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Edward D. Dodge From the History of Hocking Valley, Ohio Interstate Publishing Co.,Chicago 1883. Pp 1240-1241. Transcribed by Timothy E. Fisher and sent to us by Tim Abel |
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E. D. Dodge,
hardware merchant, is a son of James and grandson of Caleb Dodge who
were both natives of Maine. In 1811, Caleb with his wife and two
sons, James and Edward, leaving some of the older children in Maine,
came through as far as Columbus, Ohio, where he died, but the widow and
her two sons came on to what is now Vinton County and settled in what
is Elk Township, on the waters of Raccoon Creek. Edward, the
oldest son, soon bought property and erected a horse-mill and
distillery, one of the first on the county. He became a patriot in the
war of 1812 and rose to the rank of Major, serving through the
struggle. He then settled in Vinton County and endured the hardships of
the early pioneer life, remaining until about 1835 when he with his
wife and seven children moved to Missouri. James, the youngest brother, was born in Maine in 1802, but from 1811 lived in what is Vinton County, Ohio. He lived with his brother Edward until his marriage to Mary A. England. He then settled on a farm on Raccoon Creek as renter. He was a hard worker, close observer and endured hardships as a pioneer, but by all these exertions he accumulated a neat competency and cared for his mother until her death, at the age of ninety-three years. His early boyhood days were mostly spent in the distillery and mill, but from the time of his marriage he followed farming. He was a man of systematic principles and after he had once started would save a little at a time till he had $50, when he would enter forty acres. This he continued until he had 320 acres. In 1840 he moved to McArthur where he engaged in the trading of cattle mules and horses, but in 1847 engaged in mercantile trade. He died in 1861 and his wife in 1862. Of their four children --- Caleb (deceased), Edward D., Clarissa, and S. Vinton, Edward D. is the eldest living and was born in Elk Township, March 16, 1827. He was reared through the pioneer days and had few school privileges, but his father moved to town mostly to edu- cate his children. Here Edward improved the opportunities and acquired a fair education, and in 1847 joined his father in business, since which his business life in McArthur has been unbroken save a short time. In 1856 he married Sibilla, daughter of John Simpson, of Morgan County, Ohio. She had taught school several terms, was a practical woman and made a valuable assistant in the store, but died in 1863, leaving no children. Mr. Dodge was married July 4, 1877, to Catharine Liston, who was a native of Gallia County, Ohio. She received a good education and has taught a number of terms in the High School in McArthur. They have one child, Mary. When the banking business was started in McArthur, he was one of the prime movers and devoted time to obtaining stockholders. He has been one of the stockholders as well as a director from the beginning. Mr. Dodge as a business man has been remarkably successful and now owns about 400 acres in Vinton County, besides Western land. His accumulations are to- tally the result of his own legitimate efforts together with that of his noble companions. |