Major
Carey V. Hodgson,
hydrographic and geodetic engineer and assistant chief of the
division of geodesy, and his son William, aged 10, were drowned
while canoeing in Chesapeake Bay, near Annapolis, on Sunday,
May 19, 1929. A sudden squall, such as is common over the bay
region, is supposed to have caused the tragedy, though no one
seems to have seen the accident, owing to the rain and mist
which accompanied the squall. Major Hodgson's body was recovered
on Wednesday, May 22, and he was buried with military honors
in Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday, May 25. At the time
of this writing the body of his son is still missing.
Major Hodgson was born in Wilmington, Ohio, July 11, 1880. He
was a graduate of Wilmington College, Ohio, and Haverford College,
Pennsylvania, receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree from both
of these institutions. He was married April 17, 1916, to Miss
Edith Hockett, of Westboro, Ohio.
He entered the Coast and Geodetic Survey as an aid in the field
service March 31, 1904, remaining in the service until his death,
except between December 18, 1905, and October 20, 1906, when
he was in private engineering work, and during the World War,
when he was transferred to the Corps of Engineers, United States
Army.
He was commissioned a Captain of Engineers on his transfer,
and after training in this country and service with troops,
went to France with the 29th Engineers and served overseas until
the close of the war. While in France he was promoted to the
rank of Major. He returned to the Coast and Geodetic Survey
and resumed his duties on March 9, 1919.
During his many years' service in the Coast and Geodetic Survey,
Major Hodgson was in hydrographic, topographic, and geodetic
parties. He served in the Philippine Islands and had command
of the RESEARCH, engaged in surveying those waters. He also
served aboard ship in Alaska. He had charge of many geodetic
parties engaged principally in triangulation, base measurement,
and the astronomic determinations of latitude and longitude.
In all branches of his field work he was most efficient and
showed splendid executive and technical ability.
In 1920 Major Hodgson was appointed assistant chief of the division
of geodesy and served in this capacity until his death. He made
a notable record in this position, and at the same time took
an active interest in outside engineering lines. He had been
secretary of the executive committee of the division of surveying
and mapping of the American Society of Civil Engineers since
its organization in 1926. He was a member and director of the
Society of American Military Engineers, a member of the Washington
Society of Civil Engineers, and for several years a director
in the latter society. He had a broad grasp of all surveying
and mapping activities and of their relation and importance
to engineering and industrial developments.
In addition to the above organizations, Major Hodgson was a
member of the American Geographical Society, the American Geophysical
Union, the Washington Academy of Sciences, the Philosophical
Society of Washington, the Cosmos Club, and a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He was the author of a number of reports and manuals of the
Coast and Geodetic Survey dealing with geodetic subjects and
of papers on surveying and mapping subjects which appeared in
technical journals.
Due to his universally recognized ability as an engineer, his
writings, and his activities in engineering societies, Major
Hodgson was one of the most widely known members of the Coast
and Geodetic Survey. In addition to his high professional qualifications,
he possessed a personality and character that impressed, most
favorably, every one with whom he came in contact. The respect
and affection in which he was held were attested by the many
telegrams and letters received at the offices of the survey
expressing sorrow at his death. No member of the Coast and Geodetic
Survey has ever been held in higher esteem by his coworkers
than was Major Hodgson.
C&GS BULLETIN, 5/1929
