This week's Surname Saturday post shines the spotlight on the name Dodge, which is from the maternal side of my family tree. It's a bit of a mysterious line, because it is rather a brick wall for many researchers of this family. My closest relative with this surname was Susannah Dodge, my 4th great grandmother, who married John D. Sutton. But let's get to the surname first and then move onto some of the family history and mystery.
 |
| Susannah (Dodge) Sutton and John D. Sutton |
According to the House of Names website, Dodge an ancient Anglo-Saxon name that is derived from the baptismal name Dod, the short form of Roger. The website goes on to say, "The surname Dodge was first found in Yorkshire where Doge filius Arnaldi was listed in the Pipe Rolls in 1196. In nearby Lancashire, Wigot filius Doge was listed there in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1214 and later Dogge was listed in the Assize Rolls of 1246."
And, according to the SurnameDB website, "This unusual name, with the modern varients Doige and Doidge, has two possible origins, the first being from the medieval personal name "Dogge" a pet form of "Roger", which in turn comes from the Anglo-Saxon name "Hrothgar", meaning "fame spear." The double "g" of "Dogge" would have been pronounced "dg(e)" and in the modern spelling there are a number of variations of this surname, ranging from Dodge, Doidge and Doige to Dodgin and Dodgson."
Susannah Dodge was born on October 11, 1810 in either Maine or Massachusetts. Her father was Samuel Dodge and her mother was Sarah Harmon. Susannah had six siblings: Jerusha, Sarah 'Sally', Lucy Stone, Samuel, Edward, and Benjamin. Susannah 'Susan' Dodge married John D. Sutton on January 4th, 1827 in Switzerland County, Indiana.
The brick wall originates with Susannah's father, Samuel Dodge. We simply know very little about him. We don't know his exact date of birth or death, or the names of his parents or siblings. All we really do know is that he lived in Beverly, Essex County, Massachusetts between 1790-1810, because he is enumerated on the Census there. Beyond that it's really all just speculation. My mom had some notes in her genealogical research of Samuel Dodge too that came from correspondence with another Dodge family researcher. There is a Samuel Dodge listed in the Probate records for Switzerland County, Indiana; it's for an Estate settled in 1829. This very well could be my Samuel Dodge. I've recently sent a for records from that county. Maybe we'll get lucky and be able to confirm Samuel's death date and location.
Until then though, the search into the Dodge family line continues. And hopefully at some point we'll be able to breakthrough that very tough Dodge family brick wall.
