From Vermont to Detroit business
Hodges was born in South Hero, Vermont, in 1828. A contemporary Michigan biography describes an education in local schools followed by an apprenticeship in carriage-making. He reached Detroit in 1850, worked at a hotel in Marshall, studied law and later entered a business connected with Vermont marble. These early occupations preceded the insurance and manufacturing interests for which he became known.
In 1862 he joined his brother Charles and Edward Barker in an insurance partnership. The brothers also developed Detroit real estate, including property in the Woodbridge area and the Hodges Building at State and Griswold. Manufacturing became another substantial interest. His name survived in the Henry Clay Hotel, a later project discussed in histories of Detroit’s buildings.
The 1915 Michigan biography records his marriage to Julia Bidwell in 1854 and their five children, as well as his service to the Unitarian church. Religious publishing developed alongside this established business and family life.
The circle and the published messages
Two Thousand Years in Celestial Life was issued by the Astro Publishing Company in Detroit in 1901. Its title page places the firm in the Hodges Building and describes the work as an introduction to Science and Key of Life. The book is presented as the autobiography of Clytina, said to have lived in ancient Athens. That identity and the celestial experiences narrated in her voice are claims made within the publication.
