History of Wexford County, MI. Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 155 - 157

THOMAS HODGSON

Agriculture has been an honored vocation from the earliest ages and as a usual thing men of honorable and humane impulses, as well as those of energy and thrift, have been patrons of husbandry. The free outdoor life of the farm has a decided tendency to foster and develop that independence of mind and self-reliance which characterize true manhood and no greater blessing can befall a boy than to be reared in close touch with nature in the healthful, life inspiring labor of the fields. It has always been the fruitful soil from which have sprung the moral bone and sinew of the country, and the majority of our nation's great warriors, wise statesmen, renowned scholars and distinguished men of letters were born on the farm and are indebted to its early influence for the distinction which they have attained. Thomas Hodgson is a native of merrie England, born in Westmoreland county on the 28th of February, 1838. He was reared in his native country and there received a fair education. Upon attaining mature years, he became convinced that in the new world lay better opportunities for a man of energy and ambition, and he carried his convictions into effect by emigrating to Canada. After residing in the dominion about six years he removed to Kansas and made that his home for about four years. In September, 1874, he came to Wexford county and settled on the farm in section 36, Clam Lake township, on which he now resides. His farm comprises one hundred and twenty acres of land, of which ninety are in cultivation. He has a comfortable and commodious residence and splendid farm buildings in which to house his stock and store the products of the farm. He has his farm stocked with good grades of horses, cattle and hogs and his fields are in a high state of cultivation. He has paid special attention to trees, having some splendid fruit and shade trees on the place, and has otherwise in many ways endeavored to make his farm a model one. Under his careful and skillful management it is made to yield more liberal returns than many places of much larger area. He is a man of industrious and thrifty habits and seldom fails of winning success from everything to which he lays his hands. His home is a model of neatness and comfort and he has surrounded himself with many of the comforts and luxuries of life which make a rural home so attractive. Among his friends and fellow citizens he is held in high favor. He is enterprising in all the term implies, public spirited in all that pertains to the material prosperity of his township and county and as a farmer he occupies a leading place among the citizens of the community in which he resides. In all his relations with his fellow men his conduct has been blameless and it has been his laudable aim to keep his name and character above reproach. In 1866, at Ingersoll, Canada, Mr. Hodgson was united in marriage with Miss Mary Gane, a native of England, born April 20, 1848, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Parson ) Gane. This union has been a most felicitous one and has been blessed by the birth of twelve children, named as follows: Elizabeth M., born November 23, 1866, is the wife of James Phillips, a millwright at Traverse City, and they have three children, Lena, Hazel and Elmer; Elwood N., born August 9, 1868, a farmer in Clam Lake township, married Edna Thomas and they have one child living, Albert T.; Maggie E., born July 3, 1876, is the wife of George W. Hector, of Cadillac; Anna F., born January 13. 1873, died April 1, 1895, was the wife of Frederick Phillips, of Cadillac; John H., born June 3, 1875, died September 1, 1877; Anthony E., born September 10, 1877, is a resident of Missaukee county; Elsie E., born October 8, 1880, is the wife of Samuel Shine, of Clam Lake township, and they have one child, Milton D.; Edith R., born November 21, 1882, is at home; Mildred E., born June 20, 1884, is at home; Julia E., born June 23, 1887, died at the age of three months and three days; Arthur T., born November 15, 1888, is at home, as is Gertha Blanche, born September 30, 1890. Mr. Hodgson is an ardent member of the Republican party and takes a deep interest in the trend of passing events, especially in all matters affecting the interests of his own community. Religiously he is identified with the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he contributes liberally of his time and means. His wife and children are also members of the same church and are actively interested in the work of the society. They all occupy a conspicuous place in the social circles of the community and are held in high esteem by all who know them. The following obituary of John N. Gane, father of Mrs. Hodgson, will no doubt prove of interest to the reader: John N. Gane was born in Summersetshire, England, June 5, 1817, and died Dec. 30, 1897, aged seventy-eight years, six months and twenty-five days. In the year 1844 he was united in holy wedlock to Elizabeth E. Parsons, with whom he lived a most happy life for forty-eight years. In 1892, in the sixty-fourth year of her age, she was called to her heavenly home. The fruit of their wedded life was nine children. Of these two died in infancy, two after they had reached the years of maturity, and five still remain to mourn the loss of father and mother - a daughter, Mrs. Thomas Hodgson, and four sons, George, Robert, Homer, a Presbyterian minister in the state of Kansas, and Walter, the youngest of the family. John Gane together with his beloved wife and children then born left their native land, and came to Ingersol, in what was at that time known as Canada West, now called the province of Ontario, and there they remained for twenty years. In 1867 he with his beloved family moved to Clam Lake township, Michigan. His home has been in the township to which he gave the name it at present bears, up to the time of his death. Sister Gane had at the time of her death lived twenty-three years to a day on the old homestead farm in the extreme southeast of Wexford county. The deceased was converted very shortly after the birth of his first child. He seemed to have been impressed with the great responsibility resting upon him to train up the precious gift of a dear child in the fear and admonition of the Lord; and while standing in the church of his native land in a prayer meeting, said as he looked on one of the pillars of the building, "Let this be a witness that I this day consecrate my life to God." Shortly after, he and his young wife united with the Wesleyan Methodist church of the home land. Through all these years he remained faithful to that vow made in the spring-time of life. By the life of such a saint we may learn something of the spirit of early Methodism. The Methodists of that time were a very happy people. They lived for the other world. Like the saints of old, they regarded themselves as strangers and pilgrims on the earth. He was a class-leader for more than forty years, and no doubt would have continued the good work but for the fact that he became dull of hearing. He delighted in visiting the sick and dying, and in pointing them to the only Savior of sinners. One could not be long in his company without the subject of religion being introduced, but in such a pleasant and familiar way that even the most wicked could not take offense. He seemed to breathe the atmosphere of the heavenly world. It was no uncommon thing for him to spend an hour on his knees - morning, noon and night. He did not pray as most people do. He talked with God as one does to his most familiar friend. Sunday, December 19, he attended his last love-feast, and how cheerful was his testimony, notwithstanding the fact that he could not hear the testimony of others. The following week he was looking forward to the coming Sabbath, telling his son with whom he was visiting that he was glad that they could attend the service that day together. But the Heavenly Father ordered otherwise, for on Saturday night he was stricken with paralysis. He was unconscious for a tine, but soon came to himself so that he understood all that was said to him. When prayer was offered, several times he responded - Amen. Referring to Job, he quoted his words and said: "Though he slay me yet will I trust in Him." As one gazed upon the dying saint the words of the blessed book would come to his mind: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." At nine o'clock Thursday morning, without a struggle or a groan, he passed to the heavenly mansions to meet the blessed Savior, the beloved companion of his long life, and the dear children gone before. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them."