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kentuckySeveral years ago I was approached by my distance cousin, Donald F. "Don" Hodge, about updating my William Hodge line. I had no idea that we would endeavor to update most of the descendants of Henry Hodge. We started out with the original work of Barbara Roach Knox, author of Robert Hodge et al of Livingston County Kentucky and with some updated research that Don and several other researchers had been working on. We eventually ended up with this and the research is far from being finished.

  I was very fortunate to meet John Spencer some time back on the Hodge message board. John, a descendant of Dr. Alphonso Hodge, had been trying to tie his great grandfather into our family. All of that is now history since Alphonso was proven to be the son of James Hodge and his wife Mary J.W. Campbell.   I would like to thank my cousin Cindy Wilcoxen for her outstanding research ability during our long hours of work on our William and Nancy (Dancy) Hodge family. Also, a special thanks to Mrs. Carolyn (Campbell) White, a descendant of James and Mary (Campbell) Hodge, a very competent and  thorough researcher. Earl Hodges of Liberty Hill, Texas for his details on the family of John Allen Hodges. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Hamm of Spiceland, Indiana, a descendant of Thomas Hodges Esq. of Edgecombe Co., NC., for sharing his vast research.

Few children obtained land through inheritance. If the father died intestate, all the land went to the eldest son under the law of Primogeniture. Younger males would obtain land grants or migrate to the new frontier. You worked and farmed or learned a trade until adulthood. Then you would marry and while raising a large family to help with the farm; you would attempt to obtain more land. If you were fortunate, and owned slaves to engage in the farm work then you could educate your children. If by the age of 50 you were still alive, you would retire by selling your established plantation and moving to town. If you were fortune enough to have someone in the family who could read and write then you would maintain a family bible to record the marriages, births and deaths. If not one in the family could read or write, which usually was the case, than the only record of your existence would be from government or church records.

 

   What was typical of this family in its early recordable existence in North Carolina and Kentucky was the Scot-Irish naming pattern. As children were born, they were named for a predetermined person. The pattern for the most part in this family was for the two eldest sons to be named after their grandfathers and the third after the father. The most prevalent names used by this family are Henry, Harry, Gustavas, Gus or a combination of these names (i.e. Henry Gustavus). Sometimes they made up names or feminized family names and gave them to their daughter (i.e. William Ann). The families tended to travel together or end up where a central family head was living. We see this in Robert Hodge Sr, Captain Robert Hodge in Navarro County, Texas and Fidelio Hodge in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. Using this pattern has helped to identify families and relationships between families.

 

Meet the Webmasters:Marty K. Hodge  & John E. Spencer


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Attention HODGE(S) Researchers, have you hit a brick wall while searching for your roots in North Carolina or Virginia? Do you have a male Hodge that is willing to submit his DNA for analylsis? Visit the Hodges DNA Project at http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/h/hodges/rec.html.

History of Salem and the Courthouse Bell

 

By Marty K. Hodge

 

The town of Salem, originally called Old Salem, was plotted in 1798 by David Fort who was the county surveyor. The plat consisted of about three city blocks. In 1797 Henry Hodge's sons Robert, William and Thomas travelled from Edgecombe County, North Carolina to the western frontier of Kentucky in search of a new home. They travelled down the old Centerville to Salem Road and came upon Salem valley and settled near Salem on the banks of Claylick Creek. Robert Hodge built the second house in this area having been out done by James Armstrong a few years earlier at Livingston Creek. Salem was then still part of Christian County during the early settlement of the valley. When Livingston County was formed in 1798 its boundaries reached from Tennessee to Illinois and the county seat was located at Eddyville. In that same year Salem would receive it's charter for the Salem Academy. This small college made Salem the epicenter of higher learning and helped to increase the population.The small town of Salem was at that time the last taste of civilization before entering Indian Territory. In 1804 the county seat was moved to Centerville and in 1809 Caldwell County was formed from the southeastern part of Livingston. In that same year the county seat was moved to Salem and would remain the center of the county government until 1842 when county seat was moved for the final time to Smithland. Salem would continue to grow until the cholera epidemic of 1833 after which it would never completely recover from this devastation. The Livingston County Masonic Lodge #81 became defunct on August 27, 1834 and did not revive until February 15, 1851. In Collins' History of Kentucky, Vol. 1, page 38 under date of 30 May to 1 Aug 1833: The Asiatic cholera breaks out at Maysville and spreads rapidly through the state ... in Salem, Livingston county, 17 [deaths]. In the book "Concise History of Kentucky", by James C. and Freda C. Klotter, page 75 ........... When cholera swept across Kentucky in the nineteenth century, it left whole towns almost deserted.

 

During the early and violent history of Livingston County Indians still roomed the countryside. The settlers, in the hope of protecting their family and property, formed a local militia. The 24th Infantry Regiment of the Kentucky Militia was commanded by Captain Robert Hodge Sr. who had received his commission in 1803. The regiment   drilled at Salem and was ready at a moments notice in the event of any attacks by Indians. The regiment would later serve under General Isaac Shelby, first governor of Kentucky,   and saw action at the Battle of Thames in the War of 1812.

 

Salem valley is situated on the borders of the present counties of Crittenden and Livingston. The valley floor's eastern boundary is located at the foot of Kirk Bluff in Crittenden County. The bluff elevates to a height of 427 feet with Claylick Creek on it's eastern and southern base slowly snaking it's way to the Cumberland River. Its northern boundary is formed by Eberle Knobs and Wilson Bluff. The southwestern boundary is formed by Lockhart Bluff located at Cedar Grove. The bluff raises to a height of 505 feet and from that vantage point one can see the small village of Salem, Kirk Bluff and the Cumberland River. At the foot of the bluff is Sandy Creek which meanders it's way pass Salem then along the Hodge Road a small piece before eventually finding it's way to the Cumberland River near Cedar Grove.

 

 

                                 salem_bell  

The Salem Bell which was taken from the old courthouse   that once

stood near the intersection of U.S. Hwy 60 (Main Street) and Ky 723.

 

 

During the Civil War the old county seat at Salem came under the occupation of Union forces under the command of Captain Hugh M. Hiett (see a brief story of his life below). Captain Hiett, along with his detachment of 35 soldiers from the 48th Kentucky Volunteer Mounted Infantry, had been ordered to Salem in an attempt to quell the frenzy of guerrilla activity in that portion of Livingston and Crittenden Counties. He occupied the old courthouse and used it his base of operations. On August 8, 1864 a skirmish erupted at Salem between Capt. Hiett's detachment and a large guerrilla force under the command of Major John T. Chenoweth of the 13th Kentucky Calvary. Captain Hiett repelled the large rebel force in the six hour skirmish, but was wounded during the engagement. The detachment was quickly recalled leaving the courthouse unguarded. The guerrilla force returned and threatened to burn the old courthouse down. The local citizens compromised with Major Chenoweth and promised to tear the old courthouse down. They fulfilled their word, torn down the old courthouse and in the process saved the bell.

 

Who exactly saved the bell has been lost to history. It came into possession of Frank Wolfe, who had the bell for a number of years. He eventually gave it to Vernon Norman who in turn sold it to Felix Edgar Tyner. Felix was the son of William Cullen Tyner and Nancy Josephine Hodge. Felix's widow, Cora (Moore) Tyner gave it to the town of Salem before her death in 1951.

 

                                                   tyner

 

Felix Edgar Tyner and his wife Cora.

(The last owners of the bell)

 

 

Salem was the home birthplace of Captain Given Campbell, CSA (1835-1906). Given was the son of Judge James T. Campbell an early attorney that had practiced in the courthouse at Salem along with Dickson Given, Peter C. Holt, Robert N. Campbell and James Hodge. Captain Campbell was practicing law at St. Louis prior to the outbreak of the war. He enlisted in the Missouri Militia and served as the commander of Company G, 2nd Regiment (Bowen's) until his capture in 1861 at Camp Jackson by General Lyon's forces. After his release he joined the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry (Morgan's) and later the 9th Kentucky Cavalry. After the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox, Captain Campbell commanded a ten-man detail that escorted President Jefferson Davis as he fled south. President Davis along with Captain Campbell's escort detail where captured at Irwinsville, Georgia on May 10, 1865. Captain Campbell practiced law in New Orleans after the war but returned in 1873 to St. Louis where he continued his trade until his death on November 20, 1906.

 

Another local son was Colonel Gustavus Adolfus Christian Holt (1840-1910). Gustavus was the son of Dr. James Patternson Holt and Julia Allen Hodge. Prior to the beginning of the war he was a practicing law at Murray and was the Calloway County Inspector for the Kentucky State Militia. He had served as the commander of Company H, 3rd Kentucky Infantry (Mounted) during the early part of the War before serving on the staff of Col. Thompson and Col. Tilghman. He eventually became the regimental commander of the 3rd Kentucky Infantry under General Bedford Forrest and surrendered with him in May 1865 at Gainsville, Georgia. Colonel Holt died on June 1, 1910 at Memphis, Tennessee. Both of these Sons of Salem had served in the famous First Kentucky Orphan Brigade during the Civil War. The local citizens were for the most part cousins of these Confederate leaders, and very sympathetic to the rebel cause.

 

Captain Hugh M. Hiett

 

On July 12, 1860 twenty-six year old Hugh M. Hiett, also spelled Hiatt/Hyatt, was working on the farm of David P. Bennett near Dycusburg, Kentucky.  He enlisted in the Union Army the following year and was brought to Smithland to be sworn in. He was commission as a 2nd Lieutenant with Company D, 20th Kentucky Infantry at Marion, Kentucky on January 6, 1862. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant on July 12, 1862 and was reassigned to Company D on December 27, 1862 and discharged after serving the term of his enlistment. During his service with the 20th he fought at Shiloh and Corinth, Mississippi. On October 26, 1863 he was mustered back into service at Princeton, Kentucky and promoted to the rank of Captain with the 48th Kentucky Volunteer Mounted Infantry. Due to the numerous raids into Kentucky by Rebel forces and the guerrilla activity along the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers, the Union Army had stepped up patrols in the area. Captain Hiett was given the mission of protecting the lines of supply on the Cumberland River from Salem to Eddyville from the raiders. He was wounded at the skirmish at Salem on August 8, 1864 while proforming this mission and was later captured at Eddyville, Kentucky on November 18, 1864. The Union Gunboat "Silver Lake" had shelled the town and captured General Lyon's wife. Captain Hiett and eight other officers were exchanged for her safe return.

 

After being mustered out of the Union Army in December 1864 at Bowling Green he returned to Crittenden County and on March 28, 1865 he married Gracey Gray. They were ran out of Kentucky by nightriders and moved to Johnson County, Illinois. After the death of Gracey he married Sarah Petty December 20, 1876 in Johnson County.  It is believed by his great grandson James Hugh Hyatt that he died in Goreville, Illinois in 1884.

 

A Special thanks to James and Gwen Hyatt for relating this story to me.

 

 

                                           jameshyatt

                                            James Hugh Hyatt, great grandson of Cpt. Hugh M. Hiett,

                                                    standing next to the historical marker at Salem.

Visit the Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog   by Brenda Joyce Jerome for more local history and research. Brenda has more than 40 years experience in genealogical research and is the author of numerous genealogical source books for Caldwell, Livingston and Crittenden Counties.

Brenda's work is used as reference throughout this website. Her work has been instrumental in solving many of the Hodge and related allied family mysteries and I encourage any and all researchers to seek out her source books prior to making a trip to any of the courthouses at Marion, Princeton or Smithland. Her work has saved myself and other family reseachers countless hours of research.

GENEALOGY IS MY PASTIME

 

 

Genealogy is my pastime, I shall not stray,

 

It maketh me to lie down and examine half-buried tombstones,

 

It leadeth me into still Courthouses,

 

It restoreth my ancestral knowledge,

 

It leadeth me into the paths of census records and ship's

 

passenger lists for my surnames' sake,

 

Yea, though I wade through the shadows of research

 

libraries, I shall fear no discouragement,

 

For a strong urge is within me,

 

My curiosity and motivation, they comfort me,

 

It demandeth preparation of storage space for the

 

acquisition of countless documents,

 

It annointeth my head with burning midnight oil,

 

My family group sheets runneth over,

 

Surely birth, marriage, and death dates shall follow me

 

all the days of my life,

 

And I shall dwell in the house of family history seekers

 

FOREVER!

 

 

Anonymous

 

 

Member 116051 of the National Genealogical Society

If you would like to make any comments or if you find anything that needs to be corrected or added, please contact  me, the Webmaster, at mhodge@marionky.gov or John Spencer jssfcaus@hotmail.com

 

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