Brooks-Bulloch County GaArchives Biographies.....Hodges, Albert Jackson 1867 - living in 1913
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 20, 2004, 2:55 pm

Author: William Harden
p. 861-862

   ALBERT JACKSON HODGES, a successful merchant and farmer at Morven, Georgia,
was born in Brooks county of this state on September 9, 1867. His father, Joseph
J. Hodges, was born in Bullock county, Georgia, in 1836, and his grandfather,
James C. Hodges, was a native of the same county, where he was born of ancestors
that were of English descent and were numbered among the early settlers of that
county. James C. Hodges removed to southern Georgia in 1838 and located in that
part of Lowndes county that is now included in Brooks county. At that time the
greater part of southwestern Georgia was a wilderness, deer, bear, turkeys and
many other kinds of game were still plentiful, and the Indians yet contested
this as their hunting ground. He purchased a tract of timbered land five miles
north of the present site of Quitman and began to hew a farm from the
wilderness. There were no railroads in this section for many years afterward. He
went to Newport, Florida, to market his products and on the return would bring
back supplies for the house and farm, it requiring several days to make the
trip. After clearing quite a tract of land there he sold his holdings and
purchased land in Brooks county in the locality known as Okapilco, where he
spent the remainder of his life and passed away during the war between the
states. His wife, who was Miss Sarah Newton before her marriage, survived him
many years and died at the advanced age of ninety-three. They were the parents
of six children, namely: J. Lafayette, Robert L., Joseph J., Margaret, Mary and
Maggie. All of the sons served in the Confederate army. Joseph J. Hodges, the
father of Albert J., was reared on the farm. After he had attained his majority
he went to Florida, where he clerked for an elder brother until the breaking out
of the Civil war, when he enlisted in a regiment of Florida cavalry in which lie
served until the close of the war. He then returned to Brooks county, Georgia,
the fortunate possessor of $200, which was his entire capital. With more
valuable assets, however, in the way of energy, ambition and undaunted courage,
he began anew his campaign for success. Purchasing the interests of the other
heirs in the homestead of his father, he began farming in a small way and
prospered from the start. As his means accumulated he invested in land until his
holdings comprised about three thousand acres, besides outlying tracts, and he
was also a stockholder in the banks at Pavo and Quitman, Georgia. He continued
to reside on his estate until his death on July 25, 1910. The maiden name of his
wife was Rachel Caroline Delk. She was born in Brooks county, Georgia, a
daughter of John and Jane (Hodge) Delk, and still resides at the old homestead.
Joseph J. and Rachel C. (Delk) Hodges became the parents of eight children,
viz.: Albert J., Wesley, Sally, Charles W., James C., Eugene E., Judge R. and
Mary. Wesley died at the age of seventeen and Charles passed to the life beyond
when thirty years of age. Both parents were consistent members of the Methodist
Episcopal church and the father was an ardent advocate of prohibition.

   Albert Jackson Hodges, the eldest of his family and the immediate subject of
this review, received his education in the common schools of Brooks county.
Reared to habits of industry, he began in early youth to assist in the duties of
the home farm and gained thereby a knowledge and a training that have been the
foundation of his subsequent successful business career. He remained with his
parents until twenty-three years of age and then purchased land near the old
home, where he followed farming ten years. At the end of that period he removed
to Morven to engage in the mercantile business and so continued there, carrying
a large stock of general merchandise, including everything in daily use in the
home and on the farm, until January 1, 1913, when the store and all the goods
were burned. Since then he has been farming, his place of 350 acres adjoining
the corporation of Morven, and is a stockholder in the Citizens banks at Quitman
and at Morven. Mr. Hodges is also a member of the legislature and has been mayor
of Morven two years.

   At the age of twenty-three he was united in marriage to Mamie Griffin, who
also is a native of Brooks county and is a daughter of Simeon and Emma Griffin.
Mr. and Mrs. Hodges are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They
have seven children: Euler F., Joseph J., Maude, Edwin D., Marion, Claude W. and
Laura.



Additional Comments:
From:

A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
BY
WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1913

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