Gone but Not Forgotten

Michelle Metty

A shoebox full of forgotten memories led me on a path to the past. Three years ago, my mother brought me a shoebox of old photos, many of them unlabeled and unidentified family members. I was curious about the faces that stared back at me as I looked at the photos; I also felt a loss for the eyes that seemed to look right at me from captured scenes of long ago days. A shoebox full of family now lost to this current generation. It seems strange to me now, that until that time, I had never thought much about my ancestry but when viewing these pictures a need to know those ancestors captured my curiosity and I have been hooked on genealogy since that day.

When I began my search I had no knowledge of my family beyond my great grandfather Audra Hodges born 1892 in Missouri. My mother didn’t know who Audra’s parents were so we began by ordering birth and death records, marriage and will records. We also searched through census and land records. Soon our knowledge of our ancestors grew from three generations up to ten on some surname lines. The number of family members we were aware of grew from twenty-six to over a thousand. Over a thousand family members found and remembered, and I found, like many other family researchers find, each newly discovered family member becomes more than just a name in a file, they become a story remembered, a history resurrected. I found myself intrigued by some of these histories. My Hodges line is the line that I grew the most attached to. My mother was born a Hodges and she has always been proud of the name because the name came from her grandfather Audra Hodges who was so dear to her. Audra Hodges, who was nicknamed "Big", not because he was a big man by stature but because he was a big man by character. Our known Hodges history before we began this search didn’t include generation after generation of prominent families or an adventurous hero, only one man (a hero to my mother) who bought a mule and plow and worked for 50 cents a day plowing fields to save the $500.00 to buy the farm he lived on all of his adult life, a man who was more comfortable in overalls than a suit, a man who drove a horse and buggy on his first date with his future wife, and still took out his old model T to drive to market on Saturdays in the 1950s, a man who was dear to everyone who knew him. So it seemed right that this Hodges family called to me more than any other surname. We soon found Audra’s father Thomas, Thomas’ father William and then William’s father Moses Hodges; who is currently our earliest known Hodges ancestor.

Moses Hodges born 1791 in South Carolina was Audra’s great grandfather. If Audra ever had any knowledge of Moses we will never know. I also felt a strong attachment to Moses Hodges. Something about this man intrigued me. Maybe it was his war of 1812 service where he was wounded in the battle of Thames and not expected to live through the night, but did, that intrigued me. Maybe it was because I was so impressed by the facts that even after becoming permanently disabled from his war injuries he went on to raise a family of eight children and travel from Kentucky to Missouri to begin a new life in an infant state. Maybe it was because he possessed a strength that I admired. For whatever the reason, the attachment I felt for this man, who died one hundred and forty eight years ago, grew fond, so that when I couldn’t find who his parents were, I was, at first, content to make him the patriarch of my Hodges family. But as I continued researching Moses I came to ponder, if Moses was such a brave and noble man, then his parents must have taught him those values; therefore, his parents were also worth remembering, but soon Moses’ parents became my road block. After researching, it seems, every Hodges that ever lived in this nation I decided to join the Hodges DNA project. And though the results didn’t miraculously name Moses’ Parents, they did make it clear who was not related. Through research I had grown knowledgeable of many of those Hodges lines while in search of my own heritage, but I was relieved to let them go and have the number of possible ancestors lessen considerably. Also through the DNA testing I found myself lucky to be grouped into Lineage III with Bob Hodges or “Virginia Bob” as he was called at the 2007 Richmond Virginia Hodges/Hodge DNA conference. He has been researching the Hodges of Franklin County Virginia for many years and has a vast amount of information and records on the Hodges families of Virginia. My mother and I decided to go to the conference. We purchased our airline tickets and counted down the days. I must admit, my original reason for attending the conference was to talk to Bob Hodges, maybe there was something I could find that would help me over my roadblock. I soon found the entire conference beneficial as speakers shared their expertise and stories. Terry Barton, coordinator for the Hodges/Hodge DNA project, explained the benefits of DNA testing for genealogists to identify family groups and related branches. Ron Hodges, also a coordinator for the Hodges/Hodge DNA project, brought everyone up to date on the current DNA results and how further testing could benefit the various groups. Another Bob Hodges, “New Jersey Bob”, gave an overview of the variety of genealogical information that can be found in land records. Nelson Hodges gave an interesting lecture tracing the Hodges/Hodge surname through history, and Bob Hodges of Virginia shared his knowledge of the Hodges families in early Virginia. Dan Hodges coordinated the event and I enjoyed talking to him and his family. There were many great people at the conference from many different states and professional back grounds, as well as many different stages of genealogical knowledge: the novice to the advanced researcher.

The conference was interesting and informative. I found one of the most enjoyable aspects of attending the conference was the people. I hadn’t speculated how enjoyable it would be to be in a room full of people who shared not only an interest in genealogy but also the very same surname interest. It was wonderful to talk to someone about family history without their eyes glazing over with disinterest. Let’s face it, not everyone finds spending a day in an old dusty archive room exciting. I learned this early in the beginning stages of research, I would be so excited about a new find or a surprise discovery and try to relate the discovery to someone; it would only be moments until I saw the listener's eyes glaze over as they began to yawn and search for the nearest exit. At the conference it was refreshing to talk to other researchers, tell my story, and listen to theirs (with sincere interest) and have included the added benefit of learning from other researchers who are more knowledgeable than I.

I believe DNA testing for genealogy purposes to be most beneficial. If I had not participated in the DNA study I would still be rambling from state to state, record to record, lost as to which direction to go next. The DNA test results have made my path clearer, and though I do not know exactly when I will overcome my roadblock, I do know which direction to travel.