The Tie That Binds

 

The clue leading to the conjecture that the dresses in the previous post, "Dress Rehearsal," belonged to the Hendrick or the Hodges family, is found in a marking on the back of a tie that was found in the box with the dresses.

In fact, there are four ties with the same marking —"H Hodges." This probably refers to John Henrick Hodges.

John Hendrick Hodges (1906-1986) was the oldest child of Jessie Gordon Hodges and Mary Elizabeth (Mae) Hendrick Hodges. John Hendrick's sister, Gertrude Theresa Hodges, was born in 1908, but died when she was just 14 months old, purportedly from a rattlesnake bite in her crib. John Hendrick's younger brother, Joseph Gordon, born in 1910, died when he was 17 years old. His mother, brother, and sister are buried at Palm Catholic Cemetery, near St. Mary's Catholic Church in Stockdale, Texas. John Hendrick grew up in the Tiner-Hendrick house and graduated from school in Sutherland Springs. After high school, he joined his father in the oil business in Three Rivers, Texas. There he met Edoleen Lavada Riddle (1913-1994) and they were married in 1936 in Alice, Texas. They moved to Fort Worth and both worked for General Dynamics. They had no children. After he retired in 1971,  they moved back to Sutherland Springs, living at the old home place and raising cattle. John Hendrick became ill and moved to Kerrville for specialized treatment in 1985. He died in 1986 and is buried along with his father and Edoleen at Laurel Land Cemetary in Fort Worth.

This photograph of John Hendrick Hodges is a part of our collection.

Among the items that the Sutherland Springs Historical Museum has from the Tiner-Hendrick house are a few things that may have belonged to John Hendrick Hodges.

 Although we cannot be sure,  John Hendrick Hodges may have played with this hand-whittled toy airplane. As you recall, he went on the work for General Dynamics in Fort Worth, an aerospace and defense company.

There are also two small notebooks that belonged to John Hendricks.

This is his Fifth Grade school account book for Sutherland Springs School.

 

 

This small Dr Porters Memorandum Book contains several interesting entries. 

 

Dr Porters Antiseptic Healing Oil is advertised as "an antiseptic surgical dressing. Applicable for cuts, burns, bruises, itch, corns, bunions, bites and stings of insects, sunburn, frost bite, chapped hands and lips, wounds, and sores of the mucous membrane and skin."

John Hendrick re-purposes this medical memo pad for his "Report of Books."

On this map of Europe, he indicates that Bulgaria was given to the Allies. Bulgaria requested an armistice with the Allies on 24 September 1918, probably the year John Hendrick was in fifth grade.

 On this map of the United States, he proclaims that he lives in Texas and draws a line to where Sutherland Springs would be on the map. He also counts the states that produce corn, cotton, and wheat.

It looks like he was a pretty good student in Arithmetic, Geography, and Grammar.

On these pages he seems to be practicing his Spanish, although his spelling is a little creative.

I was not able to identify his Spanish words for "bit" ("rado"), "snake" ("beverota"), or "r[attle]snake" ("chingzetura"). Does anyone recognize these words?

Here he lists animals with a price and number beside each one. Perhaps he was getting paid for animal pelts.

These items give us a tiny glimpse into the life of a little boy growing up in Sutherland Springs in the early twentieth century.