Benjamin was the son of Benjamin Hodge and Lydia Welles. In 1775 he made a whaling voyage, and on his return enlisted in Captain Jonathan Hale's company, Colonel Erastus Wolcott's regiment, and was sent to a point on Lake George, New York, to defend the frontiers during the American Revolution. The extreme cold and hardship caused him to fall ill, and the next year he was sent home. In 1777 he went to sea on a merchant vessel, which was captured by a British vessel, the crew escaping to the shore. In 1783 he taught school in Glastonbury. In 1786 he bought land, and in the years following he appears in several real estate transactions. In 1793 he moved to Richfield, Otsego county, New York, where he resided until 1798, when he sold and moved to Exeter in the same county. In 1806 he sold his lands in Exeter and started for a home farther west, with several of his neighbors. In July, 1806, the party made its way on the Mohawk river to Oneida lake, by Oswego river to Lake Ontario, on the lake to the mouth of the Niagara river, which they ascended to the falls. Here their flatboat was loaded on a wagon, drawn around the falls, and again placed in the river. They reached Buffalo creek, where William Hodge, his elder son, was located at Cold Springs, three miles from the mouth of the creek. Buffalo was then known as New Amsterdam. Before leaving Exeter Benjamin had purchased, for $23, the title to lot 35, containing forty-seven and three-tenths acres, just outside the village of Buffalo, which has long since become a part of the city. This he exchanged with his son William for a farm the latter owned at Eden, a few miles from Buffalo. He lived on the Eden farm until December, 1812, when he moved to Cold Springs, near his son. Here he engaged in farming, trading in cattle, and other pursuits. December 30, 1813, he was an eyewitness to the burning of Buffalo by the British. Hearing the British were coming, he hastily sent his family in a wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen to Harris Hill, now Clarence, while he remained to watch his property. The following day a patrol of British sent to destroy the residence of his son William (in the cellar of which was stored merchandise valued at $50,000, belonging to the merchants of Buffalo) saw Benjamin and another man in the street near William's house and ordered them to surrender. Instead, they both ran. Benjamin halted, while his companion kept on and was shot. Benjamin was directed to get an axe and break in the heads of some of the liquor casks stored in William's cellar. While an officer was filling his canteen with spirits, a sentry cried "the Yankees are coming." The officer fled in such haste that when Mr. Hodge reached the floor above, the officer had disappeared. The building had been fired in several places, however, and was soon in ruins. Mr. Hodge was a member of the Masonic order, which fact, it is said, saved him from being carried away prisoner with his son Benjamin, who was taken to Canada and held prisoner. Benjamin lived through two wars with Great Britain and much early frontier life. He wore knee buckles after the Continental style, long after they had gone out of general use, and was probably the last man in Buffalo to discard them. He died greatly respected by his business and social acquaintances. He is buried with his wife in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo.
He married, April 9, 1780. Sarah Churchill, born November 25. 1757, in Chatham. Connecticut, died in Buffalo, May 20. 1837, daughter of Daniel, son of Nathaniel, son of Joseph, son of Josiah Churchill, who came from England about 1636, settled in VVethersfield, Connecticut. They lived a happy married life, continuing fifty-five years. Children: William, Clarissa, Philander, Alfred, Lorin, Sarah, Clarissa, Alfred, Benjamin and Velorius.*



*Excerpts from "Genealogical and Family History of Western New York" by William Richard Cutter