342 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
Detroit. This latter officer was
cowardly in character and incompetent
in fitness. The scenes are transferred
to the Maumee. Harrison builds
Fort Meigs and the two sieges follow, in
both of which Tecumseh and
Procter are the leading commanders. The
siege of Fort Stephenson,
August 1, was the highwater mark of
Tecumseh's daring and general-
ship. No incident in American history
surpasses it for thrilling action
and surprising results. George Croghan, the boy with 160 Kentucky
backwoodsmen, repulses Procter and his
army of trained troops and
Tecumseh with 1,000 braves. Gurd does
not due full justice to this
event, so honorable to American arms and
bravery.
From now on the story is one of British
failure. Procter begins
his retreat across the Detroit and up
the Thames. Tecumseh has lost
his faith in the ability and even honor
of Procter and foresees the
triumph of the Long Knives, but refuses
to retreat further and com-
pels Procter to take a stand "where
McGregor's creek empties into the
Thames." But on a pretext, Procter
continued his retreat, followed by
Tecumseh. Harrison and the Americans finally overtook the allies
at the Indian village of Moraviantown,
on the banks of the Thames.
Here the curtain fell on the dramatic
life of Tecumseh, who at this
time was a brigadier in the British
army. Followed by some of the
lesser chiefs, at the head of a thousand
braves, the Shawnee dressed
in his usual costume of deer skin,
passed down the lines to note the
disposition of the troops. "Round
his head was wound a white silk
handkerchief, from which floated a white
ostrich plume." He fell early
in the encounter. Mr. Gurd does not enter
into the controversy as to
who killed Tecumseh. "His mighty
war cry resounded high above the
noise of battle. Suddenly he was seen to
stagger and fall. Swiftly
the words, 'Tecumseh is dead,' passed
down the line. Overwhelmed
by this crowning calamity, the Indians
turned and fled. The faithful
body guard of the great chief carried
the body of their dead leader
deep into the recesses of the
enshrouding woods. Down the dim forest
aislesthey bore him and so he passes
from the scene."
Mr. Gurd has produced a faithful
portrait of the great chieftain
and pays splendid and worthy tribute to
the nobility of his nature and
to his patriotic service in behalf of
his race.
COLONEL ORLANDO J. HODGE.
Colonel Orlando J. Hodge, one of the prominent
figures in Ohio
history during the present generation,
passed away at Cleveland, Ohio,
on the evening of April 16, 1912. On the
evening of the day in ques-
tion he had been invited to address the
members of the Cleveland
Chamber of Commerce, who on that evening
held their annual meet-
ing. He delivered a very interesting and
impressive speech, at the
close of which he said: "When you
men of the Cleveland Chamber
Editorialana. 343
of Commerce answer to the last call and
come before Saint Peter, if
you will tell him that you are members
of the Chamber of Commerce
of Cleveland, I am sure that he will
call upon his best angels to sing
their sweetest songs for you." The
applause which greeted the venerable
speaker's remarks, as he sat down, was
long and loud. President-Elect
Charles E. Adams complimented the
speaker and expressed the hope
that Colonel Hodge might live to attend
many more annual meetings
of the Chamber. A recess of fifteen
minutes was taken by the assembly
previous to continuing the program,
during which intermission Colonel
Hodge was suddenly stricken with fatal
illness, borne to an adjoining
room, where he lapsed into unconsciousness
and died in a few moments.
We reproduce the following sketch of
Colonel Hodge, from The
Cleveland Plain Dealer of April 17
(1912);
A soldier of the Mexican war, first
clerk of the Cleveland police
court, president of the Connecticut
senate, president of the Cleveland
city council, speaker of the Ohio house
of representatives, editor and
newspaper owner for a decade, president
of the Early Settlers' associa-
tion, president of the New England
society, president of the Sons of
the American Revolution, vice president
of the Western Reserve Histori-
cal society, a qualified member of the
bar, a large owner and dealer
in real estate and president of various
business corporations-these are
milestones in the varied and useful
career of Orlando J. Hodge of
Cleveland who died yesterday in his
eighty-fourth year.
He was one of the few men living who had
been an active Re-
publican from the founding of the party,
and who had voted for Lincoln
and every Republican candidate since.
For many years he had also
been a leader both in humane activities
and legislation. The big Humane
society of Cleveland he founded nearly
forty years ago, and up to 1910
was its president. He had done much in
the making of history himself
and was widely known in the literary
field, both as an investigator and
a contributor.
Mr. Hodge came of pioneer Connecticut
stock, the reputed founder
of the family in America being John
Hodge, who was born March 4,
1643, or 1644, and who was married Aug.
12, 1666, to Susanna Denslow,
born Sept. 3, 1646. Alfred, the father
of Orlando J., was born March
9, 1795.
Alfred Hodge married Miss Sophia
English, daughter of Abel and
Anna (Caulkins) English and one of her
grandfathers in the fourth
generation back was Josua Dewey, Admiral
Dewey's grandfather in the
sixth generation. The father, Alfred
Hodge, who was a farmer, served
in the war of 1812, and died July 11,
1832. His wife was born in Leb-
anon, Ct., April 12, 1795, and died Jan.
13, 1846 in Cleveland.
Orlando J. Hodge is a native of Hamburg,
a town adjoining
Buffalo, N. Y., and was born in a log
house Nov. 25, 1828. Orlando
became a permanent resident of Cleveland
in 1842. He was first em-
344 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
ployed in a printing office at $1 a week
and his board, his chief duty
being to keep the forms properly inked
with a big hand roller while
the presswork was in progress. In 1847 he was a volunteer in the
Mexican war. On the way to the scene of operations by way of
New York, the Atlantic and the gulf, the
vessel in which he sailed
was wrecked and lost, but he was rescued
by a passing ship, taken to
Cuba and then to Mexico.
For sixteen months the youth carried an
old flint musket and then
returned to Cleveland with a good
record. As the forcible reminder
of the Mexican war and a complete bar to
further military duty on
his part, he carried until his death two
wounds in his leg. His next
serious business was completing his
education, for which purpose he
attended the Geauga, O., seminary in
1849 to 1851, during a portion of
this period having as classmates James
A. Garfield and the latter's future
wife, Miss Lucretia Rudolph. Two years
afterwards he was elected
first clerk of the Cleveland police
court by the largest vote for any
candidate for any office cast at that
election.
In 1860, Col. Hodge went to Litchfield
county, Connecticut, on busi-
ness regarding the settlement of an
estate and what he planned as a
temporary stay was lengthened into a
residence of seven years, crowded
with important events. In 1862 he was
elected to the lower house of the
Connecticut legislature and to the
senate in 1864 and 1865, serving as
president of the upper house in the
latter years, although he was the
youngest member of the body. And the
significance of the selection
was doubly emphasized by the unanimous
vote that placed him in the
chair.
In 1867, Col. Hodge returned to
Cleveland, and a few years later
was again called to serve the public.
Three times he was elected to the
city council (1871 to 1877), being made
president in 1876, and a fourth
term in 1885 and 1886, being again
honored with the presidency. His
career as a state legislator in Ohio
began in 1873 with his election to
the Ohio house of representatives. There
he served four terms, being
speaker pro tem. in 1875 and 1876 and
speaker in 1882 and 1883.
Col. Hodge's journalistic career
extended from 1878 to 1889, dur-
ing which period he was editor and chief
owner of the Sun and Voice.
In 1890 he published the Hodge
genealogy, and in 1892 "Reminiscenses."
He had been identified with the Chamber
of Commerce from its be-
ginning, being one of the members of the
board of trade organized
July 7, 1848.
On Oct. 15, 1855, Col. Hodge married
Miss Lydia R. Doan, who
died Sept. 13, 1879, and their only child,
Clark R. Hodge, was born
July 16, 1857, died Nov. 29, 1880. He
wedded his second wife, Vir-
ginia Shedd Clark, on April 25, 1882.
Mrs. Hodge was a daughter
of Edmond Earl and Aurelia Edna
(Thompson) Shedd, her father be-
ing the oldest and leading wholesale
grocer of Columbus.