Discoveries.

Theres a house just a few blocks from our home that I have always loved. I have no idea what it was about the house that made me stare at it every time I drove by. I can't even recall the number of times I told Mr.Major how badly I wanted to go inside and see the layout. It was almost like my own personal ghost house, a place that sent shivers down my spine at the mere thought of entering.

 I noticed a few weeks ago that contractors were coming in and removing a lot of the over grown trees, as well as the roof tiles. I was so excited to think that perhaps they were going to renovate it to become a Lawyers office or something similar. Weeks went by, and  it seemed like nothing else was happening, the old house sat looking even more dilapidated then before. And then one morning on my way to work I came across the house in shambles with a bulldozer in the middle of the mess tearing away at over 100 years of history. Its the first time Ive cried over a house that wasn't mine. I had never even set foot inside. 

Fast forward to the present...

Mr.Major and I went to the photo archives this weekend to see if we could find any information on our house but no one could help us until Tuesday. We were told that the Hodges were a well known family in Plant City, they were involved in a number of trades including Pharmacy, Military, Fruit Packing, and Insurance and owned several properties around town. One of them included the recent house that was demolished just a few blocks from my own. 

He went on to tell us that before demolishing the house the contractor went into the attic and discovered an old suitcase full of pictures and documents. He submitted them to the Archives building and they were currently scanning in all of the photos for their records. 

I can't help but feel like the pieces of our puzzle are just now starting to come together- and I really owe it all to that old house I loved so much. While I am sorry its gone- I likely never would have heard about that suitcase had it not piqued my interest again in our own old houses history.

I was so eager to get more information I decided to see if I could dig up some on my own at home and actually surprised myself with some of my findings. 

The furthest back we could track the deeds to for our home was to James Russel Hodges (b. 1925-2002). I spoke with one of my oldest neighbors who confirmed with me that he was a disabled WWII veteran and needed a lot of help getting around so his mother lived with him for the majority of his years in our home. 

I discovered that James was the second oldest child born into his family, and had four other siblings. In 1943 he joined the US Army and by 1945 was discharged due to injuries sustained during combat at the age of 20. He never married or had children. 

As far as I can see only one of his four siblings ended up marrying and having children and one of them I am currently trying to track down- James would have been her Great Uncle. I don't expect her to have personally known him but I am hopeful she will have some pictures of the family. 

Hopefully tomorrow will bring more answers.