John L. Hodsdon
Bangor
January 11, 1861
On January 11, 1861, John L. Hodsdon accepted his recent election by the Maine Legislature to the position of Adjutant General of the State of Maine. He had received 139 votes of the 161 possible for election.
Hodsdon proved to be a natural for the position that he would hold throughout the Civil War.
Maine placed the operation of the militia under the office of Adjutant General, an office originating in 1775, when Maine was a part of Massachusetts. Maine retained the Department of Adjutant General after attaining statehood in 1820.
Born John Littlefield in Hallowell, in 1815, his father died when John was 4. His mother remarried. After he was adopted by General Isaac Hodsdon, John's name was changed in 1821 to John Littlefield Hodsdon. Moved from Hallowell to Bangor, John attended local schools there and began his military education by enlisting in the Bangor Light Infantry at the age of 16.
A lawyer, he set his law practice aside to become his father's aide during the Aroostook War in 1839.
Afterwards, he returned to Bangor and his law practice. He remained active in the local militia, eventually becoming General.
On October 3, 1861, Maine's U.S. Attorney George Shepley wrote to Hodsdon "Having had two occasions within the last two weeks to ask for a company roll from your office, I have experienced the value of your efforts to procure and preserve them. The private soldiers and officers even may not understand the importance of these documents until years hence, when they may wish to prove their service as a ground of title to a pension; but they will then…"
Hodsdon often stressed upon Maine's military officers the importance of turning in their monthly reports "…which in addition to its value for present reference, may in future be of material importance to the soldiers in securing their rights and dues from the Government."
If that was not persuasive, Hodsdon provided an incentive: "[I] shall notify you … of the deficiency, and withhold any commissions on account of appointments and promotions in your command, until the return is received."
Upon resigning in 1867, Hodsdon said, "To the soldiers who so nobly volunteered for the defense of the country, language affords but a tame expression of what is due to them, and I refer to the records of this office as my best tribute to their worth."
After the war, he retired to his farm in Bangor, and also dealt in real estate. He died in 1895.
∼His biological last name is Littlefield. His parents were Jeremiah Littlefield and Dorothy Pray. he was adopted by Isaac Hodsdon and Polly Wentworth.
Bangor
January 11, 1861
On January 11, 1861, John L. Hodsdon accepted his recent election by the Maine Legislature to the position of Adjutant General of the State of Maine. He had received 139 votes of the 161 possible for election.
Hodsdon proved to be a natural for the position that he would hold throughout the Civil War.
Maine placed the operation of the militia under the office of Adjutant General, an office originating in 1775, when Maine was a part of Massachusetts. Maine retained the Department of Adjutant General after attaining statehood in 1820.
Born John Littlefield in Hallowell, in 1815, his father died when John was 4. His mother remarried. After he was adopted by General Isaac Hodsdon, John's name was changed in 1821 to John Littlefield Hodsdon. Moved from Hallowell to Bangor, John attended local schools there and began his military education by enlisting in the Bangor Light Infantry at the age of 16.
A lawyer, he set his law practice aside to become his father's aide during the Aroostook War in 1839.
Afterwards, he returned to Bangor and his law practice. He remained active in the local militia, eventually becoming General.
On October 3, 1861, Maine's U.S. Attorney George Shepley wrote to Hodsdon "Having had two occasions within the last two weeks to ask for a company roll from your office, I have experienced the value of your efforts to procure and preserve them. The private soldiers and officers even may not understand the importance of these documents until years hence, when they may wish to prove their service as a ground of title to a pension; but they will then…"
Hodsdon often stressed upon Maine's military officers the importance of turning in their monthly reports "…which in addition to its value for present reference, may in future be of material importance to the soldiers in securing their rights and dues from the Government."
If that was not persuasive, Hodsdon provided an incentive: "[I] shall notify you … of the deficiency, and withhold any commissions on account of appointments and promotions in your command, until the return is received."
Upon resigning in 1867, Hodsdon said, "To the soldiers who so nobly volunteered for the defense of the country, language affords but a tame expression of what is due to them, and I refer to the records of this office as my best tribute to their worth."
After the war, he retired to his farm in Bangor, and also dealt in real estate. He died in 1895.
∼His biological last name is Littlefield. His parents were Jeremiah Littlefield and Dorothy Pray. he was adopted by Isaac Hodsdon and Polly Wentworth.
John L. Hodsdon
Bangor
January 11, 1861
On January 11, 1861, John L. Hodsdon accepted his recent election by the Maine Legislature to the position of Adjutant General of the State of Maine. He had received 139 votes of the 161 possible for election.
Hodsdon proved to be a natural for the position that he would hold throughout the Civil War.
Maine placed the operation of the militia under the office of Adjutant General, an office originating in 1775, when Maine was a part of Massachusetts. Maine retained the Department of Adjutant General after attaining statehood in 1820.
Born John Littlefield in Hallowell, in 1815, his father died when John was 4. His mother remarried. After he was adopted by General Isaac Hodsdon, John's name was changed in 1821 to John Littlefield Hodsdon. Moved from Hallowell to Bangor, John attended local schools there and began his military education by enlisting in the Bangor Light Infantry at the age of 16.
A lawyer, he set his law practice aside to become his father's aide during the Aroostook War in 1839.
Afterwards, he returned to Bangor and his law practice. He remained active in the local militia, eventually becoming General.
On October 3, 1861, Maine's U.S. Attorney George Shepley wrote to Hodsdon "Having had two occasions within the last two weeks to ask for a company roll from your office, I have experienced the value of your efforts to procure and preserve them. The private soldiers and officers even may not understand the importance of these documents until years hence, when they may wish to prove their service as a ground of title to a pension; but they will then…"
Hodsdon often stressed upon Maine's military officers the importance of turning in their monthly reports "…which in addition to its value for present reference, may in future be of material importance to the soldiers in securing their rights and dues from the Government."
If that was not persuasive, Hodsdon provided an incentive: "[I] shall notify you … of the deficiency, and withhold any commissions on account of appointments and promotions in your command, until the return is received."
Upon resigning in 1867, Hodsdon said, "To the soldiers who so nobly volunteered for the defense of the country, language affords but a tame expression of what is due to them, and I refer to the records of this office as my best tribute to their worth."
After the war, he retired to his farm in Bangor, and also dealt in real estate. He died in 1895.
∼His biological last name is Littlefield. His parents were Jeremiah Littlefield and Dorothy Pray. he was adopted by Isaac Hodsdon and Polly Wentworth.
Bangor
January 11, 1861
On January 11, 1861, John L. Hodsdon accepted his recent election by the Maine Legislature to the position of Adjutant General of the State of Maine. He had received 139 votes of the 161 possible for election.
Hodsdon proved to be a natural for the position that he would hold throughout the Civil War.
Maine placed the operation of the militia under the office of Adjutant General, an office originating in 1775, when Maine was a part of Massachusetts. Maine retained the Department of Adjutant General after attaining statehood in 1820.
Born John Littlefield in Hallowell, in 1815, his father died when John was 4. His mother remarried. After he was adopted by General Isaac Hodsdon, John's name was changed in 1821 to John Littlefield Hodsdon. Moved from Hallowell to Bangor, John attended local schools there and began his military education by enlisting in the Bangor Light Infantry at the age of 16.
A lawyer, he set his law practice aside to become his father's aide during the Aroostook War in 1839.
Afterwards, he returned to Bangor and his law practice. He remained active in the local militia, eventually becoming General.
On October 3, 1861, Maine's U.S. Attorney George Shepley wrote to Hodsdon "Having had two occasions within the last two weeks to ask for a company roll from your office, I have experienced the value of your efforts to procure and preserve them. The private soldiers and officers even may not understand the importance of these documents until years hence, when they may wish to prove their service as a ground of title to a pension; but they will then…"
Hodsdon often stressed upon Maine's military officers the importance of turning in their monthly reports "…which in addition to its value for present reference, may in future be of material importance to the soldiers in securing their rights and dues from the Government."
If that was not persuasive, Hodsdon provided an incentive: "[I] shall notify you … of the deficiency, and withhold any commissions on account of appointments and promotions in your command, until the return is received."
Upon resigning in 1867, Hodsdon said, "To the soldiers who so nobly volunteered for the defense of the country, language affords but a tame expression of what is due to them, and I refer to the records of this office as my best tribute to their worth."
After the war, he retired to his farm in Bangor, and also dealt in real estate. He died in 1895.
∼His biological last name is Littlefield. His parents were Jeremiah Littlefield and Dorothy Pray. he was adopted by Isaac Hodsdon and Polly Wentworth.
Gravesite Details
He was born John Littlefield to Jeremiah and Dorothy Pray Littlefield and was adopted by Isaac Hodsdon and Polly Wentworth. When he was adopted he was given his adopted father's last name Hodsdon.
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