| Hudson Gas - In 1933, at the age of twenty, Mary Hudson bought a gas station of $200 and established the Hudson Oil Company. Hudson became a Kansas City oil Mogul, building her company into one of the biggest distributors of petroleum products in the country. Her aggressive business style led to trouble in the 1980's when Hudson Oil rigged dispensers at its Kansas stations to short customers, and she was convicted of conspiracy to commit felony theft. Hudson died September 2, 1999 at the age of 86. |