The Family of Haywood Bun Arrington:Information about Willis Augustus Hodges
Willis Augustus Hodges (b. 1815, d. 1890)
Notes for Willis Augustus Hodges:aka "Old Specs"Willis was sent to Brooklyn to help his brothers William and Charles begin farming.He was a delegate to the National Convention of Colored Men held in Troy NY in 1848 and was a good friend of the abolitionist John Brown who was later hanged.Willis published a newspaper in Brooklyn called THE RAM'S HORN for a time.
He became the first black man elected to office in Princess Anne County VA when he served in the State Constituional Convention of 1867-1868.He also represented the Kempsville District on the Board of Supervisors.Most of his life was spent trying to achieve freedom and equal rights for all blacks, preaching and praying, speaking and organizing, to outright demands for justice.(1996 Global Cultural Productions)
Free Man of Color: The Autobiography of Willis Augustus Hodges, Edited by Willard B. Gatewood, Jr., published by The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville TN, copyright 1982.
Additional information taken from "Nelson-Hodges Papers 1773-1936" compiled by Alexander A. Moore of Brooklyn NY.
Item in the Norfolk Virginian, Dec. 7, 1878, p.1:
"Specs" Hodges.--Willis A. (Specs) Hodges, the inciter, if not leader of the late Kempsville election riot, who, with Noah Lamb, another negro leader in Princess Anne County, was elected to leave the State forever at the present term of the County court, was in town yesterday making arrangements for his departure for New York.He informed us that he was a native of that city, where he married his wife.He claimed that he had been persecuted on account of being a Republican, and that he considered his banishment from the State an act of great injustice.
With the departure of this man, which will occur a few days hence, Tidewater Virginia will get rid of one of the most incendiary negroes that has ever cursed this section.
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Entry Census of 1870:Hodges, Willis 55; Sarah 38; Augustus 14; Victoria 12, Willis F. 7.
More About Willis Augustus Hodges:
Race: Bet. 1867 - 1868, First black man elected to office in Princess Anne County VA..
Children of Willis Augustus Hodges and Sarah Ann Corprew are:
- Pinkey L. Hodges.
- +Augustus Michael Hodges, b. 1856.
- Catherine Hodges, b. 1856, Brooklyn NY.
- Victoria Hodges, b. 1858.
- +Willis Emmanuel Hodges, b. 1863.