Biographical Sketch of

MARY JANE (WHITACRE) HODGE

 Daughter of Sydnor and Julia Ann (Winland) Whitacre

 

by R.E. Harrington

 

 

The Sydnor Whitacre family was a relatively new family to Ohio.  Sydnor had come to Monroe County from the area of Gore, Virginia only 10 years earlier and married Julia Ann Winland on July 9, 1856.  James, their first of 12 children, was born on March 18, 1857.  Mary Jane Whitacre, the fifth child and second oldest daughter of Sydnor and Julia Ann Winland Whitacre, was born on September 15, 1865.  Mary Jane Whitacre may have been named after her mother=s great aunt, Mary Jane Baker, daughter of her famous great, great grandfather, Captain John Baker

 

We know little about the childhood of Mary Jane Whitacre.  Except for the loss of an infant sibling in 1877, Mary Jane=s early years do not appear to have suffered any traumatic events.  Her large family of 10 living siblings appear to have all been well and healthy throughout their childhood. 

 

Mary Jane Whitacre probably knew all the children in the Hodge family while she was growing up. The Whitacre and Hodge families lived less than 2 miles apart on Pleasant Ridge. The adults of the families are known to have been acquainted.  And, beginning about the time that Mary Jane started to school, or possibly earlier if the two families went to the same church, the children of the families would have been acquainted.  Mary Jane Whitacre was 6 months younger than Sam Hodge, Jr. who was the nearest to her age.  She was a year and half older than the youngest Hodge child, Sarah.   Mary E. Hodge was over one year older than Mary Jane Whitacre and Mary Hodge=s brother, George Washington Hodge, was two years and two months older than Mary Jane. The two oldest Hodge boys were 4 and 6 years older than Mary Jane. 

 

Mary Jane Whitacre would have been 9 years old and in the 3rd grade when diphtheria struck the Hodge family killing 3 of their 6 children.  Quite possibly, concern about an epidemic of diphtheria forced the closing of the school for a while.  Mary Jane may well have interacted with the surviving Hodge children on nearly a daily basis for perhaps 8 years until she was 15 or 16 years old.  We do not know how far Mary Jane progressed in school but in those days it was common for children, particularly girls, to drop out of school after about the 8^th grade.

 

In 1878 Mary Jane=s second oldest brother, George, was the first from the Sydnor and Julia Ann Whitacre family to marry.  Her oldest brother James was second, marrying in 1882.  Mary Jane and her sister Louisa were the third and fourth.  They married within a month apart with Louisa taking the lead on September 4, 1883.

 

On Oct 6, 1883, less than a month following her 18^th birthday, Mary Jane Whitacre married her 20 year old neighbor and schoolmate, George Washington Hodge, who lived up the Pleasant Ridge road. The present day Pleasant Ridge Church was not yet built although there may have been a predecessor church on the site..  The application for their marriage license was made by Joseph Gardner.  By then, George had grown to become a tall handsome man with features that attested to his 25% American Indian heritage.

 

Within 92 months following their wedding, George and Mary Jane began their family with the birth of Samuel Sidnor Hodge on July 27, 1884.  Shortly after came Forrest Henry Hodge on Dec. 5, 1886, then Julia Viola Hodge on December 7, 1888 and Addie Mabel Catharine Hodge on March 24, 1890.  Finally, following a pause of over 3 years, possibly due in part to George=s illness, the last daughter, Carrie Nevada Hodge was born on October 20, 1893.

 

Mary Jane Whitacre Hodge=s friend and by then sister-in-law, Mary E. Hodge, was also dating and although she was not married, gave birth to a baby girl, Bessie C.M. Hodge on March 10, 1884, four months before Mary Jane Hodge=s first child was born.  Bessie=s father was a McVey but her parents never married.  Bessie lived with her mother and was a close neighbor and companion to Mary Jane and George Hodge=s children.  In the years to come, Bessie would participate in her cousin, Julia Viola Hodge=s wedding.

 

Unlike her early childhood, the decade of the 1880s was extremely eventful for Mary Jane.  In addition to getting married and having five children, we can imagine that the mental problems of her husband, George, must have become known to her.  It is unlikely that his illness would have first occurred in the early 1890s without some symptoms surfacing earlier.  For a young mother with babies, this must have been a frightening discovery.  She probably received support from her in-laws who lived near by, but as events would later prove, even her in-laws could not protect her from the possible results of George=s illness.  As the decade drew to a close, Mary Jane=s parent=s family began to suffer losses.  Mary Jane=s father, Sydnor Whitacre, died of consumption on January 2, 1877 following a construction accident that had disabled him for several months.  This loss was followed a year and half later by the death of her oldest brother, James Whitacre, on June 3, 1888.  Mary Jane was 3 months pregnant with her oldest daughter, Julia Viola (Ola) Hodge, at the funeral of her brother, James.  She was 7 months pregnant with the same child when her oldest sister, Louisa A. Whitacre, died on October 5, 1888.  Both siblings had been victims of tuberculosis or consumption as it was then called.

 

Mary Jane=s most severe tragedy in her own family was still ahead, however.  George Washington Hodge had been one of the three survivors of 6 children who had been born to his parents, Samuel and Catherine Hodge.  In the fall of 1874, this strapping family of 6 healthy children had been suddenly decimated when diphtheria claimed 3 children in a 10 day period between October 5 and October 15, 1874.  One of the items of family lore, the kind that seems to survive but no one remembers its origin for sure, is that George in his youth had suffered a very high fever which may have accounted for his illness later in his life.  This could have been diphtheria from which he had recovered, or, the lore may have no basis.  Whatever the case, George apparently suffered from Epileptic seizures which became extreme in his early 30s.

 

Horrific events have a way of living through family lore for many generations.   Such an event relates to George=s mental condition that led to his commitments.  According to the record, George apparently had two major episodes of epileptic illness that required his commitment.  The first occurred early in 1894 when his youngest daughter, Carrie, was only 3 months old.  In April of that year he was apparently released for a trial visit and was later discharged in August 1894.  The records show the following commitments for George W. Hodge:

 

Then, about a year later in the autumn of 1895, the story goes, George told Mary Jane one evening, ADon=t worry, tomorrow we will be in heaven with God!@  That night, George set fire to their house burning it to the ground.  According to the version of the story that I heard, there was snow on the ground and as the house burned, George is reported to have been barefoot walking around the house balancing himself the pale (picket) fence that surrounded it.  We do not know where the house was that George burned. No further details of that saga survived, but it apparently was this action that triggered George=s final commitment.  It is reported that Mary Jane and her children lived with neighbors and relatives for a while following the loss of their house.

 

According to the commitment record, George was taken into custody on September 21, 1895 and diagnosed to be epileptic.  It appears that he was probably held in custody somewhere for nearly a year before being sent to the Gallipolis Epileptic Hospital in Gallipolis, Ohio on June 15, 1896.  To make matters worse, George=s father, Samuel Hodge died that winter on February 11, 1896. George was subsequently moved to the Ohio State Hospital in Athens where he remained for another 8 years.  George died on March 22, 1908.  The cause of death was listed as epilepsy.

 

By the spring of 1896, Mary Jane Whitacre Hodge had been made guardian of her husband, George Washington Hodge.  As previously noted, George=s father, Samuel Hodge had died in mid-February 1896.  One of her first official acts as guardian was to administer the inheritance of her father-in-law=s estate for her family.  The following is a partial copy of the court record regarding this action.  (It is of interest to note that the division of Samuel Hodge=s property appears to have been between his three children, John W. Hodge, Mary E. Hodge and George Washington Hodge.  The wife of Samuel Hodge, Catherine, was still living and would have been about 68 years old at the time of her husband=s death.  She lived another 9 years, dying on January 10, 1905 at the age of 77 years, 6 months and 24 days. Yet, surprisingly, she was not mentioned in the estate settlement.  I have speculated that this could have been due to her being half American Indian and the laws of the day may have been biased against the Indian.)

 

The following is the major portion of the text of the Guardian's deed:  Mary J Hodge, Guard to J. W. Hodge for George=s share of inheritance of his father=s estate:

 

Know all men of these presents that whereas on the 31st day of March 1896, Mary J Hodge was dully appointed as guardian of G. W. Hodge, an insane person, by the Probate Court of Monroe County, Ohio and afterwards, to wit: on the 3rd day of April 1896, said guardian filed her certain petition and then and thereby commenced an action in the Probate Court of Monroe County, Ohio against ‑ Mary J. Hodge, G. W. Hodge her ward et al and numbered on the docket of said court as case No. ‑‑ praying among other things, for and order of sale of certain real estate therein mentioned and hereinafter described and whereas, such proceedings were had in said action, that on the 8^th day of May 1896, said court finding the allegations of the petition true, and that said real estate ought to be sold as prayed for in said petition, ordered that the same be appraised and on the 11" day of May 1896, said court ordered that said guardian proceed according to law to sell the said real estate at private sale for not less than the appraised value thereof and on the same day in pursuance of said order and judgment, an order of sale with said real estate therein described was issued out of said court under seal thereof to the said Mary J. Hodge as guardian as aforesaid, directed, commanding her to execute the sale order and of the same, together with the proceedings thereon, to make due return; and whereas said Mary J. Hodge guardian having caused said premises to be appraised, and the report of such appraisement to be filed in said Probate Court, and having on the 11" day of May 1896, returned said order of sale to said court as commanded with her proceedings thereon, stating in substance that in obedience to said order she sold said premises on the 11" day of May 1896 to J.W. Hodge for the sum of one thousand and thirty two dollars, said sum being the appraised value of the same; said sale being made after diligent endeavor to obtain the best‑price for said property, and for the highest price she could get therefor, and whereas, on the 11" day of May 1896, the said court having examined the said proceedings of the said Mary E. Hodge Guardian aforesaid , under said order of sale, and it appearing to the court that said sale was in all respects legally made ordered that the same be approved and confirmed, and that said Mary J. Hodge guard. should execute and deliver a proper deed to the purchaser, of the real estate so sold, all of which will more fully appear by the record of said court, to which reference is here made.  Now therefore I, the said Mary J Hodge guardian of G. W. Hodge foresaid, by virtue of said judgment, order of sale and confirmation and of the statute in such cases made and provided and of the powers vested in me and for and in consideration of the premises and the sum of One thousand and thirty‑two dollars ($1032.00) paid, or secured to be paid to me by said J. W. Hodge the receipt hereof is hereby acknowledged, do hereby rant, bargain, sell, and convey to the said J. W. Hodge his heirs and assigns forever, the following real estate situated in the county of Monroe, in the state of Ohio and in the townships of Washington and Bethel and bounded and described as follows; Being the undivided one third interest in the S.E.1/4 of section 28 township 4 range 6, containing 80 acres; also the undivided one third interest in the N.W. 1/4 of the S.W. 1/4 of section 22 township 4 range 6 containing 40 acres more or less.  [Note:  I discontinued copying the lengthy legal description of the property, but noted that it included another 1/3 interest in a 10 acre tract, another 1/3 interest in a 20 acre tract, a 1/9 interest in another 24 acre tract, and a 1/6 interest in another 28 acres (a 16 plus 12 acres).  This appears to be an inheritance from Catharine Hodge, Samuel's widow.  A straight sale deed was also recorded in which Mary E. Nalley and her husband, G.T. Nalley, appear to have sold their share of the inheritance to J.W. Hodge for $1,000.]]

 

Two months later, on May 13, 1896, after selling her share of the Samuel Hodge farm to her brother-in-law, John W. Hodge, Mary J. Hodge, Guardian of George Washington Hodge bought from George W. Allen and M. C. Allen, his wife, 40 plus 6.4 acres of land described as follows: Situated in the Twp of Washington, county of Monroe, State of Ohio, and described as follows:  Being a part of the N.W. quarter of section 21 and the SW qtr of Sec 22 Twp 4, range 6 beginning for the same at the NW corner of section 21 thence S 2 degrees west 50 rods, thence sough 88 deg, east 128 rods, thence North 2 deg. east 58 rods thence north 88 deg. 128 rd to sec line thence with said line south 2 deg 8 rod to place of beginning being 40 acres in Sec 21 and 6.4 acre in section 22 containing in all 46.4 acres and all the estate, title and interest of the said grantors, G.W. Allen and his wife M.C. Allen.

 

This 46.4 acre property was located near the Samuel Hodge farm that Mary Jane had sold to her brother-in-law, John W. Hodge two months earlier.  The land had a house that at the time of this writing (June 2000), is still standing.  The property is located on a gravel county road, # T-969A, which turns off to the south from Pleasant Ridge Road (County Road 73) not far from the Pleasant Ridge Church and Cemetery.  The "Atlas of Monroe County, Ohio - Caldwell 1898" shows the location of the 46.4 acre property owned by Mary Jane Hodge.  However, the draftsman who made the map has the property erroneously labeled as N.J. Hodge.

 

The following brief description of Mary Jane=s life following George=s confinement  has been extracted from a document written in 1987 by Ruth Hennen Hodge, wife of a grandson of Mary Jane and George Hodge.  AShe [Mary Jane Hodge] was a midwife.  She did field work for hire.  She took in boarders and a brother* of hers moved in with them.  The brother was a horse trader.  He helped cut the wood and did the butchering during the winter.  But when spring crops were in the ground he would take his string of horses on the road.  He roamed all over southern Ohio, selling, trading, and racing horses.  His life was cut short, but he had a serious influence on the boys.  He taught them to ride, cut wood, farm, trap, and hunt.  Their hunting was a big source of meat for the table.  Small game was abundant.  There was always a sale for the furs they got in their traps.  Money was scarce, but somehow this little family was able to make a go of it.@ * [I believe this was probably not a brother but most likely was John W. Hodge, her brother-in-law.  Mary Jane had no brothers who were living following George=s confinement and whose Alive was cut short,@ however, John W. Hodge died July 14, 1903, 6 2  years after his father died and 6 years after George=s final commitment.]

 

The turn of the century saw Graysville and the surrounding area where the Hodge family lived as a boomtown.  For a decade, the frantic search for oil had moved inland from the Ohio River into Monroe County and villages such as Graysville and Lewisville had become a focal point for many drilling companies.  It was during this period that Graysville boasted 12 saloons, 2 or 3 hotels and a number of other facilities.  One of the 12 saloons was owned and operated by John W. Hodge.  Another bit of information showed that John W. Hodge and Tom Nalley, husband of Mary E. Hodge, shared the ownership of a general store.  The saloon and general store quite possibly could have been the same establishment.  It was also about this same time (1902) that Mary Jane=s brother, Aglon Whitacre, bought a store at Way, Ohio which is located about a mile southwest of Graysville, between Graysville and the site of Mary Jane=s 46.4 acre farm.

 

On July 14, 1903 John W. Hodge died at the age of 43 years, 8 months and 19 days of  typhoid fever.  He had never married and on his death record he was listed as a merchant.  It appears that his sister, Mary E. Hodge Nalley and her husband, Tom, acquired the Samuel Hodge farm that John had bought from Mary Jane and Mary E. Hodge Nalley a little over 7 years before.

 

We do not know how long Mary Jane Hodge and her family lived on the 46.4 acres.  We do know that the address of Mary Jane (Whitacre) Hodge was Graham, Ohio less than a month following the death of George W. Hodge's death on March 22, 1908.   Graham was a >suburb= of Graysville located in the valley just south and west of the main street of Graysville.  This Graham address might suggest that Mary Jane had moved closer to town or it could have meant that the Graham post office was where her mail came.  Additional information discussed below suggests that it may have been the former.

 

George Washington Hodge died on March 22, 1908 and on June 6, 1908 Mary Jane was once again in the role of settling an estate.  She sold the surface rights to the 46.4 acre farm to her brother, Aglon Whitacre, for $1000.  On the same day she sold the mineral rights to oil and gas to J.W. Martin for the sum of $400.  This was lease # 26565 which was witnessed were Carrie Hodge and Aglon Whitacre.  In a separate lease, # 28857, between Mary Jane Hodge and J.W. Martin, M.J. Hodge leased production rights to Martin.  This lease shows the land to the west of M. J. Hodge's 46.4 acres to be owned by Mary E. Nally and Ed Kincade.  The witnesses to this lease were Aglon Whitacre and F. E. Whitacre.  The lease was for 3 years + time oil/gas would be produced.  There was to be no drilling within 200 feet of buildings.  "The lessee to deliver to the lessor, in pipe line, the 1/8 of all petroleum produces from the premises and to pay $150 per annum for each gas well from which the gas is marketed payable yearly from this date and while the same is utilized....."

 

This or succeeding leases provided Mary Jane with a modest income for the rest of her life.  Upon her death, her lease was bought by her two sons-in-law, William Young and Douglas Dillon.

 

Mary Jane and her family may have lived on her 46.4 acre farm until 1907 or 1908.  By then her oldest daughter, Julia Viola (Ola, as she preferred being called) Hodge had married William Edward Young.  Her next two children to marry were her two sons, Samuel and Forrest.  It could have been their marriages and the loss of their help that resulted in Mary Jane=s decision to abandon the farm.  The order and dates of her children=s marriages were as follows:

 

Julia Viola (Ola) Hodge (age almost 17) married William Edward Young         September 7, 1905

 

Samuel Sidnor Hodge (age 21) married Martha  (Mattie) M. Blair                     September 20, 1905

 

Forrest Henry Hodge (age 20) married Edith Richards Edington                        December 5, 1906.

 

Addie Mabel Catharine Hodge (almost 19) married  Douglas Dillon                  January 8, 1909

 

Carrie Nevada Hodge (age 21) married John Roscoe (Ross) McVey                 December 2, 1914

 

The addresses of Mary Jane Hodge and her children given on the AApplication for Letters of Administration@ of George W. Hodge=s estate which was signed on April 10, 1908 are as follows:

 

Addie and Carrie Hodge (Carrie at that time apparently went by the name Vada -- likely from Nevada) were unmarried and still lived at home.  Addie, however, married Douglas Dillon on January 8, 1909, less than a year after her father=s death.  Carrie or Vada who was just over 14 years old when George died, remained at home for another 6 years when she married John Roscoe (Ross) McVey on December 2, 1914.

 

There are practically no records to help us establish where Mary Jane Hodge was or what she did after her children left home.  It seems likely that she was still in the Graysville area when Carrie married and she may have stayed there for some years.  She may have moved to a house about a mile outside of Lewisville in the early 1920s.  Grace (Dillon) Fletcher and Edith Young think Mary Jane (Whitacre) Hodge moved from Pleasant Ridge to where Wilene & Carl Jackson subsequently lived and died; a farm now referred to as the Jackson Farm.

 

Both Edith Young and Wilene Young Jackson recall staying with Mary Jane Hodge when she lived in the Jackson Farm house.  Edith=s recollection puts her visit at about 1925 and Wilene recalls staying there in about 1922 or 1923. 

 

During a period of 3 or 4 years, that appears to be between 1925 through 1928, Mary Jane moved to West Carlile, Ohio to be near her oldest son, Samuel Hodge and his family.  West Carlile is near Zanesville and Newark, Ohio.  Mary Jane (Whitacre) Hodge lived with Maggy McGee -- Mary Jane (Whitacre) Hodge lived on one side of a double house while Maggie lived on the other.  The date that Mary Jane lived near West Carlile, Ohio is surmised, in part, on the basis of a comment by Grace Dillon Fletcher that stated that Mary Jane (Whitacre) Hodge lived in West Carlile for 2 or 3 years when Floyd (Bob) Dillon was about 4 years old.

 

Possibly around 1927 - 1928, Mary Jane appears to have moved from West Carlile, Ohio to Lewisville, Ohio where she lived in a couple of different houses over the final 15 or so years of her life.  Mary Jane Hodge was definitely in Lewisville, Ohio in 1935-1936 when Edith Young was in high school.  Edith graduated from Lewisville High School in 1936.

 

There are several reports from relatives who knew Mary Jane Hodge well, that in the final years of her life, she had begun to get quite forgetful.  She was nearly 78 years old when she died, so her forgetfulness is understandable. 

 

Audra Young Harrington told the story about having chicken at the home of her grandmother, Mary Jane Hodge, one Sunday and finding feathers under the wing.  Audra also told that on a different occasion, she was having fried potatoes at her grandmother=s house that had been fried to a golden brown and that she found to be very good.  Upon closer inspection she noticed that the nice red-brown color was due to the potatoes being covered with tiny ants before they had been fried.

When Edith Young and I (Richard Harrington) visited Grace Dillon Fletcher in August 1996, Grace told another story about an event that happened in the late 1930s but before 1939 because Mary Jane=s son, Forrest Hodge was still alive.  One day, while driving near Lewisville, Ohio, Forrest Hodge stopped by the home of his mother for a visit.  While there he persuaded her to come home with him for a visit to their home in Newark, Ohio.   Mary Jane Hodge was reluctant to go saying that she should stay home and wash her curtains.  However, she relented and went with her son, but, all the way from her home to Forrest's house she lamented that she shouldn't have come.  She should have stayed home and washed the curtains.  When she got to Edith and Forrest's home, Edith said, "Oh, you brought Mother."  Forrest replied, "Yes, but she is only staying till after dinner.  She is going home to wash the curtains."  After dinner, Forest drove her home ‑‑ a distance of about 80 miles.

 

Other memories of Mary Jane Hodge include:

 

Mary Jane (Whitacre) Hodge used to have straw ticks on her bed which she would fluff-up and the occupant would sink deep into the bed when they lay down.  She also used feather blankets or quilts which were very soft and warm.

 

Mary Jane Hodge smoked a clay pipe.  Grace (Dillon) Fletcher and Edith Young recalled that they used to walk to Feiock's store to buy Mary Jane (Whitacre) Hodge her pipe tobacco.  She smoked Union Leader tobacco which came in a red metal can.  Nellie Dillon Schumacher, recalled that her apron, which included a large front pocket, had holes burned in it where she would sometimes put her pipe before it was fully extinguished.  Nellie also recalls that Mary Jane used to place her clay pipe in the coals of the fireplace to burn out the tars and tobacco accumulation.  Nellie also recalled rolling up paper torn from a newspaper into long round pipe >lighters= for her grandmother.

 

In the early 1940s, Mary Jane became quiet feeble and no longer able to care for herself.  By arrangement of her children, she was moved from her home in Lewisville into the County Elderly Care Home in early 1943.  Within a period that varies depending on the telling, between 3 weeks and 3 months, Mary Jane Hodge died on March 19, 1943.  Ola Young served as Administrator of the Mary J. Hodge estate.

Mary Jane (Whitacre) Hodge (1865 - 1943) is buried at the Pleasant Ridge Church of Christ (1889 to present) Cemetery along side her husband George Washington Hodge (1862 - 1909).

 

The following was published in a local paper in memory of mother, Mary Jane Hodge:

 

"In memory of our dear mother, Mary Jane Hodge, who departed this life four years ago, March 19, 1943.

 

      Into Heaven's mansions mother has entered

      Never to sigh or to weep;

      After long years with life's struggles

      Mother has fallen asleep.

      But in our hearts our memory

      Lingers sweet and tender, fond and true;

      There's not a day dear mother

      That we do not think of you.

 

Sadly missed by her daughters, Mrs. Wm. Young, Mrs. Douglas Dillon and Mrs. Ross McVey."

 

 

Prepared by: Richard E. Harrington June 5, 2000  e-mail:  Richard Harrington

 

 

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