Beckham County, OK - Obits: Ira Hodgson, 1937 04 April 2008 Submitted by: delma25@pldi.net (Delma Tindell) ********************************************************************* USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ********************************************************************* HODGSON, IRA (14 Mar 1937, Elk City Newspaper, Elk City, Beckham Co, OK): Ira Hodson (sic), pioneer Beckham county resident, died Friday night at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Lando Ivester in Sayre. Death was caused by a paralytic stroke which he suffered two weeks ago while in Phoenix, Ariz., with another daughter, Mrs. Hazel Martin of Sayre. Mr. Hodson and Mrs. Martin had spent the winter in Arizona. They returned to Sayre shortly after Mr. Hodson suffered the paralytic stroke. His wife passed away a year ago. Survivors include two daughters and three sons. Mrs. Martin is a daughter-in-law of Mrs. S. J. Martin of this city. The Elk City woman and her daughter, Miss Jane Collins motored to Sayre Saturday evening. Mrs. Martin remained while Mrs. Collins returned to go again Sunday. The funeral will be held Sunday. Burial will be made at the Sayre-Doxey cemetery. Those to go from here other than Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Collins, for the funeral will include Mrs. W. A. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Martin and Sam Martin. (18 Mar 1937, Thursday, Sayre Sun, Sayre, Beckham Co, OK): Ira Hodgson, one of Beckham county's few remaining Civil War veterans, died Friday at his home here only 26 days after his ninety-first birthday. Services were conducted at 2:30 o'clock Sunday afternoon at the First Methodist church with Rev. J. W. Trevette in charge assisted by Rev. Forrest Wyman. The Masons and members of the American Legion had charge of ceremonies at the grave in Sayre-Doxey cemetery. Hodgson was born to Mr. and Mrs. Allen Hodgson, February 14, 1846 at Pekin, Taswell County, Ill. In 1857 he moved with his father's family to Waubaunsee county, Kans. and helped build the settlement of Harveyville. He entered the Civil War at the age of 16 and after the war his regiment kept down the Indian uprisings in Montana, Wyoming and other middle western states. Jan. 5, 1877 he was married to Mary Jane Emerson. To this union were born eight children, three of whom preceded him in death. In 1896 he moved his family to Oklahoma, first living at Yukon and then moving to Beckham county in 1901, where he has resided since. From the Quaker ancestors of his father's family he inherited a moral courage that carried him through all the temptations of army and pioneer life with a clean record. From his mother's family, who were Virginians and slave holders, he inherited that spirit of adventure that made him a pioneer of two states and a "Westerner" from the ground up. He thought and read much but said little; he was a man of principle but unpretentious and was guided by good motives toward his fellowmen. He always lent a willing hand to the needy and in true western custom kept open house for friends, neighbors and travelers alike. He was born a Quaker, and although in early manhood he united with the Methodist Church, he later returned to his Quaker faith which he held at the time of his passing. He was an honorary member of the Masonic Lodge, the Order of the Eastern Star, and the Grand Army of the Republic. His wife preceded him in death two years ago and he is survived by 5 children all of Sayre; three sons, Allen, George and Tack Hodgson, and two daughters, Mrs. Hazel Martin and Mrs. Lando Ivester, and one half-sister, Mrs. Inez Fetty of Cheyenne, Oklahoma. Littrell-Johnson funeral directors had charge of the interment. --------------------------------------------------- Return to Beckham County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/beckham/beckham.html