John Alexander "Alex" Hogg, son of Robert and Mary Jane (McFate) Hogg, was born in Cherry Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania on March 29, 1844.
Margaret Hall, daughter of William and Minerva (Thompson) Hall, was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania on April 9, 1844, in the town of Centerville, where she grew up. In the summer of 1863 she visited her cousin in the country near Harrisville, to help her cousin make a wedding dress. One morning when the girls sat on the porch shelling peas, a young man, who was plowing in the field nearby, walked over to ask his young neighbor if she would go to a party with him. He didn't know she was planning to get married. This young man was Alex Hogg. It was Margaret he took to the party, and a courtship followed.
In April 1865, William Hall moved his family out to Poweshick County, Iowa, and Margaret taught school. In those days there were two school terms each year, one in the summer for the younger children, and another in the winter when the older boys and girls were free from summer work so they could go to school.
That fall, Alex traveled to Iowa, and Alex and Margaret were married in Brooklyn, Iowa on October 31, 1865, by Reverend J.F. Reynolds. They then went back to Pennsylvania to live with his parents and help with the farm the next year. In 1866 their first child, Mary Minerva, was born. The following year, Alex rented a farm, where they lived for two years. It had a little log cabin on it. Their first son, Robert William, was born in this cabin. Margaret's sister Tillie came to stay with them before Will was born, and went back to Iowa with them in April 1869. The train was crowded with Union soldiers, most of them in worn and dirty uniforms. Some were wounded, but they all were deliriously happy to be going home. The Civil War was over!
The first winter in Iowa, Alex worked in the woods, cutting firewood for the Union Pacific Railroad. He walked four miles to work and back each day. In the spring he started working with his father-in-law at the carpenter trade, and learned to be a carpenter.
When Alex and Margaret moved to Iowa, Alex entered business, owning and operating a general merchandise store.
During the "great depression", which started in 1873, Alex's business failed, leaving him destitute. Looking for work, he went to Colorado during the mining boom, but finally ended up in Shelton, Nebraska, where he contracted to build a flour mill on the Wood River for Jason George.
While thus employed, one Sunday he took a long walk out into the hills and traded his gold watch for a homestead relinquishment, dealing with an old Swede living in a dugout on one side of a long draw. (On the other side of the draw was another dugout which sheltered the Swede's single ox.) On an adjoining claim was a roomy sod house, which John rented, and into which he moved Margaret and their six childrem. On Saturday nights he would carry a load of supplies for the family on his back, to return Sunday to continue his mill construction. Later he built a three room sod house on a hill looking down the long draw where the Swede lived. This house was built in 1873 and remained the continuous dwelling for the family until 1903, when it was removed and replaced with a 2-story frame house. [In 1961 this house was occupied by Alex and Margaret's youngest son, Irwin, who at this time was sole owner of the homestead.]
In 1906, suffering from ill health, John and Margaret traveled to Salem, Oregon, and stayed with his son R.W. Hogg's family, and his son Irwin took over operation of the farm. Upon returning in 1908, John and Margaret moved into town (Shelton). They purchased the T.G. Tritt property on the west side of town, and lived there the rest of their lives, deriving income from the farm.
From S.C. Basset's History of Buffalo County in which he documents the life of Alex Hogg, " ... both he and his wife are active and prominent members in the Presbyterian church of Shelton, in which he has served as an elder for seven years, doing all in his power to promote the growth and extend the influence of the church and bring about that moral development for which the church stands. His life has ever been an honorable and upright one, fraught with integrity in every relation, and those who know him have ever felt that he is worthy of trust."
Alex died in 1922 at age 78. Margaret died in 1926 at age 82.
The discussion of John's life featured in S. C. Bassett's "History of Buffalo County, contains more information about John and his family. For a rich discussion of the history and lives of John and Margaret and their family, see the section on John Alexander Hogg in the memoirs of Ruth (VanDyke) Adams, John and Margaret's granddaughter. Ruth also documented many of the childhood memories and stories of Mary Minerva "Mamie" Hogg, John and Margaret's eldest daughter, which give glimpses into the family life at the time.
Many Hoggs and Halls settled in Cherry Township, Butler County, Pensylvania. On the following map one can find the homes of John Hall, Robert Hogg, Robert Hogg, Jr., Mrs. J. Hogg (probably the widow of John A. Hogg's uncle John Hogg), Joseph Billingsley (probably John A. Hogg's brother-in-law), and the homes of many others who have the same last names of many Hogg and Hall relatives.
John and Margaret had eleven children:
Mary Minerva Hogg | Born in Cherry Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania on December 7, 1866. Mary Minerva married Loyal Boyd VanDyke. |
Robert William "Will" Hogg | Born in Slippery Rock, Butler County, Pennsylvania on February 2, 1869. Will married Jennie Nutter. They had 3 children: Glen John (1895), Ronald Valentine (1898), and Margaret Diana (1907) |
Lola Margaret Hogg | Born in Powesheik County, Iowa on March 31, 1871. Lola married Albert P. Johnson and they had 5 children: Esther Rae (married Merlin Cephus Vannice - 3 children), Albert Paul (married Mamie Apple), Thelma Ruth (married ??? Schultz), Margaret Louise, and Carol Frances. |
James Burton Hogg | Born in Mitchelville, Polk County, Iowa on April 4, 1873. Died July 22, 1901. |
Sarah "Sadie" Inez Hogg | Born in Mitchellville, Polk County, Iowa on June 19, 1875. Sadie married Ivan Elsworth Lux and they had 10 children: Ivy May (1896 - married Harvey A. Goucher), Raymond (1899 - married Bernice Hunt), John Floyd (1904 - married Freda Block), Minerva Grace (1906 - married Oscar Vucu), Donald Elsworth (1909 - married Ruby Mundt), Rachael Elsie (1911 - married Dolan Peterson), Irene Doris (1913), Ivan Elmer (1915), Kenneth (1916), and Martha Margaret (1917). |
Lizzie Amanda Hogg | Born in Rippey, Greene County, Iowa on August 20, 1877. Lizzie married Mirabeau D. Nutter and they had 5 children: Pauline Elizabeth (1911 - married Tom Doryland), Donavan (1912 - married Ramona Emily Majors), Elva Rae (1915), Elna Ruth (1915 died at birth), Janette Yvonne (1918), and Lindley M. (1920). |
Ida Bell Hogg | Born in Rippey, Greene County, Iowa on February 18, 1880. Died as a child on February 13, 1881. |
John Alexander Hogg, Jr. | Born in Gardner, Buffalo County, Nebraska on July 31, 1882. John married Francis Beatrice Nutter. |
Floyd Cleveland Hogg | Born in Gardner, Buffalo County, Nebraska on October 13, 1884. Floyd married Lizzie Schepers and they had 5 children: Floyd Burton, Everett Alfred (married Ellen Bernice Shanley), Loyal Alvin, Robert Wayne (died in a powder explosion), and another daughter (name unknown) |
Rose Florinda Hogg | Born in Gardner, Buffalo County, Nebraska on April 4, 1888. Rose married Earl W. Glandon and they had 2 children: Adrian (1926) and Merwyn (1927) |
Irwin Hogg | Born in Gardner, Buffalo County, Nebraska on July 30, 1890. Irwin married Evalyn Robinson and they had 5 children: Ruth Edna (1912 - married Glen E. Welker), Orin Kenneth (1914 - married Ruth Muhlbach), Doris Marcia (1915 - married Darell Albert), Phyllis Fern (1917 - married Wayne H. Bly), and Wanda Eldine (1920 - married Franklin L. Bald). Irwin died September 8, 1993. He was 103 years old. |