Biography of Chester Prentice Hodge, pages 796/797/798. History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. Chester Prentice Hodge It is the dictate of our nature, no less then of enlightened social policy, to honor those whose lives have contributed in any way to the good of their community and their associates; to bedew with affectionate tears the silent urn of departed worth and virtue, to unburden the fullness of the surcharged heart in eulogium upon deceased benefactors, and to rehearse their noble deeds for the benefits of those who may come after us. It has been the commendable custom of all ages and all nations. Hence the following feeble tribute to one of nature’s noblemen. In contemplating the many estimable qualities of the late Chester Prentice Hodge, industry and integrity appear a s prominent characteristics-and integrity that no personal or other consideration could swerve, and an industry that knew no rest while anything remained undone. In the field of Pedagogy Mr. Hodge stood in the front rank among his contemporaries, his reputations as an able, successful and popular educator far transcending the limits of his home county. His temper was calm and equable and his manners were emphatically those of the gentleman, ---plain, simple, dignified, --- despising sham and pretense of all kinds. His devotion to every duty was intense, while his perception of truth and worth was almost intuitive. In his estimate of these he was seldom mistaken, and while his opinions were strong, he was always open to conviction, and when satisfied that they were erroneous his concessions were graceful ad unqualified. He was a man whom to know was to respect and admire, and his loss was keenly felt by a wide circle of friends and acquaintance. Chester Prentice Hodge was born at LeRaysville, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and was a son of James and Keturah (Ransom) Hodge. His maternal grandfather, Samuel Ransom, was a son of Samuel Ransom, Sr., who was beheaded at the historic massacre of the Wyoming valley during the Revolution. He was a prominent man in his community and a successful farmer, had served in the Franch and Indian war and in 1776 was commissioned captain of a company, being the second independent company attached to the Connecticut line. Rev. James Hodge, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a Methodist circuit rider in Pennsylvania, and at the same time dealt in groceries and liquors, the two stocks being carried in conjunction in those days and considered a perfectly proper proceeding. He and his wife are both now deceased and lie buried in the cemetery at LaRaysville. Chester P. Hodge, who was born December 16, 1834, at LeRaysville, Pennsylvania, prepared for college at the Wyoming Seminary at Kingston, that state. He then engaged in teaching school for a while, after which he became a student at Union College at Schenectady, New York where he stood high in his classed, especially in mathematics and sciences, graduating with the degree Master of Arts in June, 1862. In August of the same year Mr. Hodge enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which he went to the front, and in October, while near Poolsville, Maryland, with General Robinson’s brigade, having been appointed assistant brigade quartermaster, he was seized with bilious colic, from which he nearly died. His recovery was so slow that late in December of that year he received an honorable discharge. His mother had died on November 21, 1862, and his father went to Towando, Pennsylvania, to live with a daughter, Priscella Lee, who had become the wife of John H. Codding, at that time sheriff of Bradford county. The other sister, Sara Lucretia, went to live with her older brother, James W., who had been married eighteen months before and lived at Harrisburg. Taking his sister back with him, Mr. Hodge opened the abandoned house, brought his father to it, and they formed the family household until spring. On the 14th of April, 1863, Mr. Hodge married Julia E., only daughter of E. B. Mott, on of the pioneers and prominent citizens of DeKalb county, Indiana, who had been at that time a resident of Auburn for almost twenty years. Mr. Hodge and his wife spent a year in LeRaysville, but his father died on November 5, 1863, and Mr. and Mrs. Mott were anxious to have their children with them in Auburn, especially as on son, Sheridan, was in the army, while the eldest son, Egbert B. Mott, Jr., and the youngest, John Granville, were in California. Mr. and Mrs. Hodge reached Auburn, Indiana, on April 24th, just three weeks before the death of Sheridan, which occurred at Nashville. He had been wounded in the battle of Chichamauga. Here Mr. Hodge engaged in the pedagogical profession, and the many hundreds who, during a period of thirty years or more, profited by his instructions, are witnesses to the ability, energy and faithfulness which he brought to the discharge of his duties. As a teacher of mathematics he had few equals, and or clear, logical and forcible reasoning it was difficult to find his equal. As a man, he was honest, upright and pure, one whose judgment was unbiased by selfish motives. Modest and unassuming himself, he disliked pretension wherever he found it, but he was quick to recognize intelligence, integrity and genuine piety. Mr. Hodge was converted while young united with the Methodist Episcopal church and remained a faithful member of that denomination for many years, but circumstances eventually persuaded him to join the Protestant Episcopal church, to which he became strongly attached and he was confirmed in 1874 and remained in that communion the rest of his life. A lover of music, he possessed a splendid singing voice and during most of his life he was a member of choirs, first in the Methodist and later in the Episcopal churches. His health had been gradually failing through many years and for almost three years prior to his death, which occurred on November 8, 1887, he had been disabled from regular work. His wife, Eugenia Mott, was born at Frederickstown, Ohio, June 3, 1837, the daughter of Egbert Benson and Mary (Winterbottom) Mott, who, in 1843, moved with their four children to Auburn, Indiana, at which time Mrs. Hodge was but six years old. Here she was reared and passed her early womanhood except two or three years spent in completing her education at Wyoming Seminary, Kinston, Pennsylvania, where she graduated in 1857. It was at this school that she first made the acquaintance of Chester Prentice Hodge, to whom she was married in April, 1863. She and her husband lived at various places in northern Indiana, where he was following his profession of teaching, but eventually located on the Mott farm north of Auburn, which was their home from that time for many years. Here her youngest child, Teresa, died in 1884. Her eldest living son, Egbert, an attorney of Chicago, died in 1893, and her mother also died in 1893. She spent the last few winters of her life in Kirkwood Missouri, with the daughter, Julia M. Hodge, a teacher there, her death occurring at the latter place on January 8, 1912, at the age of seventy-four years. Of her nine children, she was survived by her daughter, Julia Mott, now a Bible teacher at Manila, Philippine Islands, and a son Chester James, who lives on the old farm known as Greenhurst, in Union township, DeKalb county. She was woman of unusual gifts and rare virtues. Her friends were many and her life of childlike faith was full of gracious ministrations of those about her, leaving behind her a host of blessed memories. She was a poet of exceptional facility of expression and gift of reaching the heart, her poems being admirably written and posses rhythm and meter. The Mott family have for many years been prominent in American life, and Mrs. Hodge is related to several well-known people, Ann Winterbottom Stevens; a famous author, her aunt; John Granville Mott, her only living brother, of Chicago, a man of affairs, well known in business circles and others of equal prominence. Specific mention to the Mott family is given elsewhere in this work, therefore detailed mention of the family will not be made at this point. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@ctlnet.