The Hodgson Family


​​Recently, I’ve been researching a late Victorian cabinet card portrait of a family of five. For a long time, they were just intense faces staring out across the antique shop. But a flip of the card changed everything. Written clearly in elegant cursive on the back were the names: Albert Hodgson, Sarah Hodgson, Phoebe, Anna, and Etta.

​At the very bottom, a faint, embossed photographer’s stamp left a clue: Geo. W. Platt.

​With a bit of genealogical digging, these names jumped off the vintage cardstock and mapped perfectly to a real pioneer family who carved out a life in the American heartland.

​This beautiful portrait captures the Hodgson family during their years in Toronto, Woodson County, Kansas.

  • ​The Patriarch: Seated on the left with a magnificent, full beard is Albert Hodgson (1840–1912). Born just before the dawn of the Victorian era, he lived to see the turn of the century and the rapid modernization of the Kansas frontier.
  • ​The Matriarch: Seated next to him is his wife, Sarah (Robinson) Hodgson, looking every bit the resilient pioneer mother.
  • ​The Daughters: Standing proudly in the back are Roberta Phoebe (1871–1962) and Anna. Standing on the far right is the youngest daughter at the time, Etta (Ettie M.).

​Note: Family records show that Albert and Sarah later welcomed two more daughters, Sima and Rowena. Because they are missing from the lineup, we can pinpoint this photo to a specific window in the 1880s, right before the family expanded. 

The visual details in this photograph tell a story all on their own. Look at the incredibly sharp tailoring of the women's dresses, the high collars, the meticulous rows of buttons, and the deep, rich fabrics (which look stunning when colorized). Even in a rural Kansas town like Toronto, the Hodgsons maintained a sharp, dignified presentation for their trip to George W. Platt’s photography studio.

​What happened to them after the camera shutter clicked? They lived out their lives as foundational pieces of their local community. Albert passed away in 1912, and Sarah followed him later. Both rest today in the Big Sandy Cemetery in Toronto, Kansas.

​Their daughters grew up, married into local families, and carried the Hodgson lineage forward. Phoebe lived to be 91 years old, surviving all the way into 1962. She went from riding in pioneer wagons to witnessing the dawn of the space age.

​This is exactly why we do what we do. If a previous caretaker hadn't taken thirty seconds to write those names on the back of the card, this family's identity would have been lost to time. Instead, we get to connect the faces to the places, ensuring the Hodgson family isn't forgotten on a dusty antique shelf.


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