Log of Ship's Voyage to America

Letters Back to England

Summary of Hodgson History

Newspaper Article on Hodgson Family (1913)

Newspaper Article on Athens businesses (1889) -- includes Talmedge and Hodgson (starts on 2nd page, fourth column)

Hodgson & Ends (architecture, authors, obits, etc.)

Slavery:  Photocopy of 1850 Census Slave Schedule showing that E.R. Hodgson owned eight slaves.

Before considering the descendants of Edward Reginald Hodgson, it is of interest to all of us to look behind July 13, 1846, the day of his birth, and see something of his forebearers and something too of the background of Mary Virginia Strahan, his wife, who, though born as was he in this country, came as he did from old English stock.

In tracing our forebearers back into England, we must realize that we are following two distinct lines of ancestors, each of which has multiplying branches, Were we able to go back beyond Reginald Charleton who comes on the scene in 1749, or attempt to trace anything beyond the direct line we would no doubt be confronted with ramifications far beyond our ability to handle. As it is, we will now meet quite a number of English men and women whom we have probably not heretofore known.

The first old-timer of whom we have any definite record is REGINALD CHARLETON. We will remember his first name, since it subsequently appears in the name of the principal subject of this chronicle. We do not know exactly when nor where Reginald Charleton was born. The record indicates that his birth was about 1725. We do not know when or where his wife was born. All we know is that her name was ANN FOSTER and that she and Reginald Charleton were married August 6, 1749. Reginald died May 29, 1784, and Ann died August 31, 1765. They had five children.

John Charleton, born July 16, 1751; died February 2, 1823
DOROTHY CHARLETON, born January 18, 1755; died May 188, 1825
Foster Joseph Charleton, born November 18, 1758; died August 12, 1762
Thomas Charleton, born August 24, 1761; died 1810
Ann Charleton, born August 24, 1765. Died (?).

We will pass over all these children save the second, Dorothy, since she is a vital link in our chain. DOROTHY CHARLETON, born January 18, 1755, died May 18, 1825 in Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire. We will notice her particularly because she is not only one of our direct ancestors, but she is the one for whom our current Dorothy Charleton Hodgson Jones (Mrs. Bolling Jones, Jr. of Atlanta) is named, and is also the girl who on September 14, 1783, married ROBERT HODGSON [ed. note - for a complete listing of all of the Hodgson descendants starting with Robert Hodgson, click here].

We do not know when or where Robert Hodgson was born, but we do have a very badly discolored old record showing the following entry:

"Robert Hodgson, husband of the above Dorothy - died -24th July 1835 aged 73 years - buried at Ordsal -"

While part of this record can not be deciphered, it does enable us to calculate his birth to have taken place sometime in the 1762.

This same record does give us the facts regards their children:

Meria Hodgson, born August 22, 1784; died May 11, 1788.
Francis Blenshall Hodgson, born July 29, 1786; died February 28, 1788.
Robert Hodgson, born December 16, 1788; died (?)
EDWARD HODGSON, born May 16, 1790; died July 17, 1838
Francis Meria Hodgson, Born February 2, 1793, died February 4, 1794
John Hodgson, born January 16, 1795; died December 26, 1795.
John Hodgson, Born January 16, 1797; died (?)

We will note that the two last children are both named John. The inference is that the last child was named for the child who had just died. We have found similar instances where in the same family of children the same name occurs.

Of these seven children we are interested mainly in the fourth child, EDWARD HODGSON, born May 16, 1790. He is in our direct line. But we will set him aside for a moment and look to another forebearer.

We do not know when (probably about 1743) or where WILLIAM PRESTON was born, nor where he was married to either one of his two wives, nor do we know the surname of his first wife. We are also without any data as to the time and place of their births. We do know that his first wife was named Ann and that Ann bore him five children:

Thomas Preston, born November 1, 1768; no record of death
Sarah Preston, born, 1770; no record of death
William Preston, born November 25, 1772; no record of death
Roger Preston, born October 15, 1775; no record of death
George Preston, born August 1, 1777; no record of death

Then Ann, the first wife, died.

After the death of his first wife Ann, WILLIAM PRESTON married ELIZABETH BLENSHALL. We do not have the date or place of this marriage. We have, however, a record showing that ELIZABETH BLENSHALL was the daughter of ANN BLENSHALL ,though we do not have any information as to this forebear. WILLIAM and ELIZABETH had eight children, as follows:

John Preston, born April 17, 1779; no record of death
Ann Preston, born December 16, 1780; no record of death
Sarah Preston, born December 18, 1782; no record of death
Peggy Preston, born February 21, 1784; no record of death
ELIZABETH PRESTON, born May 28, 1786. She died in Athens, GA.,on November 27, 1868 and is buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, GA.
Roger Preston, born July 19, 1788; no record of death
George Preston, born February 24, 1790; no record of death
James Preston, born October 3, 1791. Christened January 22, 1792, but date of death unknown.

This was a big family of thirteen children by the two wives, but we are interested directly in only one of them, the tenth child, ELIZABETH. ELIZABETH PRESTON was born May 28, 1786, as shown above, and died in Athens, GA, USA, on November 27, 1868.

Now we turn back to EDWARD HODGSON. EDWARD HODGSON was born May 16, 1790. On May 21, 1814, he married ELIZABETH PRESTON. We do not have the place of their marriage [ed. note -- Newburn, England). We do, however, have a clear record of their children. The first three children were born in New Castle on Tyne, Northumberland. The fourth child was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire. These children were:

Anna Blenshell Hodgson, born March 4, 1815
EDWARD REGINALD HODGSON, born November 2, 1816
William Valentine Preston Hodgson, Born February 4, 1819
Robert Rowell Hodgson, born May 24, 1821; died in Athens, GA., April 16, 1860.

The father of these children, EDWARD HODGSON, was the one whose name we find of the roster of Masons in New Castle on Tyne in the year 1814 and he is the one who advertised his business in the newspaper of Retford, England as follows (click on photo to the right for larger picture)

Retford is in Nottinghamshire, about one hundred and twenty-five miles north of London and in closed proximity to the famous Sherwood Forest.

We are not clear as to when Edward Hodgson was in the three parts of England indicated by the record. His first three children were born between 1815 and 1819 in New Castle on Tyne, Northumberland. His membership in the Masons was in New Castle in 1814 and the birth of his last child took place in Grantham, Lincolnshire in 1821. He, however, advertised his business in Retford, Nottinghamshire. New Castle is in the far northeast of England, while Grantham and Retford are about one hundred and thirty miles to the south. [ed. note:  Edward is listed in the 1830 Retford census as living in Bridge Gate section of town and his occupation was listed as coach builder]

Edward Hodgson, with his wife Elizabeth, and their four children left England on May 1, 1836 for America. They came across the Atlantic in a small sailing vessel, the Harriet, of 720 tons register. Storms delayed their passage and it was only on May 31, 1836 that they landed in New York.  [ship's log of journey] 

Edward Hodgson's decision to leave England and take his family to America was due to some great misfortune or injustice which had come to him. As to exactly what the facts were in reference to the situation that faced him, we do not have any clear record. No names or specific grievances are given, but we do have a series of letters from him written from Troy, NY to the Mayor of East Retford, England, (a Mr. Holmes) and to a Reverend Ashe, who it seems was the head of a school in which Edward Hodgson's sons, William, Robert and Edward had been pupils. He also wrote to his uncle back in England. To Mr. Holmes he wrote under date of Troy, NY as follows:

"You are aware however, I have been subjected to poverty and its concomitant inconveniences. Pride, insult or barefaced chicanery, I never could crouche to or tamely submit either to flatter or eulogize without a deserve. I can still treat the humble with humility and the arrogant with contempt and feel, were I again placed under the unfeeling grasp of such subtle agents as I unfortunately had to deal with, my mind would be steeled against their villainy. Indeed, I have not yet done with that deceitful scoundrel nor his satelites for I am still determined to expose their actions to the Chancelor and if it is necessary, will willingly again cross the Atlantic to exhibit their nefarious tricks. I am in possession of far more than they are aware of, feel confident his action exposed would immediately strike him off the rolls...."

To Rev. Ashe he wrote:

"Dear Sir:

You no doubt have heard from Mr. Holmes of our passage from Liverpool and arrival at New York and our journey up the Hudson by steamboat to this place where have been since the 15th of June. Our first intention of proceeding directly to the west was countered by our fatigue on shipboard and passage here which had almost tired us out and we were eager of resting awhile. The fortuitous events of our visiting the large coach establishment here and the circumstances of your two late scholars Wm. And Robert having formed an engagement at one of them the week of our arrival, determined us to sojourn here for at least twelve months. Some short time elapsed when Edw. and myself also concluded an engagement with the same firm and we are all now busy there. On duly weighing circumstances, we find this the best way we could pursue for it will much increase our finances and give us a more just estimate of men and things, learn us some of the customs of the country and prepare us for our future change for I assure you, although speaking the same language and professing in many instances the same opinions, the usages seem very strange to an Englishman, however, you will be glad to hear we are satisfied with the change and hope eventually to give still more gratifying account of our new home. It was my intention to have written you a long letter on the 15 June, the anniversary of our arrival with an explanatory account of the country and its............, as far as my poor vocabulary would allow, but from the circumstances of the enclosed page from the Minister, Mr. Jucker, the propriety of an answer to which you will immediately perceive, forestalls my wish and you must be content with this apology for a letter in my promising to behave better in future. Our winter set in on the 16 Dec. with sharp frost which was succeeded in a few days with snow two feet deep. Sometimes, it was very cold but mostly clear fine weather. Business was almost at a stand, carts and carriages all superseded by the sleighs which continued in use until the breaking up of the frost about the 20th March when the usual trade began its wanted aspects but has been much checked by the failures at New Orleans and New York, Many heavy speculators having given way which had a great effect on the minor houses and indeed on the country generally. This town of Troy is pleasantly situated not on the banks of the Scamander where Achilles killed Hector but on the Hudson near where General Burgoyne surrendered the British Army to the Americans under Gates which was the stepping stone to the independence of the states, but with all their boasted liberality and equality as individuals, the Power they assume, all so congenial to aristocratic ambition and consequently each prides himself according to his grade. The only way to alter appearances is to talk of dollars and what will turn to pecuniary advantages, then Yankees ambition, true or false, will be on a par to circumstances for the dollar, the dollar is their labeled motto in every transaction.

To his uncle, who we believe was also in Retford, England, he wrote:

"In the outset of life, I anticipated from your high mind and congenial connubial connection with a worthy woman (that) you had every prospect of success to be comfortable in your declining years, particularly in your pecuniary affairs but how futile are the anticipations of man - the days of farming with advantage had passed by and you daily pursued a losing game --- my condition in life was of another description, buoyed up by the anticipation of fortune too sanguine for my temperament - I aimed at what from want of capital I could not surmount -- the consequences of my difficulties combined with chicanery of pretended friends who assisted me with some little money that they might more easily pray upon my unsuspecting generosity to overthrow me, which they eventually did with a vengeance and left me poor indeed but dear uncle if my fortunate expectations were dashed, my spirit was not broken. I found I had not sufficiently studied the deceptive characters of human nature. I determined in consequence, with the advantages of my rising family, to emigrate here. From accounts held out, matters seemed promising and at all events I could pursue my avocation here without descending in the scale of society that I would have been forced, but could not submit to, in England. I have every reason to be thankful, for so far my anticipations have been realized for I have furnished a decent house and saved about seventy pounds. This, tho little, is not so bad for a stranger in a foreign land, the first months strange to every face and action. Its not exactly the place I intend eventually to settle in that being 8 or nine hundred miles further west in the State of Illinois, but I thought it better to await here a while to realize a little more cash, to become better acquainted with the customs of the country that I may be better prepared for my new situation."

Then to Reverend Ashe, the old school teacher, he wrote:

"It is now twelve months since I left Retford with feelings, I assure you, very different from what I have at present. Then my mind was filled with anxiety, perplexed and absorbed with thoughts, regrets at leaving my native land, and the dread of a sea voyage, and fearful surmises of what might be my future condition, with a family all looking to me for advice, from want of experience themselves, resting solely upon my decision for their future home which perhaps by one false step might be made more uncomfortable than even their late one at Retford; thus situated with a light, a very light purse, and a heavy foreboding mind, I entered America."

Again to the Reverend Ashe he wrote:

"It is a wood frame house painted white with green venetian blinds to the outside of all the windows of which there are eleven (no window tax). The steps in front are on the outside with rails and seat on each side of the door, where in the shade of the locust trees that stand on the street by the curbstone, it is very pleasant in an autumn evening to sit and smoke your pipe which I have done many times ruminating on my late unfortunate situation at Retford, gratified at getting clear of the villanous chicanery used to ruin me and contemplating on my future prospects in the new world."

This letter, with its reference to no "window tax" is interesting, not solely by reason of its reference to Edward Hodgson's troubles in England, but it is interesting with its comment on the fact that apparently there existed in England at that time an annoying "window tax", the theory being that the light belonged to the King and that if an individual used the light by cutting a window he was using the King's property and was therefore subject to taxation for this privilege.

Edward Hodgson stayed in Troy, NY for about a year. He then in 1837 went out alone to Carlinville, McCoupin County, Illinois, where following his business training in England he established a small wagon and carriage factory. His reasons for locating in this little mid-western town are given in another letter to the Rev. Ashe:

"My first motive for coming to this town was that I might be on the direct route by canal to the far west, but from the wife and Anna being fatigued with traveling, and a Norfolk Farmer and his family which had come with us in the same ship with whom we had become very intimate, having settled here a few days previous to our arrival, I determined to sojourn here until we learned more of their customs and manners of the people."

"Where I think of settling is in the State of Illinois, what they term the far west, in Sangamon County on the River Sangamon between the River Illinois and the Missouri about 39 degrees north and 91 west. It now counts about 16,000 settlers and where I hope to find the climate sufficiently temperate for standard peach trees - iron stone abounds there -and a sufficiency of timber as well as prairie. Steamboat navigation is also in great abundance and communication with the Missouri, Ohio, the Wabash and other navigable Rivers with the Missouri as the outlet to New Orleans and communication by railroad to Lake Michigan."

According to the present maps of Sangamon County is the next country north of McCoupin County.

An interesting letter written by him from Carlingville, under date of March 8, 1838, gives insight into the situation that faced him at that time. This letter was written about four months prior to his death on July 17, 1838, and was written to his wife, Elizabeth, who at that time was still in Troy, NY with their children. In this letter he comments on the uncertainty of the mails, the rigorous conditions under which he was living and his desire for his wife and children to join him as soon as possible. He asked that various supplies, unobtainable in Carlingville, be brought out to him when the family came. These items were mainly related to the business he had established. One of the items he asked for was pieces of material for making railroad coaches for he says "for it is more than probably that we will have some of them to make."

Note: The above letters are made available by Clifford W. Hodgson from among the old papers of his father, Joseph Marshall Hodgson.

The father, Edward Hodgson, died in Carlinville on July 17, 1838, and his body is still buried there. Further misfortune overtook the Hodgsons in this little central Illinois town, when a cyclone wiped out their carriage shop. The mother, Elizabeth, with her four children then returned to Troy, NY, where they remained for a short while.

The first Edward Reginald Hodgson, of Georgia, came to Athens in 1839. He came by Georgia Railroad to Greensboro, Georgia., and from Greensboro came to Athens by stage coach. He had heard that the climate of Athens would be beneficial for his asthma. Shortly after his arrival in Athens he began to write letters to his mother and sister and two brothers in Troy, NY, urging them to join him in his new home in the south. In 1840 the rest of the family did join him, coming into Athens over the Union Point-Athens branch of the Georgia Railroad. This branch line was then a mule-drawn train' and the Hodgsons arrived in Athens on the first trip ever made by this train'. The Athens depot at that time was on the south side of the Oconee river in the neighborhood of Carr's Hill.

The mother, Elizabeth Preston Hodgson, who was born in England on May 28, 1786, died in Athens on November 27, 1868, and is buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery.

After reaching Athens Edward Reginald Hodgson found new friends in the family of Thomas Bishop, whose family included Henry Bishop, John Bishop, Anne Bishop, Alexander Bishop and Joseph Bishop. We do not have any record of the date or place of the birth of Thomas Bishop, nor do we have any record of his wife except that her name was Mary Ann. Our record of him is shown on his tombstone in the old Hodgson lot in Athens, with the following:

"To our Father - Thomas Bishop - Died Jan. 24th, 1878, age 97 yrs."

We are interested primarily in the daughter of this Thomas Bishop family. ANN BISHOP was born May 25th, 1820 and died in Athens Oct. 16, 1890. We do not have any definite information as to her place of birth, but we do have a record of the fact that her father, Thomas Bishop, was eighteen years of age when he came to America from Ireland, which would mean that he reached America in 1799. Thomas Bishop's name was not always "Bishop". From a letter written March 31st, 1898 from J. M. Lynn of Armaugh, Ireland to Mrs. Matilda Bishop Lowe (daughter of Alexander Bishop and grand-daughter of Thomas Bishop), we have the following:

"Your grandfather was called Thomas McAnestie and had a fine farm on the Caleddon Estate. He left this for America and changed his name to "Bishop", thinking that "McAnestie" was too like popery. His wife was Mary Ann. She was a sister to my mother, who was called Ellen and they had an Aunt who was called Pringle."

In 1842 the three Hodgson brothers, Edward Reginald, William Valentine Preston, and Robert Rowell established one of the first carriage, coach and wagon factories in this section of the south. The name of the new firm was "E. R. Hodgson and Brothers". Their business was general over this whole section of the country.

One of the outgrowths of the carriage, coach and wagon manufacturing business was the establishment by Edward R. Hodgson and his brother William V.P. Hodgson of a stage coach line between Athens and Gainesville, GA. To carry mail and passengers, as shown by the advertisement appearing in the March 10th, 1845 issue of the Southern Banner.

It is of interest to note that the Athens newspapers of those and subsequent years were: "The Athenian" from 1808 to 1828; "The Southern Banner" from 1832 to its merger with the "Southern Watchman" to become the "Banner-Watchman". In 1866 this paper dropped the name "Watchman" and became the Athens Banner". In 1921 the "Athens Banner" merged with the "Athens Herald" to become the "Banner-Herald" under which name it is now being edited by E. B. Braswell and Bryan C. Lumpkin.

The Hodgson Brothers carriage, coach and wagon factory evidently put out high class products, as is shown by a cut of a silver cup awarded to them by the General Southern Agricultural Society at the fair held in Macon, Ga. in 1848. This cup is inscribed as follows: "Presented by the Central Southern Agricultural Society. To E.R. Hodgson & Bros. For Stage Coach Exhibition at Fair 1848". This old cup is now in possession of Edward R. Hodgson, Jr.

The oldest of these three brothers, EDWARD REGINALD HODGSON, was born in New Castle on Tyne, Northumberland, England, on November 2, 1816, and died in Athens, Ga. on January 4, 1874. On January 18, 1842, he was married to ANNE BISHOP. She was born May 25, 1820, and died in Athens, October 16, 1890. From this marriage there were 12 children:

(1) Elizabeth Preston; (2) William; (3) EDWARD REGINALD (Prince); (4) Robert Bishop; (5) Asbury Hull; (6) Thomas Alexander; (7) Allen Chase; (8) Joseph Marshall; (9) George Tyndall; (10) Charles; (11) Frederick Grady; (12) Francis Marion (Guy)

The third child of this marriage, EDWARD REGINALD HODGSON, is the head of that branch of the Hodgson family which is the subject of this chronicle.

The Civil War found Edward Reginald Hodgson (who was really "jr.") a young boy of fifteen years of age. In 1862 he was a corporal in the Confederate Army as a member of Lumpkin's Battery (click here for Civil War diary believed to be Edward's brother Robert's). After the close of the war he attended the University of Georgia in the class of 1868 and then went to Baltimore, Maryland, where he entered a business training school. It was while he was in Baltimore that he met MARY VIRGINIA STRAHAN, who was to become his wife on January 3, 1870. His wedding trip was his return by boat to Athens, via Charleston, S.C.. Commenting, in after years, on this wedding trip he is remembered to have said:

"As we came south on that boat, the enormity of the step I had taken began to impress itself upon me. There I was a young man with no business experience and no money carrying the lovely girl into a strange land among strange people. But we loved each other and had faith in each other and somehow or other we met what lay before us."

With the exception of a short stay in New York, where he went into an unsuccessful linen collar and cuff manufacturing business, he spent his entire business life in Athens, Ga. His first business was a partnership in Talmadge Hodgson and Co. He then in succession organized Hodgson Brothers, Henderson Warehouse Co. Hodgson Cotton Co. and subsequently Empire State Chemical Co. and Hodgson Oil Refining Co., manufacturers of commercial fertilizers and cotton seed oil products. During this period he was also associated with his brothers, Asbury H. and Joseph M. Hodgson, in two big supply companies, Hodsgon Brothers and J.S.King and Co. He was the active head of the Empire State Chemical Co. from its incorporation in 1904, to the time of his death of February 12, 1920.

An unusual and very close relationship existed between these three brothers. They established what they called a "Pool", whereby Edward Reginald Hodgson, Asbury Hull Hodgson, and Joseph Marshall Hodgson, though at times engaged in entirely separate and distinct business ventures, at year's-end pooled the gross profit equally between themselves, regardless of what might be the showing made by either one of the separate ventures. These three brothers maintained this close cooperation throughout their early business lives.

In line with the above, we quote an entry found on the books of Joseph M. Hodgson, showing where the brothers set up a memorial fund in honor of their father and uncles. It is noted that the subscription of five thousand dollars each from by E.R. Hodgson and A. H. Hodgson was not matched by a like subscription from J.M. Hodgson, though J.M. Hodgson was a co-trustee of this fund. The explanation of this is that J.M. Hodgson at that time was a trustee of and a large supporter of Nacoochee Institute in the mountains of northeast Georgia, a school that was subsequently consolidated with the Rabun Gap Industrial School. Nacoochee Institute at that time was a Presbyterian school, while Rabun Gap Industrial School was non-denominational.

HODGSON BROTHERS MEMORIAL  

E. R. Hodgson, Dr.$5,000.00
A. H. Hodgson, Dr.$5,000.00
Hodgson Brothers Memorial Cr.$10,000.00

The above charge to our individual accounts is made under authority from us.

E.R. Hodgson
A.H. Hodgson

"The above entries are intended to create and set apart a fund of $10,000.00 to be known as the "Hodgson Brothers Memorial". Our purpose being to pay a well deserved tribute in a practical way to the original founders of Hodgson Brothers, a firm composed of our father, Edward R. Hodgson and his two brothers, William and Robert".

"In our boyhood they represented to us all that was highest and best in honest toil, constant industry and clean business methods. In our maturer years we understood more fully that these days of patient labor, constant economy and sacrifice was all for us for our education, our uplift and our growth in usefulness".

"It is our thought and our purpose that the Hodgson Brothers Memorial Fund shall be so invested that, when combined with the toil and industry of deserving boys and girls of Rabun Gap Industrial School, the harvest and the increase thereof shall be devoted to their education, industrial training and general improvement".

"We request and appoint J.M. Hodgson to act with us in this connection as joint trustee in control of the fund". (Signed) E.R. Hodgson & A.H.Hodgson  

On October 13, 1885 the Legislature of the State of Georgia authorized the establishment of the Georgia School of Technology. This bill was signed by Governor Henry D. McDaniel and in January 1886, he appointed the commission of five men, who, under the terms of the Act, were authorized to create and manage the new institution. The members of this commission were Nathaniel E. Harris of Macon, Samuel M. Inman of Atlanta, Oliver S. Porter of Covington, Columbus Heard of Greensboro and Edward R. Hodgson of Athens. This group became the governing board and were later known as the original Board of Trustees of Georgia Tech. The commission's first task was the selection of a site for the new institution. Invitations were submitted to the Commission by Atlanta, Macon, Penfield, Milledgeville, and Athens. On October 19th, 1886, the commission, after balloting twenty four times, selected the City of Atlanta. Atlanta's successful bid included $70,000.00 from the city and a citizens committee, a guarantee of $2,500.00 annually to aid in support, and a gift by Edward Peters of four acres of land. The failure of the commission to locate the new school in Athens was a great disappointment to Edward R. Hodgson. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Georgia Tech from its creation to the time when his eyesight began to fail. His son Edward R. Hodgson, Jr. succeeded his father on this Board and served until the whole educational system of Georgia was reorganized and placed under a Board of Regents.

Edward Reginald Hodgson, Asbury Hill Hodgson, Joseph Marshall Hodgson, Edward R. Hodgson Jr., and Harry Hodgson were the incorporators of the Empire State Chemical Company. At the first meeting of the stockholders the following resolution was passed:-

Resolved:
1st;- That we gratefully acknowledge God's goodness and mercy in guiding our past business career.
2nd;-We earnestly desire and seek His continuing interest and guidance in all our future business affairs. We need the counsel of His wisdom and the leading of His spirit.
3rd;- We recognize His right to all things we possess and our duty to render an Account unto Him of such matters as are entrusted to us; and in order to express Our purpose to render tithes unto God annually, we hereby seek to put into Simple definite and practical business shape this resolution, so that it may be clearly understood and observed in the future.

In obedience to this resolution the stockholders of the company, E.R. Hodgson, A.H. Hodgson, J.M. Hodgson, E.R. Hodgson, Jr. and Harry Hodgson each subscribed twenty shares (one tenth of his holdings), thus making the Trust Fund, the holder of one tenth of the stock of the company. Up to the time of the death of Edward R. Hodgson in 1920, this Trust Fund had disbursed to worthy causes more than five times its original corpus and had grown to six times its original size.

Edward R. Hodgson and Asbury H. Hodgson were both members of the Board of Stewards of the Methodist Church and both members of its Board of Trustees. Joseph M. Hodgson was a member and Elder of the Central Presbyterian Church.

We have up to now given our attention to the Hodgson side of the family. We will how look into the forbears of MARY VIRGINIA STRAHAN. Unfortunately, we do not have as much information about them as we would like. We, however, can go back to England to approximately the same time we picked up the Hodgsons.

In 1752 we find Richard Holmes of Salisburg, Wittshire, marrying Elizabeth Kirk. We do not have the places or dates of the births of either of them. We, however, do have the record of their son, Richard Holmes, II, and a daughter and others who predeceased their father'. The first Richard Holmes and his wife, Elizabeth Kirk, died in Dartford, England, but we do not have the date of their death.

We have a definite date of the birth of RICHARD HOLMES, II, "December 1777", and that he died in the USA'. We have the record of his marriage to ANN CALLOW on August 2, 1802, but we do not have the record of when or where she was born, nor the place or date of her death. We, however, do have a clear record of the birth of her nine children.

Richard Holmes, III, born in Dartford, England, October 14, 1803. He died in Maidstone, England April 4, 1881. He was married on October 7, 1828, to Isabella McPherson Nightingale.
Elizabeth Holmes, born May 4, 1805; died August 30, 1823
John Reading Holmes, Born March 21, 1807. No record of death.
William Holmes, born February 6, 1809; died May of 1870
Ann Holmes, Born February 21, 1811. No record of death.
Sarah Homes, Born December 21, 1812; died October 29, 1814 Margaret Holmes, born May 21, 1815. No record of death.
SARAH BROWN HOLMES, born September 7, 1817, died in USA December 26,1889.
Jabez Thomas Holmes, born July 24, 1823; died in USA.

Of these nine children we are concerned primarily with the eighth, SARAH BROWN HOLMES. We will note that she was evidently named for her sister, who had died three years before her birth. She was born September 7, 1817 and died December 26, 1889. In 1836, when she was nineteen years of age she, with other members of her family came to the United States. On December 24, 1837, when she was twenty years old she married Ebenezer Strahan of Baltimore, Md. Unfortunately we have very little information as to Ebenezer Strahan. We know that he came to American approximately the same time as his wife, Sarah Brown Holmes, did, but we do not know where or when he was born. We know that was educated in England for the ministry, though he did not follow this calling. He was know to be a thorough student of Greek and Hebrew languages and at one time translated for his own use the New Testament from the Greek and Hebrew bibles. Her marriage resulted in ten children, born between 1837 and 1859. These children were:

Ebenezer Strahan, born 1839
Charles Strahan, born 1840
Alfred Strahan, born 1841
Theadore Strahan, born 1843
Thomas Strahan, born 1845
John Strahan, born 1847
Philip Strahan, born 1849
MARY VIRGINIA STRAHAN, born 1852
Anna Augusta Strahan, born 1854
Arthur Strahan, born 1859

The eighth child of this marriage, MARY VIRGINIA STRAHAN, was born in Baltimore, Md., on Jan 30, 1852 and became the wife of Edward Reginald Hodgson and was our beloved "Miss Mollie".

Now we will come back to Edward Reginald Hodgson, born in Athens, Ga., July 13, 1846. He was born in the old Alonzo Church home, (in what is now Milledge Heights) in Athens. This old house was built in 1825 by Dr. Alonzo Church, following his retirement as President of the University of Georgia. This property was at that time "way out of town" and was built by Dr. Church as a summer place.

We will remember that Edward Reginald Hodgson had lost the eyesight in his left eye. This loss was the result of an accident which befell him at the age of four years, when he was playing with some children in the back yard of the old Church place. One of the children threw a chip of wood which struck the young boy in the left eye. The loss of this left eye finally resulted in his total blindness, but this total blindness did not come until late in his life. This old Church home was purchased by the elder ER Hodgson and in this home two other of his twelve children were born: Asbury H. Hodgson and Robert B. Hodgson. Edward Reginald Hodgson died at his home at 1001 Prince Ave, Athens, Ga., on February 12, 1920.

MARY VIRGINIA STRAHAN was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 30, 1852. She died at the home of her youngest daughter, Dorothy (Mrs. Bolling Jones Jr., in Atlanta, Ga.) on January 7, 1944. Both Edward Reginald Hodgson and his wife Mary Virginia Strahan are buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens, Ga.

EDWARD REGINALD HODGSON and MARY VIRGINIA STRAHAN were married in the city of Baltimore, Maryland on January 3, 1870. There were nine children from this marriage: 

Edward Reginald (Ned) Hodgson Jr. 
Harry Hodgson
Mary Virginia Hodgson (May)
Frederick Grady (Fritz) Hodgson
Nannette Hodgson
Walter Blanchard Hodgson
Morton Strahan Hodgson
Nell Kendall Hodgson
Dorothy Charleton Hodgson