Early Years and Civil War
Hodges's father and uncles were sons of freeborn African American parents of mixed-race ancestry and had been born in Princess Anne County (later the city of Virginia Beach), Virginia. All three at different times had fled the state in fear of their personal safety, and they resided in Brooklyn during the years preceding the American Civil War. In the case of Hodges's father, he had been arrested, tried, convicted in Norfolk County, and sentenced to prison for forgery in 1829, but he had escaped, fled to Canada, and eventually settled in New York.
Lawsuits
Emily Hodges's two brothers and her daughter and son-in-law filed a long series of lawsuits against Hodges and his father to have the deed of sale declared invalid on the grounds that she was mentally incapacitated and therefore legally incapable of being a party to a lawful contract. A jury so found in May 1873. In the meantime, Hodges's father, acting under a power of attorney, attempted to sell the land, and Hodges, himself, mortgaged it to cover two $500 debts he owed. All of these actions led to several more lawsuits and an 1892 court ruling that all claims on the property beginning with the October 1866 sale to Hodges were null and void.
Politics
Later Years
Time Line
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September 1841 - John Q. Hodges is born in Williamsburgh (later part of Brooklyn), New York.
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1864–1865 - John Q. Hodges serves in the U.S. Army, including at Petersburg and in North Carolina.
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ca. 1865 - According to family tradition, John Q. Hodges and Betsy Collins marry. They will have three daughters and a son.
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October 8, 1866 - Emily Tucker Hodges sells her stepson John Q. Hodges a one-third interest in the eighty-six-acre estate of her late father.
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March 1867 - Emily Tucker Hodges dies.
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July 6, 1869 - John Q. Hodges wins election to the House of Delegates representing Princess Anne County.
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July 1872 - The Norfolk County Court approves two claims lodged by John Q. Hodges for compensation as a special constable.
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May 1873 - A jury nullifies the sale of land from Emily Tucker Hodges to her stepson John Q. Hodges on the grounds that she was mentally incapacitated at the time.
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May 17, 1873 - John Q. Hodges and Emma J. Burwell, of Raleigh, North Carolina, marry.
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1880s–1890s - John Q. Hodges works as a clerk in Brooklyn, New York.
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June 1, 1900 - John Q. Hodges is recorded in the federal census and dies on an unknown date afterward.
References
Further Reading
External Links
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Tarter, B., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. John Q. Hodges (1841–after June 1, 1900). (2019, July 3). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Hodges_John_Q_1841-after_June_13_1900.
- MLA Citation:
Tarter, Brent and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "John Q. Hodges (1841–after June 1, 1900)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 3 Jul. 2019. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: February 25, 2019 | Last modified: July 3, 2019
Contributed by Brent Tarter and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Brent Tarter is founding editor of the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.