CityView Magazine

Little CityViewNC.com | 67 Sam and Fannie's descendents weave quite a story. Alice Hodges Johnson, the oldest daughter, became a schoolteacher. Her husband, Cornell H. Johnson, was the first black to hold an office in the South Carolina governor's cabinet. Their children include corporate media executives and entertainers. Jim Hodges, the oldest son, played in the old professional Negro Baseball League with the Baltimore Black Sox. His son, Carl, retired from the U.S. Air Force and was the first black 4-H agricultural extension chairman in North Carolina. Another of Jim's sons, Thomas, retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Air Force. Among his descendents are an attorney and a former Broadway dancer. His wife, Gwen, was Miss Tuskegee College in 1950, a title his daughter, Wanda, won 30 years later in 1980. Another of Sam's daughters ran Mack's Tavern and Gas Station, a place that doubled as a sort of motel for blacks. "It was the only place blacks could stay between New York and Florida," Thomas Hodges said. "It was a gathering place for blacks on Saturday night. They came to sing and dance and have a good time." As for the other children, daughters Annie and Marian taught school and son Alexander worked at a Baltimore shipyard. Roscoe was a mechanic in Southern Pines, and his granddaughter, Adele, was the first black female colonel in the U.S. Marines and the first female commander of a military base on the mainland, Camp Lejeune. Another son, Willie, was a farmer. His daughter, Renee Jackson, is a principal in Cumberland County. And son Sam Jr. is in the Cumberland County Agricultural Hall of Fame. The first black agronomist in North Carolina, one of his descendents works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Hodges family creed is: "When faced with a mountain, I will not quit. I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath – or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine, with God's help." The descendants of Sam and Fannie Hodges may wear out, but it is unlikely they will ever rust out. CV

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