. Jane Seymour was one of her ancestors traceable through Lucinda‘s mother‘s family. The Spanish ancestors traced through Lucinda‘s father and the last date of their tracing was around 1550). Only a few people living in Hudson at that time would be able to trace their pedigree back to Spain, or the court of Henry VIII. Lucena was one of those few. In fact, her family’s origins could be traced back to the banks of another body of water. In another irony of history, the water, a river was also named Hudson and flowed through the State of New York
Just as the Hudson River meandered through the valleys and hills, so did her ancestor’s heritage. Tracing their roots through Spanish, Dutch, German and English forbearers, Lucena‘s family stepped on the shores of the new world in the mid 1600‘s. Some would live and die long before the new land struggled for independence. Some would die on the eve of the American Revolution. And some would travel to the wild forests of Michigan, to do what they had done once before two hundred years earlier, settle on new land. William H. H. VanAkins and members of his family were the original settlers to the Bean Creek area according to the Hudson historical records published during the early 20th century. Therefore being born of this new place and now the second generation to live in Bean Creek, John Belchor and Lucena Van Akins settled in the Hudson Township after their marriage and began to farm the land.
Their story did not end with “and happily ever after”. When Lucinda was 30 years old, John died. His death occurred shortly before the 1860 census. When the census was taken for the Hudson Township Lucinda listed herself as “widowed”. She was also left with land to farm and four children; W. Thomas, 10; Homer, 8; Carrie, 3 and Hiriam 8 months old. The 30-year-old widow was not going to sit idly by and watch her farm die, even if her children were still too young to work the land. And though she refused to succumb to the tragedy of the one death, tragedy would have its own last word. Hiriam, the youngest and the last of her children with John, died one year later in 1861. How she managed to keep her farm going is not known. Yet, she did and it prospered
By the time Lucena was 40 years old the tenacity of her ancestors was evident in her will to survive. She had by 1870 married again and kept her property in her own name. Her oldest son, W. Thomas was 20 years old and earning his living as a musician. Homer was 18 years old and worked her farm and Clara was 13 years old on the edge of womanhood and helping to care for the newest member of the family. Lucena was now married to Samuel King and at 40 years of age was starting a brand new family. Samuel was 2 years old and Mary, the baby was 11 months old.
Samuel King was born in England in 1820. How or why he came to America is not clear. It is difficult to piece together the journey he took from England to Michigan and eventually to Hudson. He may have had another wife; the census records list another Samuel that is similar. This person also was listed as having three children, yet there is no mention of them in connection with Margaret’s life. He was living in Hudson when he and Luecena married in 1865. Whatever the circumstances surrounding his path to Bean Creek, he was by 1870 an established farmer. At 50 years of age, his farm was worth $3,000 and his personal wealth was listed as $300. Lucena, strong and independent, a quality she would pass on to her youngest daughter, owned more property then the man she married and had gained more personal wealth in the years that followed her first husband’s death. Her farm was valued at $4,100 and her personal property was listed as $400. She had done remarkably well for herself and family.
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