Untitled - citizen hylbom blog

1052 SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
years, represented Taunton in the General
Court five years, and was prominent in military
affairs, being the first captain of the second
military company (organized prior to
1703) until the year 1714.
(III) John Hodges, son of Henry and Ester
(Gallop) Hodges, was born in 1684 in Taunton,
Mass., and died at Norton, Mass., in 1759,
aged seventy-five. His wife was Hannah,
daughter of Jolin and Mary (Ring) Morton,
of Middleboro, Mass., born Sept. 1, 1695. John
Hodges settled at tlie f'Crooked Meadow" in
the southern part of Norton. In his youth
he received an injury to his limbs which rendered
him a cripple through life.
(IV) Andrew Hodges, son of John and
Hannah (Morton) Hodges, was born in 1729-
30, at Norton, Mass., where he died in January,
1777, aged forty-seven. He married
(first) Mehitable, daughter of James and
Mehitable (Phillips) Leonard, of Norton, and
(second)—
publislied May 17, 1773— Abigail,
born in Middleboro, Mass., in 1741, daughter of
Samuel and Joanna (Harvey) Hoskins. Andrew
Hodges lived at "Crooked Meadow,"
Norton, where his father lived before him. He
served in the French and Indian war, and was
sergeant of the detail from the 3d Bristol
County Regiment, ordered Aug. 11, 1751, on
news of the attack on Fort William Henry, N.
Y., by the French and Indians, to march and
report to Lieut. Gen. William Pepperell. In
July, 1771, he was second lieutenant of the 2d
Troop of ton, Mass., Feb. 27, 1801, and there he died
May 27, 1877. He married Nov. 26, 1824,
Chloe, daughter of William and Molly
(Knapp) Lane,
Horse, 3d Bristol County Regiment.
He was a strong advocate of the cause of the
United Colonies when the Revolution began,
and in 1776 was elected on the Norton Committee
of Correspondence and Inspection.
(V) Leonard Hodges, son of Andrew and
Abigail (Hoskins) Hodges, was born in Norton,
Mass., March 13, 1774, and died there
March 7, 1841. He married March 13, 1798,
Hannah, daughter of Oliver and Hannah
(Bliss) Peck. Mr. Hodges learned the car-
of Norton. Mr. Hodges was
educated in the public schools of his native
town. He learned the carpenter's trade with
his father, completing his apprenticeship in
Boston, and thereafter followed the business of
contractor and builder. In 1819, while yet a
minor, he took and successfully carried out the
contract for building the Armory of the Norton
Artillery Company, of which organization lie
became at a later date first lieutenant. His
reputation as a skilled mechanic, and for honest
dealing, grew rapidly, and soon brought
him to the front as a business man. Enjoying
the confidence and respect of his townsmen to
an unusual degree, he was called to fill many
official positions, but he never sought office.
He was eight years selectman, assessor and
overseer of the poor, and three years special
county commissioner, represented Norton in the
State Legislature in 1857, and was justice
of the peace. Originally a Whig, he became
later a stanch Republican. He was most prominent
in church work, serving as superintendent
of the Sunday school of the Congregational
parish. Energetic and capable, by his industry
and economy he accumulated a fortune.
(VII) Leonard Morton Hodges, son of
Leonard (2) and Chloe (Lane) Hodges, was
born in Norton June 29, 1827. He married
(first) Dec. 27, 1850, Hannah L., daughter
of George L. and Hannah H. (Leonard)
Morey; she died at Providence, R. L, Dec. 20,.
1851. He married (second) Dec. 31, 1853,
Esther Antoinette Edsall, born in Hamburg,.
N. J., Sept. 4, 1832, daughter of Barton and
Sarah (Coulter) Edsall, and she died in Mansfield,
Mass., Dec. 11, 1894. Mr. Hodges lived
in his native town until he attained his ma-
penter's trade, and after attaining his majority
went to Williamstown, Mass., where he followed
his trade for several years. Returning
to Norton about the time of his marriage he
settled on the old homestead, carrying on the
business of contractor and builder in connection
with farming until a short time before his
death. In politics he was a Democrat of the
old school. A firm Methodist m his religious
jority, when he went to Canton, and a year
later to Boston, and after his first marriage to
Providence. Here his first wife and child
died. He then went to New York City, obtained
a position mth the American Express
Company, and remained in their employ until
the Erie Railroad Company took control of the
belief, he led an honest, well-conducted life,
and was most successful through his untiring
energy and industry.
(VI) Leonard express business on its own lines. After liis
Hodges (2), son of Leonard
and Hannah (Peck) Hodges, was born in Nor-
second marriage he lived a short time in Jersey
City, N. J., and then in Oswego, N. Y., later
going to St. Louis, Mo., where he was conductor
on the Ohio & Mississippi railroad. In
1857 he removed to Peoria, 111., and resumed
his trade of carpenter. In 1865 he bought a
patent right to manufacture and sell tire upsetting
machines in Massachusetts, Connecticut
and Rhode Island, and returned to Norton..