Background
Silas Henry Hodges was born in Clarendon, Vermont and was educated at Brandon Academy.
Silas Henry Hodges was born in Clarendon, Vermont and was educated at Brandon Academy.
He was pastor of several churches in southern Vermont until 1841, after which he resumed practicing law in Rutland. From 1840 to 1860 Hodges served on the Middlebury College Board of Trustees. In 1845 Hodges was elected State Auditor, serving until 1850.
From 1852 to 1853 Hodges served as United States Commissioner of Patents.
In 1861 Hodges was named Chief Examiner at the United States. Patent Office, a position he held until his death. In 1865 Hodges testified during the trial of the Lincoln Assassination conspirators, giving evidence supporting Marcus P. Norton"s reputation for veracity.
Norton had testified that in March, 1865 a man he later recognized as Samuel Mudd had burst into his room at the National Hotel. Norton claimed the man apologized, saying that he thought the room belonged to a man named Booth.
John Wilkes Booth had actually rented the room directly above Norton"son
A pre-assassination connection, if proved, would undercut Mudd"s claim not to have known who Booth was when he set Booth"s broken leg after Booth shot Lincoln. Hodges died in Washington, District of Columbia, and he was buried in Rutland"s Evergreen Cemetery.