The Hogue Family in Europe and America
THE HOGUE NAME IN EUROPE
The surname found in our family as Hoge, Hogg, and Hogue, and elsewhere as Haig, Haigh, and Hage may trace from the old Norse Haugr, meaning one who lives on or near a hillock or barrow; from Normandy as Hougue, or from France as Hogue. See references American Surnames by Elsdon C. Smith, p. 191; Surnames are the Fossils of Speech by Samuel L. Brown, p. 155; and Pennsylvania, A History Vol. 5 Biographical, ed. George E. Donehoo. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. K, p. 463 states that William Hoge (Haig) is descended from the Haigs of Bemershide, Berwickshire, Scotland. Hogues from France who immigrated to Holland for religeous freedom changed the spelling to Hague. In the 12th century, part of the family went to Scotland and adopted the spelling DeHaga. The oldest reference to the name Hoge, dated 1425, names Patrick and Gilbert Hoge as among the gentlemen who "devydit the marches betwixt Ridbeth and Bemersyde", Sir Andrew Haig, the Laird of Bemersyde presiding, being the first to drop the spelling DeHaga for Haig. He was descended from Petrus deHaga, known as Peter of the Dyke, who came to Scotland in 1150 probably from Cape de la Hague in Normandy. He founded a family known for patriotism and memorialized in verse:
"When Wallace came to Galdswood Cross
Haig of Bemersyde met him with many good horse".
Before the Battle of Stirling, the Laird of Bemersyde was reassured by the prophecy of his friend Thomas the Rhumer
"Tyde what may betyde
Haig shall be Haig of Bemersyde".
Sir Walter Scott, whose right to be buried in Dryburgh Abbey derived from his Haig ancestry, reworded the poetry thus:
"Tide betide whate'er betide
Haig shall be Haig of Bemerside". The prophecy was fulfilled as General Douglas Haig (1861-1928), who led the British armies in France, 1915-18, was raised to the Peerage as Earl haig and Baron Haig of Bemerside. He was granted the ancestral home of the Haigs of Bemersyde (castle built in 1535).
The Baronage of Scotland published in 1798 states that in records beginning in the 12th century, the name is written DeHaga. The first authentic document names Petrus DeHaga who died about 1200, proprietor of the lands and barony of Bemersyde in Berwickshire. He lived in the reigns of of King Malcolm IF+V and William, the Lion, which last succeeded to the crown of Scotland in 1165 and died in 1214. Contemporaries of Petrus DeHaga, 2nd Baron of Bemersyde, were Perticus or Petrus-Odell DeHaga and Henry DeHaga, but their relationship is not known.
EARLY HOGUES IN PENNSYLVANIA
In The Baylis Family of Virginia by Mrs. Willetta Baylis Blum and Dr. Wm.Blum, it is said that the early Hoge fammilies in America descended from Sir John Hoge who lived in Scotland in the late 16th century, who in turn descended from an unbroken line of 14 generations. Sir John Hoge had a son George Hoge, a grandson Sir James Hoge, and great-grandson William Hoge. This William Hoge is said to be the first Hoge immigrant from Scotland. He was born in 1660 in Musselburgh, Scotland, and died in 1749 in Kernstown, VA. He married Barbara Hume (born 1670 in Paisley, Scotland; died 1745). They are buried ad Opequon church Cemetery near Winchester, VA. See also Colonial Families of America, Vol. 4, by George Norbury MacKenzie, p. 209, which states that William Hoge left Scotland in company with other immigrants. His wife Barbara was orphaned at age 15 when her parents died at sea. See History of the Shenandoah Valley, by J.E. Norris, p. 565. William and Barbara Hoge first settled in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Their oldest son, John Hoge, died at Hogestown, nine miles west of Harrisburg, Lancaster Co., (now Cumberland Co.) PA. See Hopewell Friends, Frederick County Virginia, p. 25.
The village of Hogestown is located on a small stream known as Hoge's Run. Johnn Hoge owned all the land on which the town was built, and an old stone tavern which was for years the only house. See History of Cumberland County, PA, 1886 John's wife was Gwenthleoon Bowen-Davis, a Welsh heiress, and possibly descended from the royal family of Wales. Their first child, the Rev. John Hoge (1723-11 Feb. 1807). He married 1st) Elizabeth Lennox, who was the mother of his children, and who died before 1797. Rev. John Hoge married 2nd) on17 Sept. 1797 Rosannah McEwen of Juniata Twp., Shearman's Valley. He was 82 years old, and she was 38 years. See Pennsylvania Vital Records, Vol. 1, by Don Yoder. Rev. John Hoge died in Turbot Twp., Northumberland Co. PA, leaving his wife Rosanna and 7 children. She appears in the 1810 and 1820 census. The Rev. John Hoge was one of the first graduates of the academy that later became Princeton University. He was the first ordained minister of the Opequon Presbyterian Church, Virginia, in 1754. This church was near the home of his grandfather William Hoge, who gave the land for the cemetery. John Hoge later returned to Pennsylvania. This Hoge family is well documented in The Magee Family by Robert Ashley Stevenson. Part of the family settle in and near Butler County.
Ebenezer Hogue, a son of the Rev. John Hogue, owned land in Slippery Rock Twp., Mercer Co., in 1825. Ebenezer's son William Hogue (1797-1868) lived on a farm in the northern part of Beaver Co., now Lawrence Co., in Slippery Rock Twp. This William Hogue had a son, also named William Hogue (1833-1895) who lived in the vicinity of Jacksville, Worth Twp., Butler Co. A brother of the Rev. John Hoge, one James Hogue who died at age 84, married to Rachel Elder, settled in Brady Twp., Butler Co., PA in 1797. See History of Butler County, 1883, p.363, and The Magee Family by Robert Ashley Stevenson, Johnson Publ. Co., Boulder CO, p. 521-588 re. the Hogue family.
ROBERT HOGE, our direct line ancestor, seems to have emigrated in much the same era as the well-researched family of the Rev. John Hoge. No evidence of relationship has been found, but their having lived west of the Susquehanna in the same era, and later arriving in Butler County is suggestive of a possible connection. The Rev. John Hoge (1723-1807) died in Turbot Twp., Northumberland Co. PA, while our Robert Hoge (1721-1798) settled in Juniata County, possibly Turbett Twp. where his son eventually owned land. (While these two townships have similar spellings, they are indeed two different locations.) It is also to be wondered if the "McKee" family graveyard, where Robert & Letitia Hogue are said to be burried, is in fact the same family as the Magee Family, whose genealogy includes the line of Rev. John Hoge.
