Athens Cemetery Association

DR. JAMES C. HODGE (1854-1926) & DR. ROBERT H. HODGE (1879-1949) 

There are a number of medical doctors buried in our cemetery, but as far as is known, there is only one father and son who practiced medicine together in Athens for many years.

That partnership consisted of Dr. James Clarence Hodge, also known as "old" Dr. Hodge, and his son, Dr. Robert Hickman Hodge, better known as "young" Dr. Hodge. 

Dr. James Clarence Hodge was born October 20, 1854, shortly after his parents, Rev. Robert Hickman Hodge, Jr. and Meliscent Bethany Hall, moved their family from Madison County, Mississippi to East Texas, first settling near Brushy Creek in Anderson County. Hodge was a Cumberland Presbyterian minister and he preached in the Brushy Creek area under trees, in cabins and in schools, houses, anywhere he could gather a few of the faithful together. Rev.  Hodge soon moved his family to Henderson County, settling in the Science Hill area on a creek that today is still known as "Hodge Branch". There he helped organize and support the Science Hill Academy. Soon after Athens became the county seat of Henderson County, Rev. Hodge moved his family to Athens where he organized the First Presbyterian Church in 1855, a church that is still thriving 160 years after its organization.James Clarence Hodge grew up in Athens. After his father returned to the family farm in the Science Hill community, James Clarence assisted with the work of the farm. In 1875, he married Bethany Burns whose family also lived in the Science Hill community.

By 1887, at age 33, James Clarence Hodge had decided to become a doctor, and he enrolled in the University of Kentucky School of Medicine. His oldest son, Robert Hickman Hodge, then eight years old, was left in charge of the family to take care of his mother and his four younger brothers and sisters.

He worked at whatever jobs he could find to help support the family, including several years as a potter at the Athens Pottery Company. James Clarence graduated from medical school in 1891, receiving the "Gold Medal" for his standing as the top student in his class. He returned to Athens where he began his long and distinguished career in medicine. 

Dr. James Clarence Hodge died in 1926 at age 74. Services were conducted at the family home on East Tyler Street, followed by Masonic services at the cemetery. Serving as honorary pallbearers were the 27 doctors who were in attendance at the funeral. 

Dr. James Clarence Hodge's oldest son, Robert H. Hodge, was born in Athens on March 1, 1879. He grew up in Athens and received his early education at Bruce Academy. After finishing his schooling in Athens, he decided to also become a doctor and was accepted into the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston where he graduated fourth in his class in 1905. 

Because of his class standing, he received an internship at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston.While there, he is credited with diagnosing and treating the last known case of Yellow Fever in Texas. 

Following his internship, Dr. Robert Hodge returned to Athens where he married Dovie Mc Williams in 1907. The young couple then went to live in Saron, Trinity County, where Dr. Hodge was employed as the company doctor for the William Cameron Lumber Company. When the lumber mill of the company burned a few months later, Dr. Hodge and his wife returned to Athens where he went into practice with his father, Dr. James Clarence Hodge, a partnership which was to last until "old" Dr. Hodge died in 1926. 

During World War I, "young" Dr. Hodge was appointed a Captain in the Army Medical Corps, a position he held until the end of the war when he was honorably discharged. He then returned to Athens where he resumed his practice with his father. He was a member of the PhiChi Medical Fraternity, was a Knight Templar and was an elder in the Presbyterian Church in Athens. As his father had been before him, he was a member of both the county and state medical societies and served multiple terms as the President of the Henderson County Medical Society. 

The home of Dr. Robert Hodge stood for many years at 712 East Tyler Street in Athens, but was sold and moved to make way for the current Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Store. When the home was dismantled to be moved, the medical journal of both Dr. James Clarence Hodge and Dr. Robert Hickman Hodge was discovered in the attic. The journal chronicles the names of all of their patients, both black and white, what they were treated for, and the charge for treatment. Today, the journal is available for review at the Henderson County Historical Museum. 

Also interred in our cemetery are two other sons of "old" Dr. James Clarence Hodge, Bruce C. Hodge and Hugh M. Hodge.

Contributed by Art Hall
Athens Cemetery Board Member & Historian