Home > United States of America > South Dakota > Kingsbury County > Erwin > Erwin Cemetery > Joseph Henry Hodges

Joseph Henry Hodges

Birth	:	25 Mar 1859 Speer, Stark County, Illinois, USA
Death	:	27 Nov 1941 Kingsbury County, South Dakota, USA
Burial	:	Erwin Cemetery, Erwin, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate	:	44.4989014, -97.4586029
Description	:	Joseph Henry Hodges arrived in De Smet (Kingsbury County, Dakota Territory) on March 4, 1882, coming by railroad car from Wyoming (Stark County), Illinois with his friend John Schanck. Hodges had a team of mules, a wagon, a breaking plow and a few small pieces of farming equipment from his father's homestead in Illinois, taken to a country sawmill there, and cut into the right lengths for the claim shanty. J.H. Hodges and Schanck filed separate claims and built their one room claim shanty on the line between NE¼ 4-112-55 and NW¼ 3-112-55 north of Erwin about four miles. The walls... Read More	Joseph Henry Hodges arrived in De Smet (Kingsbury County, Dakota Territory) on March 4, 1882, coming by railroad car from Wyoming (Stark County), Illinois with his friend John Schanck. Hodges had a team of mules, a wagon, a breaking plow and a few small pieces of farming equipment from his father's homestead in Illinois, taken to a country sawmill there, and cut into the right lengths for the claim shanty. J.H. Hodges and Schanck filed separate claims and built their one room claim shanty on the line between NE¼ 4-112-55 and NW¼ 3-112-55 north of Erwin about four miles. The walls and ceiling of the shanty were papered with newspapers from the Wyoming, Illinois Post Herald, The Farmers Review and the early De Smet Leader to provide insulation. They were each supposed to sleep on separate sides of the line in order to qualify for "proving up" on their homestead. According to records available, the proving up was done and J.H. Hodges paid $4.00 on September 11, 1889 for 185.32 acres. J.H. Hodges wrote a letter for John Schanck back to Illinois to a girl whom Schanck didn't even know, asking her to marry Schanck. She came to Dakota, and married him, so Schanck then moved out. Joseph married Sarah Jane Donaldson in 1884, and three of Hodges children were born in the claim shanty: Abbie, Ray and Clark. In 1889, they built their new modern home on the next quarter south (SE¼ 4-112-55) and four more children were born here: Ida, Jodey, Harry and Gladys. There were several other buildings added to the farm, including a large horse barn, which would hold 21 horses, and was usually full. This barn was made with wood shipped out from Illinois and was built with nearly all pegs. Hardly any nails were used in the construction. The Hodges family recall their father saying he did not use a pound of wood or coal for the first four years he lived in Dakota. He burned twisted hay, flax straw and cow chips. The first 22 years they had difficulty getting water on the farm and he would haul water for his stock 2½ miles after a full days work in the fields. He later drilled three artesian wells on the farm which gave him adequate water. J.H. Hodges liked to garden and had an acre of apple trees, large bountiful vegetable gardens, and lovely flower and rose gardens. Much canning was done during the summer canning season. Farming was done on a large scale even far back in those days, with four outfits with five horses each out plowing at a time, and then corn picking with six teams and wagons. In 1888, Joseph went to Erwin to go to the post office and was caught by the blizzard of "88". He started to go home but his horse wouldn't go, so he slept on the post office floor for two nights. Grandma Hodges was worrying about where he was and Ray kept saying "Daddy went up the flue". During this same blizzard, a teacher named Lamphier, who taught in one of the rural schools north of Erwin started taking students home from school, but the storm caught them, so he turned the wagon over and stayed under it with the children. They all survived, but many fingers and feet were frozen. Jodey tells of going to Lake Poinsett fishing as a child. It was such a long way they had to stay overnight, so they slept on canvasses they had taken along. He also remembers when they were big enough to go alone, the Hodges boys, the Lewis Boys and the Giles boys went together. He doesn't remember how many fish were caught, but that was not the memorable part. The boys all worked very hard on the farm in the fields but they also had many hired men, sometimes as many as two or three at a time. This made a lot of cooking for the women of the household. There was always a family dinner every fall when Joseph killed a lamb and called in the entire family for a big Sunday dinner when they would eat the whole thing. He had a tame goose which would eat corn out of his pocket and this fascinated the grandchildren. The people in town always said when he came to town they would start laughing because they knew he would have a funny story to tell and they might as well get started laughing. Joseph loved driving horses and always had beautiful ones. He always drove a horse and buggy to town if the weather was fit, even after he owned a car, because he preferred to drive his horses. His first car was a Duryea. He said he bought this as he had known the man who made them back in Illinois. He never liked to drive a car. If he had to go somewhere in one, he usually talked someone else into driving for him. Sarah Jane Hodges died in 1903. He later married Clara Hodges from Saratoga, New York in 1909. She was a second cousin and a school teacher. She died in 1929. He then married Minnie Dorman in 1931. Jane was one of the first members of the Erwin Congregational Church and was also active in the work of the women's organization of the church. Clara Hodges was also active in the church and served as chairman for Erwin and Hartland Township for the Women's Committee of the Council of National Defense during World War I. Joseph was active in community organizations and served on the rural school board for many years. He was very much opposed to the consolidation of the Erwin school. J.H. was one of the owners of the Bank of Erwin, where his son, Clark, was president of the bank until 1929 when the bank closed because of the crash. In looking over old Atlases of Kingsbury County, the 1909 Atlas shows J.H. Hodges owning ten and a half quarters of land in the county and the 1929 Atlas shows him owning twelve and a half quarters. Rumors have it that he owned thirty quarters at one time, but lost nearly all of them during the years of drought and depression. Harry Hodges saw the need for preserving the Hodges claim shanty and it is now being preserved at the Agricultural Museum at Brookings with authentic furnishings from the pioneer era. This will be the permanent home for the claim shanty, where it can be on display for future generations to view and ponder the hardships of the pioneer days. Joseph Henry Hodges died on November 27, 1941 as the result of injuries suffered in a car accident.

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Joseph Henry Hodges's memorial?
Joseph Henry Hodges's memorial is located at: Erwin Cemetery, Erwin, Kingsbury County, USA.
When did Joseph Henry Hodges death?
Joseph Henry Hodges death on 27 Nov 1941 in Kingsbury County, South Dakota, USA
Where are the coordinates of the Joseph Henry Hodges's memorial?
Latitude: 44.4989014
Longitude: -97.4586029

Family Members:

Parent

Spouse

Sarah Jane Donaldson Hodges

(1857 - 1903)

Clara Belle Hodges

(1871 - 1929)

Siblings

Children

Abba N. “Abbie” Hodges

(1884 - 1910)

David Ray Hodges

(1885 - 1972)

James Clark Hodges

(1887 - 1978)

Ida Hodges Blakewell

(1889 - 1967)

Joseph Harold “Jodey” Hodges

(1891 - 1986)

Harry Donaldson Hodges

(1893 - 1971)

Mary Gladys Hodges

(1896 - 1923)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Erwin Cemetery
Erwin, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4989014, -97.4586029

2. West Bethany Lutheran Church Cemetery
Erwin, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4990770, -97.5117300

3. Clara Cemetery
Hartland Township, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.5404000, -97.4095000

4. Spirit Lake Cemetery
De Smet, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4845900, -97.5327000

5. Clara Lutheran Church Cemetery
Hartland Township, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.5286300, -97.3864100

6. Bethania Cemetery
Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4968987, -97.3688965

7. Woodlawn Cemetery
Bryant, Hamlin County, USA
Coordinate: 44.5868988, -97.4522018

8. Saint Marys Cemetery
Bryant, Hamlin County, USA
Coordinate: 44.6013985, -97.4705963

9. Our Redeemer Cemetery
Bryant, Hamlin County, USA
Coordinate: 44.6021996, -97.4610977

10. Garfield Cemetery
Bryant, Hamlin County, USA
Coordinate: 44.5718740, -97.3293900

11. North Preston Lutheran Cemetery
Lake Preston, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4407740, -97.3106400

12. Odden Cemetery
Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4197006, -97.3302994

13. Saint Peters German Lutheran Church Cemetery
Badger, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.5010986, -97.2878036

14. Scandinavian Cemetery
Bryant, Hamlin County, USA
Coordinate: 44.6060982, -97.3707962

15. Spirit Lake Church Cemetery
De Smet, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.5130257, -97.6345255

16. Hinderlie Cemetery
Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4488983, -97.2893982

17. Lake Preston Cemetery
Lake Preston, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3630981, -97.4096985

18. Saint Thomas Catholic Cemetery
De Smet, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3683300, -97.5689200

19. De Smet Cemetery
De Smet, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3683014, -97.5706024

20. Badger Cemetery
Badger, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4850006, -97.2142029

21. Apostolic Cemetery
Lake Norden, Hamlin County, USA
Coordinate: 44.5656013, -97.2283020

22. Danish Lutheran Cemetery
Badger, Kingsbury County, USA
Coordinate: 44.5280991, -97.2091980

23. Collins Cemetery
Willow Lake, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 44.6244011, -97.6552963

24. Saint James Catholic Cemetery
Willow Lake, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 44.6243700, -97.6565000