Joseph Haven Hoge

Captain Joseph Haven Hoge was the son of General Jame Hoge and Eleanor Howe and the owner of Wheatland in Giles County. He was the wealthiest man in the county, with wheat and cornfields extending for approximately a mile beyond the family’s substantial brick residence. He also owned a general store on the property, where Abram Reynolds first encountered the Hoge family while selling tobacco in 1866.

Joseph and his wife raised a large family of twelve children, although seven died before reaching adulthood. During the Civil War, Federal artillery was reportedly positioned to fire upon Wheatland, but a heavy fog settled around the property and prevented the attack. Joseph’s household appears to have been prosperous, deeply rooted in the Presbyterian tradition, and closely connected to the agricultural and commercial life of Giles County.