Amos Hodgman was born around 1826 in Massachusetts and came to Madison County, IL in the 1840's. He entered the service in Jun 1847 for the Mexican War, enlisting as a Private at Alton, Madison, IL. He was discharged on 17 Oct 1848 as a Lt. in the Kansas 10th Cavalry and his service is recorded in the Madison County History of Illinois record attached to my Family Tree.
He married well on 1 Jan 1850 in Madison County, IL, marrying Martha Ann Denton (1824-1867) , oldest daughter of nine children born to Samuel H. Denton (1796 -1869) and Mary S. Tindall (1802 - 1893). The Denton and Tindall lines have been traced back extensively. Mary is a descendant of Edward Tyndale, the brother of William Tyndale the English Bible Translator.
Amos and Martha are listed in the 1850 Census of Macoupin County, IL dated 26 Nov 1850, where he worked as a Teamster for a very large company of people all employed at the time to work for the Railroad. Next we find them in the 1860 Census dated 9 Jul 1860 of Madison County, IL and Amos is listed as a Railroad Conductor (from Cavalry, Teamster, to Iron Horse and then as later recorded, back to Cavalry). They had one daughter, S. Catherine B. Hodgman or "Kate" for short. She was born 13 Feb 1853 in Edwardsville, Madison, IL. During this census they had two young women relatives living with them. One for sure was Martha V. Smith, the 20 year old orphan and great niece of Martha's and the grand daughter of her Uncle Charles Tindall and Aunt Nancy Boyd through their eldest daughter Elizabeth who married Jonathan G Smith, the parents of Martha V. Smith, David Smith, and Nancy Smith. All three of these Smith orphans were living at various relatives in 1850 and 1860. The other young woman listed with Amos and Martha in 1860 is 15 year old Mary Denton. Not sure who of her relatives she belongs to or her circumstances that brought her to Martha and Amos' home in 1860.
His death during the Civil War was not only a loss for the country but must have been a terrible heartache to his only daughter Kate, who at age 10, died only a month later than her father. She is buried in the Belk Cemetery, a donated piece of property on a small farm owned by her relatives near the farming community of Omph-Ghent in Madison County, IL. I will try and scan some photos I took of the graves. Her mother, and wife of Amos, Martha Ann Denton died shortly after that in 1867 and is buried next to her daughter. Martha's grave stone is marked with "Wife of Capt. Amos Hodgman", Died 28 May 1867, 42y 7m 24d.
I would hope there is some additional history of Amos' service since he had the county of Hodgeman named after him and since the county is named after him there should be a portrait depicting him I would also hope. If you come across anything else please let me know.
Ref: Email July 7, 2008 from Jim Tindall Bratt, "Layman" Professional Genealogist Houston, TX, email; also Ancestry.com, Tindall2 Family Tree.
If you have further information contact Dick Hodgman and he will forward your information to Jim.
