Edwin Hodge was a Henderson tobacco merchant, exporter, and bank officer whose career connected the city with markets in Great Britain. He also helped develop the Park Theater and devoted nearly half a century to service as a Presbyterian church treasurer.

Born July 2, 1854, in Marion, Crittenden County, Kentucky, he was the second of nine children of Dr. Joseph Anthony Hodge and Susan A. Linthicum Hodge. The family moved to Henderson in 1863. His father became a prominent physician and president of the Kentucky State Medical Society. Edwin attended local public and private schools before beginning work as a bookkeeper with the Burbank tobacco company.

In 1877, Hodge began his own business as a tobacco dealer and exporter. From 1891 to 1895, he partnered with Arthur B. Jarvis in Hodge & Jarvis, then resumed business under his own name. By the early 1900s, he was general manager of the Imperial Tobacco Company’s western business. Based in Henderson, he oversaw its Kentucky operations and regularly traveled to England. He developed a reputation for fairness in his dealings with tobacco growers and merchants.

Hodge was one of the original directors of the Ohio Valley Bank & Trust Company and later became its vice president. In 1893, he also served on the first board of the Pythian Building Association, which developed the Park Theater and office building on Main Street.

In 1883, he married Frances Ditto of Brandenburg, Kentucky, known as Fannie. Their sons were Thomas Ditto Hodge, born in 1884, and Edwin Hodge Jr., born in 1890. The family’s country home was Actoft, at 502 Norris Lane.

A committed Presbyterian, Hodge served as a deacon and treasurer at First Presbyterian Church before helping found Central Presbyterian Church. There he served as a deacon, later an elder, and treasurer for 47 years. His combined service as treasurer of the two churches totaled approximately 50 years.

Hodge retired from active business around 1929 but continued as a bank vice president. After several months of declining health, he died on December 28, 1932, at age 78, having lived in Henderson for 69 years. Frances survived him and lived until 1958. At his death, Thomas was living in Chicago and Edwin Jr. in Pittsburgh; he also left three granddaughters.

He was buried on December 30, 1932, at Fernwood Cemetery in Henderson. His grave is in Section 9, Lot 566, Grave 10.