Agnes
(Hanshaw) Hoge
(1856-1906)
Agnes
(Hanshaw) Hoge was born on Nov. 4, 1856 in Evansville, Preston County, WV, the daughter of Hiram
B. and Catherine (Miner) Hanshaw. Agnes and her husband -- seen here -- were
prominent residents of Wheeling, Ohio County, WV, and owned a prominent hardware
store in the center of town.
As a young girl, Agnes moved with her parents to the railroad town of Independence, Preston County, where they ran a hotel.
On March 15, 1876, at Evansville or Independence, the 18-year-old Agnes married 29-year-old merchant Theudas Alvin Hoge (1848-1917), a resident of Wheeling since boyhood. They had two sons, James "Stack" Hoge and Percy "Raymond" Hoge.
The Hoges lived in Wheeling at 14 Zane Street at the time the 1880 federal census was taken. That year, Thomas' mother Elisabeth Hoge resided in their household, as well as servant Annie Huffman and boarder William Hoge. The Callin's Wheeling Directory of 1880 shows that T.A. and William worked at Hoge & Co., a hardware and cutlery enterprise at 1068 Market Street owned by F.A. and Kenworthy J. Hoge.
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Bustling Wheeling, WV in the early 1900s |
By
1896, the Wheeling City Directory shows that T.A. had purchased the
business, and had renamed it "T.A. Hoge & Co.," owning it outright
for two decades until his death. The company sold "hardware, cutlery, guns,
agricultural implements, bicycles, seeds, &c." Son Raymond was a clerk
in the store. That year, the family lived at 9 South York Street. One of the
former owners of the business, Kenworthy J. Hoge, was an owner and attorney with
K. Hoge Co., an apparent competing hardware dealership, just down the street at
1113 Market.
The Wheeling Register once said that T.A. "was one of the pioneer business men of this city" and that during his 20 years of running the company, "supplied the farmers of this district with implements and supplies and was known to every farmer throughout this section."
T.A.
was a member of the Spritualist Church and of the Welcome Lodge of the Ancient
Order of United Workman (AOUW).
Agnes, said the Register, "was of a charitable, sunny disposition, and had a host of friends." Sadly, at the age of 49, she suffered with a fatal case of cirrhosis of the liver. She passed away at their home in the Altenheim section of Wheeling on Aug. 12, 1906. Her funeral was held at home, followed by burial at the city's prominent Greenwood Cemetery. Pallbearers were E.C. Flaccus, James Henderson, H.P. Wilkinson, C.E. Van Keuren, E.W. Zinn and Dr. George N. Wells. In reporting on the detail of the services, the Register said:
The services opened with the singing of a hymn by the Wheeling quartet after which Dr. S.V. Leech, pastor of the North Street M.E. church, read a scriptural passage from the fifteenth chapter of Corinthians, after which he delivered an impressive funeral address, paying a touching tribute to the life of Mrs. Hoge. Then followed a prayer by the pastor and a closing solo by one of the ladies of the quartet. A great many beautiful floral tributes were presented by friends of the deceased, attesting the esteem and respect with which the deceased was held.
In March 1907, the Ohio River overran its banks and flooded the main business district of Wheeling and cities and towns all along the Ohio River Valley. It's not known specifically how the family business was impacted, but it must have been disastrous in one way, shape or form. The business eventually rebounded and continued in successful operation.
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Rowboats at Main Street and 12th Street in Wheeling during the flood of March 1907 |
Tragedy struck the family in September 1912, when 33-year-old son Stack, who had a young wife and daughter, died of a lingering case of tuberculosis at Saranac Lake, Franklin County, NY. His remains were brought back to Wheeling for burial.
T.A. became ill in about 1913, but his condition was not considered as serious. He made son Raymond a partner in the business by 1915, and renamed it T.A. Hoge Hardware Company, located at 1018-20 Market. By that time, the family had moved their residence again, to a house along the National Road in the Leatherwood or Woodsdale section of Wheeling.
However, as T.A. aged, his health took a turn for the worse and declined rapidly in the fall of 1917. He died at the age of 72 on Oct. 27, 1917. The Register said "The passing of Mr. Hoge was received with regret throughout the community, and especially of the northern section of this state and the eastern section of Ohio, where he was widely known."
He was laid to rest with his wife and son in the Hoge family plot at Greenwood. Today, a large stone marks the plot (seen here), but only Agnes' name is shown. In his will, written in November 1914 and on file today at the Ohio County Courthouse in Wheeling, T.A. left all of his property to son Raymond and to his Stack's daughter Agnes Elizabeth Hoge.
Raymond thus was left with ownership of the family hardware store. He must have chosen to dispose of the company, because by 1919, he was listed in the Wheeling Directory as a buyer with C.F. Braunlich & Co., and rooming at 83 16th Street.
Copyright © 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 Mark A. Miner