Person:Moses Hoge (3)

Rev. Moses Drury Hoge, D.D.

• Tyler, James Hoge. The Family of Hoge

Page 101- 102 – Moses Drury Hoge, D.D., b. in Prince Edward County, Virginia, September 17, 1818; d in Richmond, Virginia, January 6, 1899; m Susan Wood, daughter of James D. Wood, March 20, 1844. She d November 23, 1868. So much has been said and written of this great man that it is difficult to sum up in a brief record such as this anything like a proper picture of his character. I have already said that I regarded him, taking him altogether, the greatest man I ever knew. I must refer for fuller particulars to his Life as written by Dr. Peyton Hoge, and published by the Presbyterian Committee of Publication in Richmond, and I herewith copy a brief sketch of him written by Richard Mellwaine, D.D., ex president of Hampden-Sidney College: “Perhaps no one throught its history has been so long or, with the exceptions of its presidents and professors, so intimately connected with the life of Hampden-Sidney College, as this honored and distinguished man of God. His father, Rev. Samuel Davies Hoge, was at one time professor in the college. His paternal grandfather, Rev. Moses Hoge, D.D., was its president from 1807 to 1820, and Rev. Drury Lacy, his maternal grandfather, acted as its president from 1789 to 1797. The subject of this sketch entered college in 1836, during the presidency of Honorable William Maxwell, and at the end of a three year course, graduated with the first honor in a class of ten, eight of whom became lawyers, and two ministers of the Gospel. Among other distinguished gentlemen, with whom he was associated as fellow student, may be mentioned Honorable J. W. Clapp, of Memphis, Tennessee; Judge A. D. Dickinson, of Prince Edward; Rev. J. G. Shepperson, D.D., of Bedford; Honorable Thomas S. Bocock, member of Congress of Appomattox; Honorable W. C. Carrington, of Richmond; Colonel C. S. Carrington, of Halifax; Judge Frank D. Irving, of Farmville; Rev. Dr. R. L. Dabney, of Union Theological Seminary and the University of Texas; and Rev. Dr. W. T. Richardson, of Richmond. After granduating, he was tutor in the college for a year or two, completing his theological course in Union Theological Seminary in 1843; was licensed to preach the same year. He was assistant to the Rev. W. P. Plumer, D.D., of the First Presbyterian Church, Richmond, for two years and in 1845 was ordained and installed pastor of the newly organized Second Church in the same city, where the scene of his life long labors chiefly lay, and the most important part of his work was done. He was elected a trustee in Hampden-Sidney College in 1852, which office he filled with zeal and ability to the last. He received the degree of D. D. from his Alma Mater early in life, of L.L.D. from Washington and Lee University, of D.D., from Princeton University at its sesquicentennial celebration.

• Primus inter Pares

“It is hardly extravagant to say that for many years before his death, Dr. Hoge was by far the most eminent citizen of Virginia, and that the death of no man in the commonwealth for a long time, has so generally stirred the depths of the popular heart. He was known not only as the pastor of a large and important church, gathered and nutured by his own loving labor, and as the leading man in our capital and most important city, but he was widely honored throughout the state and country at large, as one of the soundest thinkers and most eloquent preachers of the day.

“As a scholar of accurate and extensive and elegant culture as a man of unquestionable courage, ‘Sans puer et and sans reproche,’ of high integrity and sincere convictions, who in times that tried men’s souls stood steadfast for truth and

Page 103 – right, as a courteous, generous, and loving friend, sympathetic alike in joy and sorrow, every ready to lend a helping hand to those in need. Few men have ever given themselves with such concentration and success to one special object, and have yet become great in so many different directions. His choses work was in the ministry; his special field was the church; these he neglected for nothing else, but made everything else tributary to them, and yet he was great reader and student, a great traveler, a great platform speaker, a great debator, a great citizen, a great friend.

• Traveller

“Few men thoroughly absorbed in work have ever travelled so much at home and abroad. It will astonish even those near to him, when his biography is given to the public to be informed as to how many addresses, lectures, and discourses, on special subjects he delivered by invitation, at widely separated places in this country, and if my recollection does not deceive me, he crossed the Atlantic seventeen times, and visited Egypt and the Holy Land and other countries in the East, and preached the Gospel wherever he went. During the War between the States he spent a year in London, as the messenger of the Confederate States Bible Society, and obtained large grants of Bibles and Testaments for distribution among our soldiers. When at home he ministered regularly to his own people, and to the thousands of strangers croweded into Richmond, and yet found time to labor extensively in the hospitals and among the soldiers in the field. His memory is held in great reverence by the old Confedrates.

• On the Rostrum

“He was one of the most powerful and delightful platform speakers of this generation; learned and witty, argumentative, and jocose, pathetic ad sportive, conversational and thrillingly eloquent, by turns. As specimens of his power in this sphere familiar to me, I refer to two widely contrasted efforts; the first of which was his carefully prepared and eloquently delivered oration on ‘the Confederate Soldier’ spoke some

Page 104 – years ago, before a packed house in the Richmond Theatre, and the second, the inimitably beautiful, tender and cultured address of twenty minutes made before the senior class college commencement. Either of these efforts would have made the reputation of an ordinary man.

• Successful Debater

“He was, too, a most accomplished, astute, winsome and convincing debater; calm, self-poised, conscious of his strength, inimitably polite, courting interruption, and profiting by it, and triumphantly vindicating the position he assumed. Two notable illustrations of his power in this direction may be given in his celebrated debates at the meeting of the General Assembly in Savannah and New Orleans, in the first of which, against an organized and strong opposition, he secured a large majority vote, in favor of the connection of the church with the Pan-Presbyterian Council and in the second, under the same circumstances, vindicated the Executive Committee of Publication whose action in some matters was violently assaulted.

• A Reader and Student

“Dr. Hoge was a great reader and student throughout life. He early formed the habit of mental concentration and of thoughtful reading. While yet at college he not only mastered the course so as to come out at the hand of an exceptionally able class, and at the same time give much attention to the duties of his literary society, but undertook and accomplished an extensive course of reading. He spent one or two vacations at college in the library. One of the most interesting episodes of his life as narrated by himself is a visit about this time to Roanoke, the late residence of the celebrated John Randolph, in order to examine its library and consult some of its volumes. The habit thus early formed, he kept up to the last, and no matter how occupied his days were, with professional, social and Christian engagements, while other men slept, he found time to traverse many paths of literature and science wholly untrodden by most educated

Page105 – men, and at the time managed to keep abreast of the latest and the best theological and exegetical discussions. His mind was a great storehouse of vast and vried learning, systematically arranged, and thoroughly at command, on which he drew at pleasure, and from which, to the last, he brought out things new and old for the delectation and instruction of his hearers.

• Pastor and Friend

“He was also a most loving, diligent and tender pastor and friend. By nature and temperament, he felt the need of sympathy and he bestowed it in full measure on these he found in need. For one so strong and full of resources, he was remarkably dependent on those about him for fellowship and kind regard, and he returned them in full measure with usury. There was nothing narrow or mean or selfish about him. He came as near fulfilling the apostolie injunction, ‘Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep,’ as any man I ever knew. Many illustrations of this might be given, but two must suffice: When I was a young preacher, in the County of Amelia, Dr. Hoge came up and conducted a series of services which resulted in a large number of accessions to the church; among whom were several to be baptized. Never having administered this ordinance, and being somewhat abashed by his presence, I requested him to perform the service. He kindly replied, but firmly, ‘No, sir; you are their pastor; now is the time to form links of affection between you and them; do it yourself.’ So with him in the pulpit, in the presence of a crowded congregation and a score or so persons standing before me, I made a brief address, administered the ordinance, announced a hymn and took my seat beside him. As the singing began, he moved up near to me, took my hand pressed it and whispered, ‘You did it first rate, first rate; I could not have done it better myself.’ No one without a great big heart and that heart in the right place, could have acted as he did that day. It was forty years ago this year, and I have treasured it as a

Page 105 – blessed memory ever since. Another illustration of a later date is as follows: During his last visit to Europe I was in the office of a friend in the city of Richmond, who was in much anxiety and distress on account of the protracted and dangerous illness of one very near and dear to him. While we were talking about this loved one, a tear glistened in his eye and taking a letter from his pocket, he handed it to me saying, ‘I received this by mail this morning.’ I at once recognized Dr. Hoge’s handwriting, and, as I read, conscious that the gaze of my friend was fixed upon me, I felt tears filling up my own eyes, and when I finished he said: ‘How can any one fail to love a man like that; away off thousands of miles, with all sorts of duties and engagements pressing on him, yet he feels for me and writes me that letter.’ I could only reply, ‘Well, he is a great and good man.’

• Preacher

“What shall be said about Dr. Hoge as a preacher? To those who have heard him at his best, nothing need be said. It has been my privilege to hear many great preachers of the Gospel; among them may be named Hamilton and Spurgeon, of London; Candlish and Gutherid of Edinburgh; John Hall and William M. Taylor, of New York; T. V. Moore, A. A. Hodge, Stuart Robinson, Girardeau and Lewis W. Green and Plumer of our own church, and many other great and good men, now in Heaven, but I never heard any one who more simply, impressively, and eloquently proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation or who more solemnly and affectionately presented the invitation of the Gospel. The exquiaite beauty and finish of his language were at times marvelous. The dignity, propriety, ease, and grace of his manner were in the highest degree attractive. He was always in dead earnest, commanded attention, and compelled his hearers to feel the power and majesty of Diving truth. He never trifled with sacred things. More than once he has said to me ‘I have never in my whole ministry said a word in the pulpit intended to provoke a smile or create mirth’. Pride in this great

Page 107 - representative of the family will excuse the space that has been given to these extrats from Dr. McIlwaine’s article.

The following was written by Rev. S. Edward Young, D. D., of the Bedford Avenue Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, New York: “Under the pastorate of Moses D Hoge’s nephew, William Hoge Marquess, at Fulton, Missouri, I united with the church. I heard Dr. Hoge preach and lecture there, and also listened to his address at the Centennial Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America at Philadelphia in 1888; have visited his old church at Richmond, Virginia, and frequently convesersed with persons who knew him intimately.

“His oratory was sui generis. Nobody could describe it. Nobody could resist its charm. There he stands, tall, slender, narrow-shouldered, long-necked, rather small headed, kindly of face, with an eye that seems heavy till he speaks, and then flashes intelligence and feeling.

“Measured and slow are his opening sentences; he is descriptive, terse, graphic, dignified, conversational, singling out and speaking to some boy in the great assemblage, the little fellow liking it immensely. The discourse gathers momentum. There is deep pathos, an occasional gleam of humor, and then two or three unforgettable climaxes-at the very height of each, the voice rising, the whole figure tremendously animated, and the right hand executing what the boys call “a chain pump” gesture accomplished by swinging the hand at full length in a circle, striking the leg just above the knee at each round, and closing with an upward shoot like a skyrocket. Yes, you who were never present smile, but we who heard felt nothing else would have enforced that climax so effectively. It was Moses D. Hoge, part and parcel of his strange, beautiful, surprising, memorable eloquence.

“In private life, and as pator, he out-did his pulpit and platform work, his heart so tender, his mind so humble, his character so pure, and lofty, as to make him the best loved man of his city, and one of the few most gracious personalities in America. We din not wonder that Queen Victoria

Page 108 – ‘commanded’ him to preach before her and that she thought his sermon on home the finest possible on the subject.”

• Children:

1. Elizabeth Lucy Hoge, b. February 27, 1845; unmarried

2. Mary Rochet Hoge, b. February 7, 1847; d. 1902; m Marshall M. Gilliam, Ricomond, Virginia.

3. Fanny Wood Hoge, b. December 17, 1849 d. infancy

4. Susan Hoge, b September 13, 1856; d January, 1858.

5. Alexander Lacy Hoge, b October 20, 1859; d July 16, 1863

6. Moses Drury Hoge, M.D. b February 21, 1861; m Alice Aylett

7. Jenevive Hoge, b October 10, 1864; d January 7, 1866

8. Hempden Hoge, b June 6, 1867; m Mary Meyer, September 19, 1900

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Tyler, James Hoge. The family of Hoge: A genealogy. (unknown: J.F. Hoge, [Self Published]  Jos. J. Stone & Co., printers, 1927)
   Page 97, 101-108.

   Rev. Moses Drury Hoge, D.D. b in Prince Edward County, Virginia, September 17, 1818; m Susan Wood, daughter of James D. Wood, March 20, 1844. He d in Richmond, January 6, 1899. She d November 23, 1868.

2.   James Hoge Tyler, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
3.   Hoge, Peyton Harrison. Moses Drury Hoge: Life and Letters. (Richmond, Virginia: Hazen, Jas. K., Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1899).
4. ↑ Commemoration of forty-five years of service by Moses Drury Hoge as pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of the city of Richmond, Virginia. (Richmond, Virginia: Whittet & Shepperson, 1890)
   Pages 18 to 31.

   Biographical Sketch