Hodges

colonel and later colonel oŁ the ist United States
Volunteer Engineers, and during 1898-99, was
engaged in the construction and repair of roads,
bridges, reservoirs, refrigerating plants, and de-
fensive works in Porto Rico. Then he had charge
of engineering projects on the upper Ohio River
until May 1901, when he was designated chief
engineer, Department of Cuba, under Major-
General Leonard Wood. From 1902 to 1907, he
was assistant to the chief of engineers at Wash-
ington, and a member of many important boards
and commissions. In September 1905, he was
delegate to the Tenth International Navigation
Congress, at Milan, Italy.

In 1907 he became general purchasing officer
for the Isthmian Canal Commission; and the
following year was made a member of the com-
mission and assistant chief engineer of the Pan-
ama Canal, in charge of the design of locks,
dams, and regulating works. For this service
his river-and-harbor experience, especially his
work on the Poe lock at Sault Ste. Marie, had
peculiarly fitted him. Col. Goethals referred to
him as "my right bower," and stated that "the
canal could not have been built without him"
(Scribner's Magazine, May 1915, p. 544; Bish-
op, post., p. 216). Hodges was engineer of main-
tenance of the canal in 1914-15. The Panama
period embraced his most important engineering
achievements, and for his services he received
the Thanks of Congress, Mar. 4, 1915, and was
advanced to the grade of brigadier-general. He
commanded Fort Totten and the Middle-Atlan-
tic Coast Artillery District, 1915-17, and with
the advent of the World War was appointed
major-general, National Army, Aug. 5, 1917.
He commanded and trained the 76th Division at
Camp Devens, Mass., during the remainder of
the year 1917; was an observer in France during
the first half of 1918; and saw service with his
division overseas, up to December 1918. On his
return to the United States, he was in command
of Camp Sevier, S. C, Camp Travis, Tex., and
the North Pacific and 3rd Coast Artillery Dis-
trict. On Dec. 21,1921, he was advanced to the
grade of major-general, United States Army,
and the day following was, at his own request,
retired from active service. Thereafter, until
his death, he made his home at Lake Forest, HI.
For his services during the World War, Hodges
was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal;
he had already earned service medals for the
Spanish-American War, Army of Cuban Pacifi-
cation, and the Panama Canal. He was the au-
thor of Roster of Service with Engineer Troops
of the United States Army, and a Brief Histor-
ical Sketch of Their Organization (1885); and

Hodgkinson

of Notes on Mitering Lock-Gates (1892). His
wife had died in 1926, and he was survived by a
son and two daughters. The interment, with sim-
ple religious and military honors, was at Grace-
land Cemetery, Chicago.

[War Department records; certain details including
the spelling of family names from Hodges' son, Duncan
Hodges, who is the author of a memoir of his father in
Trans. Am. Soc. Civil Engineers, vol. XCIV (1930);
information from the secretary, Asso. Grads,, U. S.
Mil. Acad.; Who's Who in America, 1928-29; A. D.
Hodges, Jr., Geneal. Record of the Hodges Family of
New England (1896); Canal Record, July 15, 1908;
G. W. Goethals, "The Building of the Panama Canal,"
Scribner's Mag., Mar .-June, 1915; J. B. Bishop, The
Panama Gateway (1913); G. W. Cullum, Biog. Reg.
Officers and Grads. U. S. Mil. Acad. (3rd ed., 1891),
and supplements; Army and Navy Jour., Sept. 28,
1929; Chicago Daily News, Sept. 25, 1929; AT. 7.
Times, Sept. 25, and editorial Sept. 29, 1929.]

C.D.R.

HODGKINSON, JOHN (c. i76;-Sept. 12,
1805), actor, theatrical manager, was the son of
a small English farmer of the name of Meadow-
croft (or Meadowcraft). When the father set
up a public house in the neighboring town of
Manchester, John was pressed into service as
potboy. After the elder Meadowcroft's death,
his widow remarried, and the boy was appren-
ticed to a silk weaver. Having an unusual voice,
he sang in the choir of one of the Manchester
churches. As a further exercise of his talents
he formed a cellar theatre among the boys of his
acquaintance and was highly gratified with the
result until his master, discovering the secret,
violently broke up the organization. John there-
upon ran away from Manchester and, for pur-
poses of concealment, took his mother's family
name of Hodgkinson. At this time he was ap-
parently in his fifteenth year. Reaching Bristol,
he decided to try for the stage, and, after display-
ing his vocal ability before the local manager, he
was engaged to sing in the chorus and perform
other small offices about the theatre. Subse-
quently he was connected with two important
provincial circuits and was soon recognized as
one of the most promising actors of his day. In
1789 he ran off with the nominal wife of Mun-
den, his employer, and appeared for a time at the
Exeter theatre. A year later he became a mem-
ber of the company at Bath and Bristol and
played numerous leads both tragic and comic.
He was now in line for one of the London thea-
tres, but at this juncture he applied for and ob-
tained a position in the principal company of
the United States. His reasons for this step are
not clear, but the fact that he left the so-called
Mrs. Hodgkinson at Bath and arrived in Amer-
ica in company with Miss Brett, a young actress,
whom he married on reaching this country, may
throw some light on his motives. The Hodgkin-

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