Orange Judd

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Orange Judd (July 26, 1822 – December 27, 1892) was an American agricultural editor and publisher. He was born of a rural family near Niagra Falls in Niagara County, New York. His grandfather, also named Orange Judd (1763–1844), came from Tyringham, Massachusetts and served in the Berkshire Militia in the Northern Campaigns. His father, Ozias Judd, fought at Black Rock in 1813.^[1]

In 1847 Judd graduated from Wesleyan University. After graduating he would take on several teaching positions, first at a high school in Portland, Connecticut in 1847, then at Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts from 1848 to 1849, then as a principal of a high school in Middletown, Connecticut in 1850. In 1850 he began studying analytical and agricultural chemistry at Yale for the next three years. In 1852 he took a job lecturing on agriculture in Windham County, Connecticut until 1853.^[2]

In 1853 he was made editor of the American Agriculturalist, and later owner and publisher in 1856. In 1856 Judd moved to Flushing, New York where he lived until 1871. Judd championed the idea of clear and concise writing in journals, and was able to turn a paper of scientific jargon into something any literate farmer was able to understand. His success helped make into one of the leading agricultural papers in the nation, going from a circuation 1000 in 1856, to over 100000 in 1864.^[3][4] However the paper was hard hit by the depression of 1873, and was failing by 1879. He would stay there until 1881, alongside being the agricultural editor of the New York Times from 1855 to 1863. He became the principal member of the firm Orange Judd and Company, located in Chicago, which focused on publishing agricultural and scientific books, as well as "The Hearth and Home" from 1970 to 1973.

Judd traveled in Europe in 1862, and in 1863 he served on the United States Christian Commission in Gettysburg, then in 1864 with the United States Sanitary Commission, later with the Army of the Potomac. However he was later brought home due to illness where he reached almost the point of death. In 1866 he became president of the Alumni Association of Wesleyan, a position he held until 1881. He again traveled to Europe in 1871 with his family through numerous countries. From 1868 to 1869 he became president of the New York, Flushing, and North Side Railroad, as well as the New York and Flushing Railroad, in which he became actively engaged in their construction efforts.

Around this time he began to take a greater interest in the affairs of Wesleyan University. He edited their first edition of the "Alumni Record". In 1871 the Orange Judd Hall of Natural Science was opened through his own work, and held the office of trustee from 1871 to 1881. They would also create the first agricultural experiment station in the country there through his donations.^[5] In September 1888, The Orange Judd Publishing Company bought another agricultural journal, James Hill's The Farmer, which was in financial trouble. Judd moved it to Chicago and renamed it the Orange Judd Farmer. However by 1891 Judd still owed Hill $15000, and all corresponence between them would later cease.^[6] He also became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

After 1871 changed his place of residence rather frequently, moving several times between Flushing and New York City, and spending time in Middletown, Connecticut. On account of his poor health he also made a long stay in Florida and lived for a time in Europe. Judd married twice, first to Sarah L. Ford of Boston in 1847, with whom he had four children, three of which died soon after birth, and again to Harriet Stewart of Lockport, New York, with whom he also had four children.^[2]

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