HODGDON, John

Family History: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ernest_keene&id=I63604

John Hodgdon

HODGDON, John. (Weare, Hillsboro Co., NH, Oct. 8, 1800--Dubuque, IA, Aug. 27, 1883). MAYOR. Hodgdon prepared for college at Exeter Academy. He entered Bowdoin College and graduated from that institution in 1827. He studied law with Allan Gilman, of Bangor, Maine, and was admitted to the bar and practiced law there. In 1838, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Amelia Legget, a native of New York. In 1843, he went to Holton, Maine to settle two townships of land, one of which was given him by his grandfather, and one he bought; he remained there ten years. While living in Maine, Hodgdon was elected to the State Senate, served two terms, and was chosen presiding office of that body. When only 33 years of age, he was elected President of the Mercantile Bank of Bangor, Maine. He was a member of the Governor's Council in 1833. He held the office of Bank Commissioner and Bank Examiner six years and also held the office of State Land Agent four years. He was appointed by President Polk Commissioner, on the part of the State of Maine, to confer with George W. Coffin on the part of the State of Massachusetts, to settle and distribute the disputed Territory Fund. He was a member of the first Presidential Convention ever held in the United States held at Baltimore, Maryland on May 22, 1832. (1)

He came West to Iowa, and settled in Dubuque on November 1, 1853 and bought and sold land. In 1859, he again resumed the practice of law. He was elected mayor six years later. (2)

During his term, he frequently boasted that all city expenses during his administration totaled less than $10,000. The disbanding of the police force in the spring of 1859 was followed by an increase in all manner of crimes in Dubuque — fires, burglaries, pickpockets, etc.

The committee on finance of the city council reported as follows in February, 1860:

         The present is a critical time in the financial
         history of the city. Never will cautious and 
         prudent management be more needed. The day of 
         lavish expenditures is past, public improvements 
         of all kinds abandoned, the credit of the city
         exhausted, a heavy burden of debt to be borne 
         and the only source of revenue the taxation of 
         a community embarrassed by unfortunate speculation 
         and many of its numbers struggling to save themselves
         from total ruin. (3)

In 1868 Hodgdon was elected president of the board of education and held the office for six years. He declined to run again but did agree to serve as a trustee of the State Asylum for the Blind at Vinton. He also helped organize and then served as a director of the SECOND NATIONAL BANK.

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Source:

1. Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880, p. 805

2. "Dubuque Sought Business Methods From Beginning," Telegraph Herald, March 27, 1921, p. 14. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bi5eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SmANAAAAIBAJ&pg=6644,4092622&dq=james+fanning+dubuque&hl=en