Leander Leland Hodges was born June 9th, 1833 in Vermont to Joseph W.
and Catherine (Upton) Hodges. He worked as a farmer in Enosburgh, Vermont and
in a mill in Ashburnham, Massachusetts until his untimely death on Nov.
10th,1855 at the age of 22. Based on the information in his letters, one can
assume that he had some sort of longterm illness that shortened his life. He is
buried at Cook Cemetery in Bakersfield, Vermont. A picture of his headstone is
found on the "Find-A-Grave" website:
Two handwritten letters from 1854 and 1855. The first letter from Enosburgh, Vermont on Aug. 10, 1854 is to a "friend" where Hodges speaks of an improvement of health and the haying season being good because of a lack of rain which made the haying season better than usual but caused everything to be "suffering for rain" and the feed being "all dried up". The second letter was sent from Ashburnham, Massachusetts on Mar. 16, 1855, eight months before his death, to a "friend" in "the West". He mentions people named "Theron" and "Charles Dawson". Hodges speaks of longing to "go out West" but because of his health problems, he feels that it's best to stay where he is now.
The letters were received in 1961, but the exact provenance of the letters is unknown.
Access restricted: For terms of access contact repository.
Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Transferred from Special Collections, 1961-06-27