Robert Hatton Hodsden (November 23, 1806 – June 18, 1864) was an American physician, planter, and politician who served three terms in the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

(1841–1845, 1861–1862). He worked as a government physician on the

Cherokee removal Cherokee removal, part of the Trail of Tears, refers to the forced relocation between 1836 and 1839 of an estimated 16,000 members of the Cherokee Nation and 1,000–2,000 of their slaves; from their lands in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carol ...

("Trail of Tears") in 1838, and served as president of the East Tennessee Medical Society in the mid-1850s. A

Southern Unionist In the United States, Southern Unionists were white Southerners living in the Confederate States of America opposed to secession. Many fought for the Union during the Civil War. These people are also referred to as Southern Loyalists, Union Lo ...

during the Civil War, Hodsden represented Sevier County at the

East Tennessee Convention The East Tennessee Convention was an assembly of Southern Unionist delegates primarily from East Tennessee that met on three occasions during the Civil War. The Convention most notably declared the secessionist actions taken by the Tennessee sta ...

in 1861, and was later arrested by Confederate authorities. Hodsden's 1840s-era house, Rose Glen, still stands near

Sevierville Sevierville ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, located in eastern Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census. History Native Americans of the Woodland period were among the first human ...

, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Early life

Hodsden was born in

Smithfield, Virginia Smithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia in the United States. The population was 8,089 at the 2010 census. The town is most famous for the curing and production ...

, the son of Joseph and Mary (Pasteur) Hodsden. He attended common schools and an academy at Smithfield, and afterward began working as a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

. In the late 1820s, he left Virginia due to what was described as "misfortune in a business transaction." He lived in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, before settling in

Rhea County, Tennessee Rhea County (pronounced ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,870. Its county seat is Dayton. Rhea County comprises the Dayton, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also inclu ...

, in 1830. That year, he began studying medicine with Rhea County physician John Hoyl. He afterward attended

Jefferson Medical College Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...

in Philadelphia.Ben B. Cates,
The Medical Profession of East Tennessee
" ''East Tennessee: Historical and Biographical'' (Brookhaven Press, 1893), pp. 150-151. In the Fall of 1833, Hodsden moved to

Maryville, Tennessee Maryville is a city in and the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee, and is a suburb of Knoxville. Its population was 31,907 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area and a short distance from popular tourist desti ...

, where he began practicing medicine in partnership with Dr. James Gillespie. In 1838, Hodsden worked as a government physician on the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

, the operation in which the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

were removed from their homelands in the southeastern United States to Oklahoma. Hodsden made two trips during the operation, the first from Ross Landing (

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

) to Arkansas, and the second from

Charleston, Tennessee Charleston is a city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 664 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The land now occupied by Charleston and Bradley County was home t ...

, to Arkansas. A Whig and supporter of

Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...

, Hodsden was elected to Blount County's seat in the

in 1841, and was reelected in 1843.
Tennessee Blue Book
' (1890), pp. 214-215, 227. He was appointed to the Committee on Public Lands, the Committee on Agriculture and Manufactures, and the Committee on Banks. Bills he introduced included support for improvements along

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

in Blount County, and amendments to tax collection laws. In 1843, Hodsden married Mary Reese Brabson Shields, the widow of David Shields. He moved to the Harrisburg community in Sevier County and established a plantation, Rose Glen, on land his wife had inherited.Sally Ripatti, Beulah Linn (ed.),
Sevier County Physicians
" Sevier County Public Library website, February 1982. In 1850, he organized a masons lodge in nearby

, the Mountain Star Lodge, and was elected its first Worshipful Master.Carroll McMahan, "Upland Chronicle: Mason Temple in Sevierville Has Long, Rich History," ''The Mountain Press'', 12 June 2012. Over the next few years, Hodsden was appointed to the state agricultural bureau, and served as president of the East Tennessee Fair. In 1857, he was elected president of the East Tennessee Medical Society, and delivered an address, "On the Advancement of the Profession of Medicine," at the group's convention the following year. By 1860, Hodsden was one of the wealthiest men in Sevier County, with over $50,000 (~$ in ) in assets.

Civil War

Though a slave owner, Hodsden, like many of East Tennessee's pre-war Whigs, remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War. His family was divided over the issue, however, with his inlaws, the Brabsons, being among Sevier County's staunchest Confederates. In June 1861, Hodsden attended the Greeneville session of the

as a member of the Sevier County delegation. This convention attempted, unsuccessfully, to form a Union-aligned state in East Tennessee.
Proceedings of the East Tennessee Convention
' (H. Barry Book Company, 1861). Accessed at the Calvin M. McClung Digital Collection, 14 December 2014. In August 1861, Hodsden was again elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, this time representing a

floterial district A floterial district is a legislative district that includes several separate districts that independently would not be entitled to additional representation, but whose combined population entitles the area to another seat in the legislative body. ...

consisting of Sevier and Knox counties. He was forced to take the Confederate oath of allegiance in order to remain in the legislature, though he continued working for Unionist causes.The Representative from Sevier
" ''Nashville Union and American'', 12 November 1861, p. 2. In October 1861, he sent a letter to Unionist attorney

Oliver Perry Temple Oliver Perry Temple (January 27, 1820 – November 2, 1907) was an American attorney, author, judge, and economic promoter active primarily in East Tennessee in the latter half of the 19th century.Mary Rothrock, ''The French Broad-Holston Country ...

, warning him that Temple and their friends William "Parson" Brownlow, Connally Trigg, and John Williams were about to be indicted. In November 1861, Hodsden delivered a speech in Sevierville in which he noted he had only taken the oath to the ''provisional'' Confederate government, and proclaimed that he was a "stronger Union man today than ever." He stated he was using his position in the legislature to prevent Confederate "mischief" and lobby for the release of jailed Unionists. He also suggested the Confederate Army was on the run, and that the Confederacy would soon fall. Amid the Confederate crackdown during the weeks following the East Tennessee bridge burnings, Hodsden was arrested and charged with treason in December 1861. John M. Fleming, a fellow Unionist state legislator, was charged with harboring him. He agreed to pay a $10,000 bond and court costs in January 1862, and the district attorney in return agreed not to prosecute the case. Confederate judge

West Hughes Humphreys West Hughes Humphreys (August 26, 1806 – October 16, 1882) was the 3rd Attorney General of Tennessee and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the United States District Court ...

subsequently found no wrongdoing on the part of Hodsden or Fleming. Hodsden died at his home, Rose Glen, on June 18, 1864, presumably of heart disease. He is buried with his wife and children at the Brabson Cemetery near Sevierville.

Family and legacy

Hodsden and his wife, Mary, had six children: Priscilla Katurah, Virginia, David Shields, Penelope Brabson, John Brabson, and Mary Pasteur. His brother-in-law, Reese Bowen Brabson, served one term in Congress (1859–1861), representing the 3rd district. Hodsden's home, Rose Glen, still stands near Sevierville, and is still owned and maintained by his descendants. It was listed on the

in 1975. Along with the 1840s-era

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

house, the site includes several outbuildings, including Hodsden's office.

Brabson's Ferry Plantation Brabson's Ferry Plantation is a Pioneer Century farm and former antebellum plantation near the U.S. city of Sevierville, Tennessee.Caneta Hankins,State Program Recognizes Sevier County Farm for Contributions" Middle Tennessee State University ...

, the home of Hodsden's inlaws, is also still standing, and has been designated a Tennessee Century Farm.Sevier County
" Tennessee Century Farms website. Retrieved: 17 January 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodsden, Robert Hatton People from Smithfield, Virginia People from Sevier County, Tennessee Thomas Jefferson University alumni Physicians from Tennessee Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee Whigs 19th-century American politicians Southern Unionists in the American Civil War 1806 births 1864 deaths American slave owners

Early life

Civil War

Family and legacy

See also

References