Thank you Kenneth and Don for you responses. I answered Don's first note before I got Kenneth's. To provide more detail, I am trying to identify the parents of my grandmother Nellie Hodge. She passed away many years ago, but from my father and aunt, I gained this, which she said at one time or another: "I was born May 26 1880 (one week before the census) in Dallas Texas. My father was John Hodge and my mother Ellen. I moved to Brownwood, Texas as a very young child and was raised by foster parents (Leon and Anna Bair). I had two younger brothers Eddie and Johnnie. I moved to Dallas-Fort Worth when I was 15 and married H.L. Evans in 1898." I have not been able to find any trace of this John Hodge. Ellen was born in Jun 1871, which would have made her 8 yrs and 11 months old when Nellie was born. Ellen also stated, on the 1900 census, that she only had two children, with two living. That would be Eddie and Johnnie. This would indicate that Ellen was a stepmother. Ellen also stated that her husband was J.E. Hodge, born in Illinois. However I am not sure to what extent she really knew her husband. Apparently he was gone most of the time, and he either died, or divorced by 1900. The only other record of a J.E. Hodge in north Texas I find is in the Dallas city directory of 1888, which lists a J.E. Hodge as a Singer Sewing Machine Canvasser. Also listed was a Benjamin Hodge, traveling salesman. My speculation is that these are James E. Hodge and George Benjamin Hodge, sons of Darien Hodge. James E. had a daughter Nellie, 1 year old, on the 1880 census. Ellen Hodge was living in close proximith to the widow of John A. Hodge in the 1900 Brown county census.I have proven to my satisfaction that John A. Hodge is not the father of J.E. Hodge. My question is: Can my Nellie be James E.'s Nellie? Any help you can give would be deeply appreciated. Bob Evans

Hi Bob, You really have a puzzle here. I've searched my total database without finding anything close. Do you know when and where Nellie died? Additional sources to check would be a death certificate, newspaper obits, Social Security, and funeral home records. I found the following listing for Nellie in the LDS file. No new info but at least someone has listed her and there may be more info by now. HODGE, Nellie (F)...................... B: 28 May 1880 8865603 Father: John HODGE Dallas, Texas 14 Mother: Ellen Ken At 03:45 PM 10/04/2001 EDT, you wrote: >Thank you Kenneth and Don for you responses. >I answered Don's first note before I got Kenneth's. >To provide more detail, I am trying to identify the parents of my grandmother >Nellie Hodge. She passed away many years ago, but from my father and aunt, I >gained this, which she said at one time or another: > >"I was born May 26 1880 (one week before the census) in Dallas Texas. My >father was John Hodge and my mother Ellen. I moved to Brownwood, Texas as a >very young child and was raised by foster parents (Leon and Anna Bair). I had >two younger brothers Eddie and Johnnie. I moved to Dallas-Fort Worth when I >was 15 and married H.L. Evans in 1898." > >I have not been able to find any trace of this John Hodge. Ellen was born in >Jun 1871, which would have made her 8 yrs and 11 months old when Nellie was >born. Ellen also stated, on the 1900 census, that she only had two children, >with two living. That would be Eddie and Johnnie. This would indicate that >Ellen was a stepmother. Ellen also stated that her husband was J.E. Hodge, >born in Illinois. However I am not sure to what extent she really knew her >husband. Apparently he was gone most of the time, and he either died, or >divorced by 1900. The only other record of a J.E. Hodge in north Texas I find >is in the Dallas city directory of 1888, which lists a J.E. Hodge as a Singer >Sewing Machine Canvasser. Also listed was a Benjamin Hodge, traveling >salesman. My speculation is that these are James E. Hodge and George Benjamin >Hodge, sons of Darien Hodge. James E. had a daughter Nellie, 1 year old, on >the 1880 census. Ellen Hodge was living in close proximith to the widow of >John A. Hodge in the 1900 Brown county census.I have proven to my >satisfaction that John A. Hodge is not the father of J.E. Hodge. My question >is: Can my Nellie be James E.'s Nellie? > >Any help you can give would be deeply appreciated. > >Bob Evans