Clinton Theodore Hodgins was born 18 June 1907 near Clandeboye, Ontario, Canada, just northwest of Lucan.
Clint inherited his love of harness racing from his father, Sidney Grant Hodgins (1873-1945), known as "Racer Sid." Sid was a well-known harness racer and horse trainer in Canada and the United States.
You can't talk about the Lucan-Biddulph area without mentioning harness racing; a sport that dates back in the area to around 1910 when Lucan's first racetrack was estabished. Lucan was known as the "Kentucky of the north" in harness racing circles. If you're a Culbert descendant, you had relatives who enjoyed the sport, and who certainly would have known Sid and his son, Clint.
Clint was lucky to have survived a serious bacterial infection in 1924 when he was 16 years old. He was wounded by a gunshot and developed tetanus (also known as lockjaw.) At St. Joseph's Hospital in London, Ontario, Clint was treated with a new treatment for tetanus, and he recovered.
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| Source: Exeter Advocate, 28 Feb 1924, page 4. |
He left home at age 21, and went on to make a name for himself in the world of harness racing. Winning race after race for many years, Clint Hodgins was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1973 in Goshen, New York, and the Canadian Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1977. The newspapers described him as "one of the greatest harness racing drivers who ever lived."
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| Clint Hodgins with the world-record smashing Proximity whom he described as "the best trotting mare I ever drove." When Proximity retired, she was the leading money-winning Standardbred. |
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| Clint with Proxmity at the end of her career as she was about to be honoured at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York in 1951. She was known as the "Miracle Mare of the 20th century" and "the Queen of the Trotters," holding nine world records and ten track records. |
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| Clint Hodgins' name appears in this advertisement for Home in Indiana, showing at Leavitt's Theatre in Exeter, Ontario. Source: Exeter Times-Advocate, 11 Jan 1945, page 8. Clint's father gets a mention, too. |
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| Clint Hodgins' paternal line. Click on the image to enlarge it. |
Robert Hodgins, Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Lewis (2xgreat-grandparents)
Thomas "Tom" Hodgins and Mary Casey (great-grandparents)
Thomas Casey Hodgins and Sarah Maria Grant (grandparents)
Sidney Grant Hodgins and Jessie Florence Wiggington (parents)
I hope this tree helps those of you with Hodgins blood to figure out how Clint is related to you.
There's a hidden Culbert connection here, albeit not a blood connection. Robert Hodgins, Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Lewis (Clint's 2xgreat-grandparents) had a son named Robert Hodgins, Jr. (also known as "Young Robert" Hodgins). "Young Robert" was the brother of Clint Hodgins' great-grandfather, Thomas "Tom" Hodgins. "Young Robert's" second wife was Margaret Emily Lewis. Margaret Emily Lewis's first husband was William Culbert of Birr, Ireland who is related to our ancestor, John Culbert but I haven't yet found out how they're connected. (Genealogy can make your head spin.)
As for another Culbert connection, Clint Hodgins was friends with Milward Taylor "Mel" Culbert (1920-1958) of Lucan, Ontario.
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| Clint Hodgins (left) with Terry Culbert, the son of Clint's good friend, Mel Culbert. Photo taken in 1957 at the home of Mel Culbert above Mel Culbert's Dry Goods Store on Main Street in Lucan, Ontario. |
When asked where he learned so much about "the game" of horse racing, Clint replied...
Clint never married or had children. He was known for his philanthropy, giving generously to causes in his home area. He died 21 Oct 1979 in St. Joseph's Hospital in London, Ontario, age 72.
On the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame website it says, "Since the United States Trotting Association was established in 1939 through 1974, Hodgins won more than 1,750 races – and no one, including Clint, knows how many he had won in the U.S. and Canada prior to that date."
Clinton T was a great horseman & an even better friend. He was a shrewd business man & his knowledge of the horse business was encyclopedic. His opinion or advice was highly valued by my family.
ReplyDeleteHe was also an honorable man & his handshake on a deal was better than any written contract. No matter where you went, Clint had friends.
Clint loved to laugh & was unfailingly kind to me as I grew up. It was a very sad day when he passed & I think of him often.
Roger Kopas
Thank you, Roger.
DeleteClint was a friend of my mother's since 1947/48. He wintered horses in Macon, Ga in those yrs and became acquainted with my mother. She said they even dated. But my mother found another boyfriend and ended up marrying him who became my father. My father died in 1957 and Clint and my mother became friends again. Clint began wintering horses in Florida by that time and would stop and visit for a couple of days in Macon, GA with my mother. And then on his return in the spring to race, he would stop again. This continued on for yrs. I was not old enough to know him well, but my mother spoke very fondly of him. They seemed to be very good friends. I became interested in horses and became involved with Standardbred horses, of which I remain. I tell the story that Clint could have been my father had my mother not have found my father. Just interesting and I think of Clint as someone I would have love to have known.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your story about Clint.
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