The Hoge family was among the early Presbyterian families associated with the Opequon settlement in the northern Shenandoah Valley. William Hoge, a native of Paisley, Scotland, came to America as a young man and eventually settled with his family in Virginia about 1735. From this early household descended several families prominent in the religious and civic history of Frederick County and elsewhere in Virginia.
The following account brings together the Hoge family references scattered throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical, Second Series, arranging them by generation and family relationship.
William Hoge and Margaret Hume
William Hoge was born in Paisley, Scotland, and emigrated to America while still a young man, reportedly because of the political and religious disturbances affecting Scotland. During the voyage he became acquainted with the Hume family. Both parents died during the crossing, leaving their daughter, Margaret Hume, as their only surviving child. Hoge took responsibility for the family’s possessions and, upon reaching America, delivered Margaret and the property to her relative, Dr. Johnston, in New York.
William Hoge later settled at Amboy, New Jersey, where he and Margaret Hume were married. The couple subsequently lived in Delaware and then in the Swatara region of Pennsylvania before joining the movement of Presbyterian families into the Shenandoah Valley.
About 1735, when William Hoge was already advanced in years, the family settled at Opequon in Virginia. Hoge donated land there for a burial ground, schoolhouse, and the first Opequon Presbyterian Church. He was eventually buried in the cemetery established on the land he had given to the congregation.
Children of William Hoge and Margaret Hume
William and Margaret Hoge had several children whose descendants became associated with communities throughout Virginia and beyond.
Their eldest son, William Hoge, became a member of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and settled in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Another son, James Hoge, established his home near Middletown. Foote described him as a man of considerable intellect and religious devotion. Unlike some other members of the family associated with the Presbyterian Church, James affiliated with the Seceder Church. His descendants included the prominent Presbyterian minister and educator Rev. Moses Hoge.
George Hoge, another son of William and Margaret, participated in the early civil government of Frederick County. When the county government was organized, he was among its first eight civil magistrates and took the required oath of office on November 14, 1743. George later lived for a time on the South Branch of the Potomac before removing to North Carolina.
Their daughter Margaret Hoge married Dr. Robert White, a surgeon educated in Scotland who had served in the British Navy. Dr. White became acquainted with the Hoge family while visiting them in Delaware. Following their marriage, Robert and Margaret White settled on White’s Creek near North Mountain in Virginia.
Dr. Robert White died in 1752 at the age of sixty-four and was buried in the Opequon cemetery. Among the children of Robert and Margaret White were John, Robert, and Alexander White, each of whom became prominent in Frederick County. The White family therefore represents one of the important collateral branches descending from William and Margaret Hoge.
Another daughter of William and Margaret Hoge, whose given name is not supplied in Foote’s account, married Robert Wilson. The Wilsons lived along Opequon Creek in a house constructed partly of stone and partly of wood. Their home became one of the stopping places for travelers through the region. Among those entertained there were the Presbyterian missionary Hugh M’Aden and George Washington.
The Family of James Hoge
James Hoge, son of William and Margaret Hoge, was the father of Rev. Moses Hoge, D.D., one of the better-known Presbyterian ministers and educators produced by the family.
Moses Hoge became closely associated with the development of Presbyterian theological education in Virginia. The Synod of Virginia selected him as its first regular Professor of Theology, and in October 1807 he became president of Hampden-Sydney College.
His second wife was Susan Watkins Hunt, widow of James Hunt. Moses Hoge continued his work at Hampden-Sydney until his death. After attending the Presbyterian General Assembly, he died in Philadelphia on July 5, 1820.
Children of Rev. Moses Hoge
Among the sons of Moses Hoge were two Presbyterian ministers, John Blair Hoge and Samuel Davies Hoge.
Rev. John Blair Hoge
Rev. John Blair Hoge, frequently identified as John B. Hoge, was born in Jefferson County, Virginia, in 1790. He attended Hampden-Sydney College and afterward served there as a tutor.
Hoge initially prepared for a career in law and studied under Henry E. Watkins, but he eventually abandoned the legal profession for the ministry. The Hanover Presbytery licensed him to preach on April 20, 1810. On October 12, 1811, he was ordained as pastor of the Tuscarora and Falling Waters congregations.
His health soon became a continuing concern. Suffering from pulmonary illness, Hoge traveled in southern France between 1814 and 1816. After returning to Virginia, he married Ann K. Hunter of Martinsburg on May 6, 1819.
In 1822 Hoge became pastor of the Shockoe Hill Presbyterian Church in Richmond. He also preserved some of his father’s theological work by compiling and publishing a volume of sermons by Moses Hoge.
John Blair Hoge died of consumption on March 31, 1826.
Rev. Samuel Davies Hoge
Rev. Samuel Davies Hoge, another son of Moses Hoge, was likewise connected with Hampden-Sydney College. He served for a period as vice-president of the institution and also taught there.
Rev. John Hoge and the Opequon Congregation
Foote also mentions Rev. John Hoge, whom he identifies as a relative of the immigrant William Hoge, although the precise relationship is not established in the account.
John Hoge graduated from the College of New Jersey at Nassau Hall, now Princeton University, in 1748. He was subsequently licensed to preach by the New Castle Presbytery and became the first regular pastor of the Opequon and Cedar Creek churches. During his ministry the congregations were formally organized.
His ministerial career later connected him with the Donegal, Carlisle, and Huntingdon Presbyteries.
Genealogical Notes
Foote’s account does not provide the given name of the daughter of William and Margaret Hoge who married Robert Wilson.
Rev. John Hoge is described as a relative of William Hoge rather than specifically as a son or grandson. His placement within the extended Hoge family should therefore not be inferred solely from Foote’s narrative without supporting genealogical evidence.
The spelling of Virginia place names in nineteenth-century sources varies. Foote commonly used forms such as “Opecquon,” while the location is now generally written Opequon.
This family account has been assembled from references appearing in several portions of William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia rather than from a single continuous genealogy.
Source
This family genealogy was compiled from references appearing throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Foote’s scattered biographical, family, church, and settlement references have been brought together here and arranged by generation to make the genealogical relationships easier to follow.
Foote, William Henry. Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Second Series. Second edition, revised. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1856. Available online at AccessGenealogy, Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Accessed 7 August 2026.