Hodge, Orlando John, 1828-1912

Soldier, State legislator, and journalist, of Cleveland, Ohio.

From the description of Papers, 1806-1913. (Rhinelander District Library). WorldCat record id: 18445994

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Orlando John Hodge

Orlando John Hodge (1828-1912) was active in government, business, politics, the military, and public service. Named John Orlando Hodge at his birth on November 25, 1828, in Hamburg, New York, he was the youngest son of Alfred Hodge, a merchant and farmer, and Sophia English Hodge. He had a brother, Alfred Amanzo (1825-1896) and a sister, Mandana Sophia (1821-1904). His father died in 1832, and in 1842 John Orlando moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and obtained work in a printing office. From 1847 to 1849 he served in the Mexican War where he received two wounds in his leg. Because of a mistake in army records, he changed his name to Orlando John in order to receive a disability pension.

Upon his return to Cleveland, Hodge attended Geauga Seminary from 1849 to 1851 with James A. Garfield and Lucretia Rudolph, and taught school for a time before returning to Cleveland in 1852. He was elected clerk in the first Cleveland Police Court in 1853, and worked in a crockery store. In 1855 he married Lydia R. Doan, and in 1857 became the father of a son, Clark Robert Hodge. In the same year the family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where Hodge opened a printing office with his brother-in-law, David Lusk Wood (1817-1881).

While in Chicago, Hodge joined the newly founded Republican party. He had previously been a Democrat, had probably supported the Know Nothing party, and corresponded with Clement L. Vallandigham, but, once he joined the Republican party, he remained a Republican for the rest of his life.

In 1860 he went to Robertsville, Connecticut, where he ran a store and became active in politics. He was made Postmaster in 1861, was elected to teh House of Representatives of the Connecticut General Assembly in 1862, and was twice elected to the Senate where he became presiding officer. During the Civil War he was appointed to two commissions to visit Connecticut soldiers in the field. In 1866 he became a member of the Board of Mangers of Yale College, an appointment which was terminated on his return to Cleveland in 1867.

In 1871 he was elected to the Cleveland City Council, serving three consecutive terms and presiding over Council in 1876. He was again elected in 1885 and presided again for that term. In 1873 he was elected to the Ohio Legislature where he served for eight years and introduced thirty-three bills, all of which passed and one of which was teh Municipal Reform Bill enacted March 16, 1891, which patterned the form of municipal government in Ohio after that of the national government.

Hodge's wife was killed in 1879, and in 1880 his recently married son died. From 1878 to 1889 Hodge was the owner and editor of a weekly paper, the Sunday Morning Voice . In 1890 he published the Hodge Family genealogy, in 1892 the first volume of his Reminiscences, and in 1910 he published the second volume. He also published various pamphlets and was the author of numerous articles covering a variety of subjects. In 1892 he was nominated by the Republican party to run for Congress in the 21st Ohio District. He was defeated by Democrat Tom L. Johnson. He traveled extensively and was a member of many societies such as the Early Settlers Association, the Western Reserve Historical Society, and the Cleveland Humane Society (of which he was a founder). In his will he left $5,000 to the pupils of Hodge School to be used to encourage study. He gathered his own and other people's memoirs for the use of future historians and took an interest in local history.

From the guide to the Orlando John Hodge Papers, 1806-1913, (Western Reserve Historical Society)