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Subject: Re: any detroit mich.,hodge out there
Date: 21 Jul 2004 04:19:46 -0600

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.

Surnames: Hodge Hodges Rimmer
Classification: Query

Message Board URL:

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/RUj.2ACIB/1302.1

Message Board Post:

I know of a family member who lived in Michigan.... firstly in Ferndale, then Detroit (both are known addresses of 1935). His name was Wilfred and he was married to Ruby.

Wilfred was born in Southport, Lancashire, England about 1893 and was still there in 1901 with his brother, Norman, and parents, Henry and (I think) Sarah Evelyn (née Rimmer).

Wilfred and Norman emigrated to America (not sure if the parents emigrated too) and were there by 1935 when they were sent money from their uncle Ted (Edward Albert Hodge) from Southport. Edward had recieved money from the estate of his great aunt and had shared it amongst his Canadian and American nieces & nephews. There are boxes of papers and photos in my local library belonging to Edward and his son, Edmund. These contain letters from the North American relatives thanking him for the money in 1935, and one dated later that year to Edward's wife, Elizabeth and her son, Edmund, when Edward died.

I made a copy of the Michigan letter of thanks, from Ferndale. The letterhead had W.A.Hodge on it (I believe the middle name was Albert) and he was a "merchandise broker".

At the moment I have no further data on the American branch, except that Wilfred & Ruby had a 13 year old child in 1935 (in the letter he mentions that the "baby" Edward met in his visit of 1922 is now 13).

I have a lot more on the cousins in Ontario (there were many of them) and the family who remained in England.

Edward Albert Hodge was a local politician, as were his father, William, and uncle Henry (who was mayor of Southport at the time of his death in 1893). Edward travelled a lot, and did a lot of building work in Chicago in the 19th century. He also sailed on the "Torrens" clipper in about 1891, where he met & befriended the Polish first mate, discovering years later that this had been Joseph Conrad. Edward's handwritten diary of the voyage is also amongst the papers.

If this seems like a link to your own branch, I can provide you with further information on the family (back to 1580).... we can also boast a descendancy from William Hoggesson of 1381, as the family survived as a single family unit over those 200 years, although we have no data on the individuals between the 2 dates.

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