Richard HODGES

                   BIRTH DATE & PLACE-PARENTS:
             Parish Records of Prince Frederick Parish in Georgetown, Laurens County, South Carolina.
DEATH-SPOUSE-CHILDREN:  source is the South Carolina State Archives, Columbia, S.C., Microfilm #GF-336, Laurens County, Equity Bills.
            Item: Equity Bill 1824 #13.  Before the Honorable Judge of the
            Court of Equity is John Iley and Sarah, his wife; Elizabeth Hodge
            and Margarett Hodges; Wealthy Hodges; Francis Hodges and Hendrick
            Hodges, minors--vs.---Jacob Niswanger:  "Humbly complaining shew
            unto your Honor your orator and oratrixes Elizabeth Hodges, John
            Iley and Sarah his wife, Margaret Hodges and Wealthy Hodges, the
            latter two of whom are minors over the age of fourteen years,
            Francis Hodges and Hendrick Hodges, both of whom are minors under
            the age of fourteen, that their Father, Richard Hodges dec'd on
            the 24th day of December in the year of our Lord on thousand eight
            hundred and nineteen, executed several deeds of gift ..., one in
            favor of Elizabeth Hodges and Sarah Hodges, now the wife of John
            Iley, by which he gave Elizabeth a negro girl named Amy and to
            Sarah a girl named Jane and to both jointly a negro boy named Tom.
            Also a deed in favor of your oratrixes Mararet Hodges and Wealthy
            Hodges, by which he gave Margaret a negro woman named Jude who has
            since had a child named Henry, to Wealthy a boy named Lemuel and to
            them both jointly a boy named Andrew.  Also a deed in favor of your
            orator and oratrix Frances and Hendrick, by which he gave to
            Framces amoung other things a negro boy named (unreadable, lined              through and smeared), and to both of them jointly a boy named Ben,
            all of which deeds being duly executed were recorded in the
            Registers office of this District on 22nd day of January
            following.   ..."  The continuation of this Bill goes on to say
            that Richard Hodges later sold said negroes to Jacob Niswanger and
            the complainants want the negroes returned to them since Jacob
            was well aware that the gifts had been made before he made his
            purchase.  In his reply, also in the same 1824-#13 folder,
            Niswanger refuses to honor the gift deeds since, he claims, Richard
            Hodges was deeply in debt and had to sell the negroes to satisfy
            his creditors.  He says that the gifts were an attempt to
            circomvent payment of these debts.
                 Also in another document filed by the complainants, included
            in the folder, they refer to "our Parents, Richard and Rachael
            Hodges".
                 In the equity bill, it might be thought that it says that
            Richard Hodges died Dec. 24, 1819; but by proper punctuation and
            careful reading it says that Richard Hodges, who was dead when the
            equity bill was established in 1824, executed the gift deed on Dec.           24. 1824.  So, he died between Nov. 1821 and some time in 1824.