History
The east portion of the Hubbard House was constructed in 1857 by Silas Hubbard, a medical doctor who came to McLean County, Illinois, via Buffalo, New York, in 1855. In 1856, Silas Hubbard and Julianna Frances Read had a son, born in Bloomington, Elbert Hubbard would go on to become a major American writer and philosopher.
The Hubbard House was built the year after Elbert was born when the Hubbards moved to Hudson, north of Bloomington. The Hubbards first occupied a farm house on the outskirts of Hudson but occupied the east portion of the Hubbard House, in town, by the next year. Elbert grew up in the house and attended school in the small village of Hudson. Later on in his life his writing would contain many scenes drawn from his boyhood experiences there. Around 1872, at the age of 16, Elbert Hubbard left Hudson for Buffalo and a job as a partner in a soap company where he earned a "modest fortune." The same year the additional west portion of the house was constructed. It was in 1892 that Hubbard suddenly gave up the soap industry and decided to become a writer. In 1899 Hubbard published the famous and widely reprinted essay, "A Message to Garcia," by 1913 an estimated 40 million copies had been published.
Construction on the Hubbard House's two story front elevation began around 1872 at the urging of Mrs. Hubbard who felt the family had outgrown the small cottage that occupied the site from 1857 until 1872. Despite her desires and Silas Hubbard's prominent position as the only doctor in Hudson, the family had little money with which to pursue the addition to their home. Hubbard was known not to push his clients for payment. In response, Elbert and his mother pored over Silas' records searching for any one they thought might be able to make payment through labor or construction materials. Elbert, already a considerable salesman by 1872, then rode about McLean County to obtain cash, materials and promises of labor from his father's clientele. Soon the new section of the house was completed.
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