As some of you know, I am compiling a history of the Hodges family of Franklin County, Virginia. From time to time I have posted my ideas on how the various branches of the Hodge/Hodges family relate to one another. (By the way, whose idea was it to start up a competing Hodge board? I always though one of the best things about this board was it dealt with both spellings, which do not often represent different families. I think we should keep them together). This project has caused me to venture into the Bermuda Triangle of Hodges, the area between Giles County, Va., on the north, Ashe County, N.C. on the west, and Surry County, N.C. on the east. I call this the Bermuda Triangle because it is so hard to tell where the Hodges in the area came from. They are south of the Hodge family of Bath Co., Va; west of the Hodges of Franklin and Pittsylvania Cos., Va.; east of the Hodges in southern WestVirginia; northwest of the Hodges of Surry Co., N.C.; and northeast of the Hodges of Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany Cos., N.C. Plus, the area is on the crossroads of several major migration routes. The Great Wagon Road down the Valley of Virginia into Tennessee is one. The Kanawha Trace, leading from North Carolina up the New River Valley, and down the Kanawha into Ohio is another. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~maggieoh/Migrate/merle.htm I wandered into this problem in trying to solve the riddle of what happened to Moses Hodges, the son of Isham Hodges who died in Henry (now Franklin) Co., Va. in 1782. There is a Moses Hodges in the Giles Co., Va. census of 1810. This is almost certainly my Moses. He is there with his son George, b. ca. 1784. In 1820, there is a Moses in Grayson Co., Va. Grayson is up the New River from Giles. Moses disappears from the record in Virginia in 1829. But a number of Hodge/Hodges (usually Hodge) individuals pop up in Grayson about this time. The two aspects of the problem are these: (1) Who are the Hodge individuals who show up later in Giles (and Montgomery, Pulaski and Craig Counties), and what family are they from? and (2) who are the Hodges of Grayson, and what family are they from? First the facts, then the speculation. Here is a list of personal property tax records on Moses Hodges: 1787: Franklin County, Moses Hodges [1 tithable under 21.] 1789: Franklin County, Moses Hodges [1 tithable] 1790: Franklin County, Moses Hodges [1] 1791: Franklin County, Moses Hodges [1] 1792: Franklin County, Moses Hodges [1] 1793: Franklin County, Moses Hodges [1] 1794: Franklin County, Moses Hodges [1] 1795: Franklin County, Moses Hodges [1] 1796: Franklin County, Moses Hodges [1] 1797: Franklin County, Moses Hodges [name listed but no entry.] 1798: [not listed in Franklin County] 1806: Giles County: Moses Hodges [2] 1807: Giles County,Moses Hodge [1] 1808: [no personal property tax lists for Virginia for 1808.] 1809: no record in Giles County 1810: Giles County, Moses Hodg, George Hodg 1811: Giles County, Moses Hodg, George Hodg 1812: Giles County, Moses Hogg, George Hodg 1813: Giles County, Moses Hodges 1814: not recorded in Giles County; list taken May 30, 1814. 1815: Giles County: George Hodge Ransom Hodge 1816: Giles County, Moses Hodge, George Hodge 1817: Giles County, Moses Hodges [2], George Hodges 1818: Grayson County, Moses Hodges [3] (not recorded in Giles County) 1819: Giles County, Moses Hodge 1819: Grayson County, Moses Hodge [3] 1820: Grayson County, Moses Hodge [3](not recorded in Giles) 1821: not recorded in Giles or Grayson* 1822: Giles County: Moses Hodge 1823: Giles County, Moses Hodge 1824: Giles County, Moses Hodge 1825: Giles County, Moses Hodge [enumerated in March.] 1825: Grayson County, Mofes Hodge [enumerated February 14.] 1826: Giles County: Moses Hodge 1827: (not recorded in Giles or Grayson): Giles County: Henry Hodgefs 1828: (not recorded in Grayson; Giles list illegible) 1829: Giles County, Moses Hodges 1830: [not in Giles County] 1831: William Hodges 1832: William Hodges, Andrew Hodges 1833: William Hodges (not tithable), Andrew Hodges 1834: William Hoges (not tithable), Andrew Hoges 1835: William Hoges, Andrew Hoges (both tithable); Henry Hodges 1836: William Hodges [2], Andrew Hodges [1], Henry Hodge 1837: William Hodges (not tithable), Andrew Hodges 1838: William Hodges (not tithable) 1839: Mary Hodges [1]; Henry Hodge 1840: Henry Hodges, Elijah Hodges, Mary Hodges [0] 1841: Gabriel Hodges, Wilson Hodges, Mary Hodges 1842: Gabriel Hodges I draw three things from this. First, there is a likelihood that the Moses in the Grayson census of 1820 is the same man as the Moses in the Giles census of 1810. The only time the two appear in the to different tax lists for the same year is 1825. Second, it appears that, starting in about 1830, there is another Hodge/Hodges family, William Hodges. Third, I know who Henry Hodges is. He is the son of Robert Hodges and Susannah Hall of Franklin Co., Va. (thus Moses is his uncle). He will remain in the New River Valley until after the War Between the States, when he will move up along the Kanawha Trace to join the colony of Franklin Co., Hodges in Putnam Co., W. Va. So Henry is not part of the problem. He may be part of the solution. Although the evidence is not free from ambiguity, I believe his sister Mary married William Link of Giles County in 1825. A family letter in the 1840s refers to a journey to Tennessee and staying on the way at "Henry's or Links".