HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS, E. Polk Johnson, three volumes,
Lewis Publishing Co., New York & Chicago, 1912. Common version, Vol. III,
pp. 1184-86. [Full page photograph of Mr. Dodge included with bio.]
[Bourbon County]

JAMES L. DODGE--On the old homestead estate which was the place of his
nativity and which is eligibly located about three miles east of Paris,
Bourbon county, Mr. Dodge is found as one of the representative
agriculturists and stock-growers of his native county, where, both as a
loyal and progressive citizen and as a reliable and substantial business
man, he is well upholding the prestige of a name that has been identified
with the annals of Kentucky history for four generations.
     On his present fine homestead James L. Dodge was ushered into the
world on the 17th of May, 1869, and is a son of David M. and Rebecca J.
(Kenny) Dodge, both of whom were likewise natives of this county where the
former was born on the 1st of August, 1832, and the latter on the 24th
of August, 1835.  David M. Dodge was a son of Edwin M. and Elizabeth
(Seamands) Dodge, natives respectively of Clark and Bourbon counties, this
state.  Edwin M. Dodge, was a son of David and Dorcas (Mills) Dodge, the
former of whom was the founder of the family in Kentucky, whence he came
from Pennsylvania in the pioneer days and established his home in Clark
county, where he continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits until his
death.  The ancestors of David Dodge are as follows: His father was Isaac,
son of Eli, son of Josiah, son of Josiah, son of John, son of Richard, who
was the founder of the Dodge family in America.  He appeared in Salem,
Massachusetts in 1638.--See Genealogy of the Dodge Family.  David Dodge
reared a large family of children and many of his descendants are now to be
found in various parts of the old Blue Grass commonwealth, as well as in
other sections of the Union.  Mrs. Elizabeth (Seamands) Dodge, paternal
grandmother of James L. Dodge of this review, was a daughter of Manson
Seamands, who served as major of a Kentucky regiment in the war of 1812
and who died in 1856; the maiden name of his wife was Newton.
     Edwin M. Dodge was born in Clark county, Kentucky, about the year 1811
and was there reared to maturity under the conditions and influences of
the pioneer epoch.  As a young man he removed to Bourbon county and
located in North Middletown precinct, where was solemnized his marriage to
Miss Elizabeth Seamands.  There he continued his identification with
farming and stock-growing until his death, which occurred about the year
1836, and his widow subsequently became the wife of Kinzea Stone.  They
continued to reside in Bourbon county until their death.
     David M. Dodge remained with his mother and stepfather until he had
attained to the age of twenty years, and in the meanwhile he duly availed
himself of the advantages of the common schools of the locality and
period, the while he contributed his quota to the work and management of
the home farm.  In February, 1852, was solemnized his marriage to Miss
Adeline Fretwell, daughter of Pascal and Maria (Hildreth) Fretwell, both of
whom were representatives of old Virginia families.  Mr. Adeline Dodge died
in 1860, and of her four children Bettie is now the only one living; she is
the widow of William Wood and resides in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana.
The three deceased children were Mary D., Edwin M. and William P.  On the
22d of May, 1861, David M. Dodge contracted a second marriage, having then
been united in the bonds of wedlock to Miss Rebecca J. Kenney, daughter of
Victor M. and Catherine A. (Rogers) Kenney, both of whom were born and
reared in Bourbon county.  Victor M. Kenney was a son of James Kenney,
who was born in Virginia, where he was reared to adult age and whence he
came when a young man to Kentucky, numbering himself among the pioneers
of Bourbon county.  His first wife, the mother of Victor M., born the
maiden name of Margaret Johnson, and after her death he contracted a second
marriage.  Mrs. Catherine A. (Rogers) Kenny was a daughter of Thomas and
Rebecca (Spahr) Rogers, who were numbered among the early and honored
pioneers of Bourbon county.
     In 1856 David M. Dodge established his home on the farm now owned by
his son James L., of this sketch, and as before stated, the place is
located about three miles east of the thriving little city of Paris, on
the Paris and North Middletown turnpike.  He here gave the best of his
splendid energies to the development and improvement of his property, and
the tangible results of his efforts remain patent to all.  He was a man
of impregnable integrity in all the relations of life, was endowed with
strong mentality and good judgment, and he was numbered among the best
known and most highly esteemed citizens of his native county, where his
death occurred, on his old homestead, on the 10th of April, 1903.  He was
a stanch Democrat in his political proclivities and his religious faith
was that of the Presbyterian church.  He did not hedge himself in with
more personal aggrandizement but was liberal and progressive in his civic
attitude.  His second wife, Mrs. Rebecca J. (Kenney) Dodge, who survives
him and remains on the old homestead, bore him four children, concerning
whom the following brief record is entered: Martha V. is the wife of
Charles G. Blakely, of Topeka, Kansas; David M. died when about 34 years
of age; James L., is the immediate subject of this review; and Victor K.
is an interested principal of the Phoenix Motor Car Company, of Lexington,
this state, where he maintains his residence.
     James L. Dodge was reared to maturity on the old homestead which
is his present place of abode and which was likewise that of his nativity,
and after availing himself of the advantages of the district school he
continued his higher academic studies in the Garth Institute, at Paris,
this county.  He has never severed his allegiance to the great productive
industry under whose influences he was reared and he is now the owner of
the old homestead, to which he has added until his landed estate comprises
803 acres.  The spacious residence and other buildings on the place are
of the best type and this is recognized as one of the many fine farms that
have given Bourbon county such distinctive prestige.  As a young man Mr.
Dodge began to devote special attention to the breeding and training of
fine trotting and pacing horses, in which connection he gained precedence
as one of the leading horsemen in the section which has ever represented
his home.  He still continues to own and handle a few high-grade horses
and has never abated his love for the horse, but since the death of his
father he has confined his energies more especially to diversified
agriculture and to the raising of high-grade live stock, besides which he
deals somewhat extensively in the same, making large shipments each years.
He is one of the progressive and wide awake citizens of Bourbon county,
ever ready to give his influence and aid in support of measures and
enterprises advanced for the general good of the community, and while he
has had naught of aspiration for public office he is found aligned as
a stanch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, in whose faith
he was reared.  He is a member of the Presbyterian church.
     On the 10th of December 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Dodge to Miss Lucy H. Williams, who was born in Harrison county, Kentucky,
on the 20th of September, 1869, and who was a daughter of John J. and
Elizabeth (Stone) Williams.  Of this union were born two children, one of
whom died in infancy; the surviving child, Edgar W., was born on the 25th
of November 1893.  Mrs. Dodge was summoned to the life eternal on the
17th of July, 1905, secure in the affectionate regard of all who had come
within the sphere of her gracious influence.

Dodge Kenney Seamands Mills Fretwell Hildreth Wood Rogers Spahr
Blakely Stone Williams Johnson Newton
=
Lexington-Fayette-KY Harrison-KY Clark-KY Salem-Essex-MA
Topeka-Shawnee-KS IN VA PA

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/bourbon/dodge.jl.txt