Here, for quick reference, is a chart of my direct ancestry:
* * *
- Generation One: John Hodgson ( -1625) and (undetermined) ( – )
- Generation Two: Robert Hodgson (before 1581-1655) and Elizabeth Rogers ( – )
- Generation Three: John Hodgson (1631-1675) and Eliner (unknown) ( – )
- Generation Four: George Hodgson (1668-1710) and (unknown) ( -1710)
- Generation Five: George Hodgson (1701-1774) and Mary Thatcher (1712-1764)
- Generation Six: George Hodson (1737-1813) and Rachel Oldham (-)
- Generation Seven: William Hodson/Hodgin (1768-1849) and Diannah Saferight (1768-1852)
- Generation Eight: George Hodson/Hodgin (1797-1878) and Delilah Britton (also reported as Rayle or Hunt) (1794-1883)
- Generation Nine: Pleasant Hodson/Hodgin (1827-1908) and Eunice Ozbun (1834-1910)
- Generation Ten: Joshua Francis Hodson (1857-1930) and first, Josephine Jones (1867-1891); second, Alice McSherry (1865-1944)
- Generation Eleven: James Franklin Hodson (1900-1982) and first, Erma Ehrstine (1900-1972); second, Edna Hefflemfinger (1902-1994)
* * *
Please note that the earliest posts on the Orphan George Chronicles are chapters of general Hodgson research notes intended as background information for other genealogists working the surname.
The chapters then shift to the illustrious Quaker minister Robert Hodgson (1626-1696) and his son, Robert (1670-1733), who are, unfortunately, no known relation to my line, despite numerous claims to the contrary. (There may, however, be some indirect influence through the younger Robert and his wife.) Nevertheless, their history is one that needs to be published, and what I present is, apart from Traci Hodgson’s ongoing work, the most complete biography to date. I hope it encourages others to fill in the gaps, especially before the Woodhouse voyage to the New World.
From there, I turn to the maternal lines in my Hodson lineage, beginning with my grandmother’s Ehrstines, who bring to the mix the history and ways of the Pennsylvania Dutch, especially as these relate to the Church of the Brethren and its Dunker or German Baptist Brethren roots, like the Quakers, one of the three historic Peace Churches in America. For now, the maternal lines continue through the Thatchers. Perhaps we’ll someday turn up the names of earlier Hodgson spouses.
Now that those are in place, I’ve turned to post my the straight Hodson/Hodgson male line. Let me emphasize that Generations One through Four are tentative findings and are being presented as more plausible connections than any of the alternatives yet published; my desire is to encourage other researchers to build on these materials.
If you’re related to any of these lines, feel free to add to the data or to challenge my interpretations or conclusions. And even if you’re not part of the family, here’s hoping you enjoy the story. It’s unlike any you were taught in your history classes.
Orphan George 
Very interesting! You are a serious researcher. My husband’s grandfather was Joseph Hodson and the information we have lists his original ancestor in America as an orphan, George Hodgson, raised as a Quaker.
Marjorie Hodson
Very interesting, informative and seemingly thorough. Orphan George is my direct ancestor as well. Although Hur Hodgson, his grandson, travelled from Guilford NC, settled in northern Ohio, and continued in the Quaker faith, family worshipers faded away shortly thereafter – only to be taken up again by my brother and myself as young children. There is another George Hodgson, who came over as a prisoner from the Jacobite Rebellion, landing in Annapolis around 1713, as an indentured servant. Please do your thorough research on this young man as well. Several of us are quite curious and there are leads to follow. Thanks for your hard work.
Do you have anything on a Robert Hodgson, probably out of Cecil County, Md., who married a Catherine (McLelland) Walker on 12 May 1801 at Philadelphia? Birth/death dates for this Robert Hodgson are unknown. Catherine’s first husband was sea Capt. Thomas Walker, who died at sea in late 1797 at Africa’s Windward Coast. Catherine died at Philadelphia in 1806. Catherine & Thomas were gr-gr-etc-grandparents of the Presidents Bush.
Sorry, I don’t. But Cecil County puts him not far from Robert and Sarah Hodgson’s Pleasant Garden estate in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Your Robert might be one of their grandsons, but I haven’t worked the line that extensively.
Essentially, everything I have on Robert and Sarah is already posted here, in part in hope to help others like yourself have more information to work with. Whatever you turn up will add to the puzzle.
I’m still hoping to learn whether there was any interaction between Robert and Sarah and my Orphan George, the root of my line.
I am a descendant of orphan George’s son John. The story in my family was that George landed here alone in 1710. Whether he started or ended up that way we never knew. The search never got past George. I have recently had my DNA tested and found out my paternal ancestry is Scandinavian. I searched “Hodgson Viking” on the internet and found the”Hodgson Clan” website. I sent them my DNA results and was told I belong to, Hodgson group 2, I’m likely Norse, with early ancestors in the area of Wharfedale. I’ve seen sites that link orphan George to Rev. Robert Hodgson and beyond to people born or buried at St. Michael’s Parish, Linton, Yorkshire, near the river Wharfe. The reverend part is off but there might be something to the Linton location. Looking forward to reading more from your site.
Thanks for your detailed comment.
The only other DNA report I know of points back to a corner of Spain five millennia ago, so maybe the plot thickens. (I still haven’t had mine tested.)
Some of my earliest posts in this blog look at Robert Hodgson and seriously discount any connection of our line to his. (Alas.) And Robert was from Durham, not Yorkshire. Still, I’m wondering whether his son, Robert, had any influence on Orphan George in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
As future posts will detail, I’m convinced our line originates in Lamplugh in Cumbria, England, by way of Lurgan, Ireland.
As they used to say on television, please stay tuned.
Hello,
Delilah Hunt and George Hodson were my great-great-great grandparents and I have photos of them which I can share if you’d like although you may already have them. The work you’ve done is very thorough and informative. I’m going to pass on your information to other family members.
How wonderful! Let’s see if they’re the same photos, a set of oval portraits from late in life that I plan on posting two months from now.
If you haven’t already gotten down to the chapter on Delilah’s roots, look for the Sept. 19, 2013, posting. It’s more complicated than we might like, but maybe that’s why she’s become one of my favorite characters in the story as it’s unfolded.
Please let me know how your line springs from them, and I’ll also be happy to consider posting anything more you want to offer. Am still wondering where to go after we get to the base of the line this autumn. And definitely do share the information; that’s the whole point of putting this online. When it comes to family research, a single new detail can put everything else together in a new way. It’s a never ending puzzle, no?
HI Jnana, yes the oval portraits. I’ll look at the Delilah chapter, this is great fun!
Hello-our common ancestor is George Hodgson (m. Mary Thatcher). After that my descent is: John Hodgson (Mary Mills)–Thomas Hodgson (Patience Dillon)–Amos Hodgson (Mary Barnett)–William Hodgson (Phebe Bennett). William & Phebe are my 3rd gr-grandparents. Here is a link to some info/photos I posted about them on the Tazewell Co. History & Genealogy website: http://www.tcghs.org/photo0402.htm
Glad to meet you!
When I was growing up in Ohio, we were often asked if we were related to the Hodsons around Wilmington. We said no. As I now know, though, we were, often through the descendants of John and Mary, many of whom moved on to Indiana and Illinois.
And thanks for filling in more of the story through the link. Maybe it will even introduce us to more cousins.
Came across your post today. We bought the Hodgson Farm in 1948. We still own some of the ground. I would be interested in hearing from you to exchange some information and photos.
Tim Sangalli
Would love to hear more.
Here’s a little addendum to my previous post. William & Phebe Hodgson’s son Edwin Hodgson was my 2nd gr- grandfather. Edwin married Sarah Worley, here’s his obit: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/tazewell/obits/ehodgson.txt
Edwin & Sarah’s son Eugene Morton Hodgson Sr (m. Adelaide McKinney) was my gr-grandad. Here is a link to info/photos of that family: http://www.minonktalk.com/hodgson.htm
Eugene Sr’s son, Eugene Morton Hodgson Jr. was my Grandfather. Sorry to pepper you with so much info, but thought you might like to see the photos.
Of course we’d love to see the photos! And why not pepper us with more info? In genealogy, sometimes one seemingly insignificant detail pulls an entire puzzle together.
Thank you for the incredible research. Your Mother’s sister, Edna McSherry (Married name: Edna Guthrie) was my great grandmother.
You don’t have my connections quite right — McSherry comes in at my great-grandmother’s line — but it’s always a delight when these findings introduce new kin. Glad to meet you!
My name is Michael Howard Hodgson. I have been researching over the past month my family tree on Ancestry.com ( https://ancstry.me/2LUS6FG, my Hodgson family tree link). I was born in Spokane, WA., as was my father, Doug Howard Hodgson. My grandpa was raised in Orient, WA, which is in Stevens County, northeastern corner of WA. His name is Howard Victor Hodgson, his father is Victor John Hodgson. Victor’s father was Demain William Hodgson, his father William Elias (or Elias William) Hodgson, married to Sarah Bond, born in Wayne, Indiana. His father was Nathan Hodgson, born in Clinton, Ohio. William’s father was John Hodgson (married to Sarah Mills), born in NC to John Hodgson and Naomi Macki, son of John O Hodgson and Mary Mills, who was a son of George Hodgson and Mary Dix Thatcher.
This is what I have so far. I just in the past few days have found your blog and historical records from Chester County, PA. I should note that I currently live in Lancaster County, PA, and am super excited to find out my ancestors seem to have been some of the first settlers not 30 miles from where I have been living for the past 16 years. I am currently reading through your blog from the earliest entries ( I have a ways to go). I’m interested how we may be related.
I’m not sure when it happened, but my WA line stopped being practicing Quakers at some point before my great grandpa.
Thank you for all your great work! I’d love to talk sometime.
Michael Howard Hodgson
Above my phone auto corrected Delwin with Demain. I wanted to thank you again for all of this great research into my 8th great grandpa George; without your work I would have had no idea at this early date he was not related, or a direct descendent, of Robert from Chester. I still wonder if there is a connection to that line of Hodgson’s, as some of the names/dates from some of your work in the lineage work detailing Ireland and England feel familiar from some of tree as it presents in Ancestry.com. I need to look through all the names/dates before I decide to delete the tree above George. I am also adding to my previous comment because the blog sent me an email to subscribe and I saw the email after it expired. I am intending to begin digging into my line from George’s son John O. I want to help add their stories to the rest of the family lore.
I look forward to hearing more.
As you’ve probably noted, the lives of Robert Hodgson who arrived on the Quaker boat Woodhouse and his son, Robert, are detailed elsewhere on this blog. Despite claims of my lineage being related to theirs, no such connection has been established, even though there are also enough similarities to make me wonder if Orphan George might have been taken into the younger Robert’s household as an orphan.
He did live nearby as a young adult, for one thing.
The migration from Guilford County, NC, to southwest Ohio and then eastern Indiana was one many in our Hodgson family took — yours a few generations before mine. It was largely a reaction to slavery and a call issued by our kinsman Zachary Hunt in ministry at Quarterly Meeting against what would erupt in the Civil War six decades later.
I am curious, though, about the leap in your family to northeastern Washington state. Having lived four years in Yakima, I know it’s a much different world from Indiana and Ohio. Gold rush, perhaps?
Quakers always relocated in groups, so I’d venture they were no longer practicing by that point, unless they came up through Idaho, which still has a number of Friends churches.
Yes, my second great grandpa Delwin William was the first to turn away from the Quaker lifestyle he had been brought up in (as described by a 44 page book my great great uncle wrote). Delwin’s father was Elias Hodgson, though he apparently changed it to William Elias related to a botched land purchase(?) Apparently, Delwin was a bit of a rough neck, and it seems to have rubbed off on the next few generations of Hodgsons in my line, as many, including my own father, have struggled with alcoholism (not me, but I have been a bit more self aware than my forebearers in many ways). I am also planning to tell our story, and illustrate the lives of Hodgsons I grew up with, and the fates of those that have since passed. I plan to create a book on my family tree, beginning with Hodgsons, but continuing with other lines, such as Aalgaards, Hallett’s, Andersons and Pedersons. The Hodgsons, however, have the most interesting story so far.
Thank you so much for making this information available. The posts and all the research you have done on this blog are very much appreciated. I really have enjoyed reading the posts.
I have been working on and off over the years on my genealogy database and recently have started back up. My main focus is to clean up all obvious errors and obtain better sources. Your site has helped a great deal with this endeavor.
Our family has traced the Hodson line back to Orphan George. My line goes through George’s son Robert and then Robert’s son Jonathan.
The post by Michael Howard Hodgson above caught my eye because he was born in Spokane, WA. This is where I was born. My line of Hodson’s came to Washington State as follows.
Jonathan Hodson migrated to Clinton County, Ohio. His son Enos Hodson ended up in Keokuk, Iowa. Enos had 11 children and eventually seven of them migrated to western Oregon state with their spouses and children. Apparently at the time there was some excitement about the Oregon Territory.
My line continues with Enos’ son Enos Calhoun Hodson who stayed in Oregon, but his son Abraham Linton Hodson (My 2nd great-grandfather) moved to Klickitat, Washington later in life.
I’m so happy to hear from you, Matthew.
I lived in Yakima for four years, just over the ridge from Klickitat, as it were. You know that Sam Hill intended the Mary Hill site overlooking the Columbia River as a Quaker settlement, don’t you?
Michael’s been sending me some great material on his line that I’m hoping to feature here next year. He has some great stories and photos.
Needless to say, I’d love to also present anything you have to share.
Hello
A very good site. Congrats.
Thank you for acknowledging my work and for quoting me extensively. I appreciate that – many aren’t so polite or scholarly.
I am now in the process of revising all my notes of the last 20+ years and putting them as pdfs in the ‘Files’ section of:
https://groups.io/g/COPELAND
You need to be a member to view and download files from the ‘Files’ section, but this is free and you can turn off any messaging to use the site entirely as a message board.
I have recently uploaded ‘Dickinson of Sampel’, a Quaker family with connections to the Hodgsons, and their ancestors ‘Dickinson of Souterbank in Felldyke in Lamplugn’ (which will soon be revised). I am currently tidying up another Quaker family ‘Jackson of Bleerbank in Felldyke in Lamplugh’ and will probably upload that next month.
Probably then, a revision of the Murton families.
Chris Dickinson
chris@dickinson.uk.net
Hey, Chris, great to hear from you! (And my apologies for being so late in responding. Your comment slipped under my radar.)
Great job of producing and maintaining this wealth of family history. Have you ever come across a William Hodgins, born c. 1760, who was a tailor and migrated to Montreal in 1783?
Welcome. As for your question, no, that’s a new one to me.