For almost a half century the wholesale and retail paint, wall paper and picture business conducted under the name of H. M. Hodges & Brothers has been in existence, and active in its management at the present time is Vernon H. Hodges. The business was established by the firm of Brazos & Hulse at No. 5 Broadway and today is the second oldest business of the kind in New Haven and is the only concern in the city supplying painters and decorators with a complete line of the goods used by them. In conducting this business Vernon H. Hodges lacks none of the enterprise of the kind that leads to great accomplishments. He never hesitates to take a forward step when the way is open and his progressive spirit has prompted him to maintain his establishment at a standard that keeps it in the front rank of the business interests of the city. He was born in Gloucestershire, England, January 18, 1876, and is a son of William Henry Hodges, a native of that country, where he spent his entire life. He owned a large iron foundry and was a very successful manufacturer. He married Sarah Drew, also a native of England, and they became the parents of seven children, two sons and five daughters, of whom Vernon H. was the fifth. The mother passed away in 1882 at the age of thirty-five years and Mr. Hodges survived until 1886, being called to his final rest at the age of fifty.
     Vernon H. Hodges attended a private school of his native city, but when a youth of fourteen started out to earn his living, being first employed in a printing office in Westfield, Massachusetts, having in 1886 come to America. Two of the children of the family had died in infancy and after the father's death, the mother having already passed away, the other children of the family crossed the Atlantic to the new world. For two years Vernon H. Hodges continued to work at the printer's trade in Westfield but in 1892 removed to New Haven, where he entered the employ of the John E. Bassett Company, hardware dealers, with whom he remained for seven years. He thus received his initial training along mercantile lines. On leaving the Bassett Company he entered into business with H. M. Hodges, who four years before had purchased the paint and wall paper business of Brazos & Hulse. Through the intervening period, covering twenty-two years he has been actively engaged in the business, which has grown from a small retail paint store to the leading establishment of its kind in the state. When he became connected with it there were but two employes and today there are twenty-eight. In 1910, owing to the growth of the trade, a branch was opened at No. 952 Chapel street and in 1912, having outgrown the Broadway store, the firm purchased ground at Nos. 290-292 York street and erected thereon a modern fireproof brick building four stories and basement, fifty by ninety feet. Today the firm carries the largest stock in their line in New England. They have a very extensive patron-age throughout Connecticut and western Massachusetts and their mail order business has also reached large proportions, bringing them business from all points in New England. They sell to both the wholesale and retail trades and their sales now reach a large figure annually.
     On the 18th of April, 1899, Mr. Hodges was married to Miss Theresa Peck, a native of Connecticut and a daughter of William H. and Rosa (De Largo) Peck, the former a member of an old Connecticut family and a direct descendant of Governor Carver, who was of English and Spanish lineage. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hodges: Doris, who was born March 22, 1902, and died at the age of five and a half years; and Sarah Vernon, who was born in New Haven, August 1, 1904.
     Politically Mr. Hodges gives his support to the republican party. He is a member of Trumbull Lodge, A. F. & A. M.. and is a member and treasurer of the Calvary Baptist church. He is secretary of the New Haven Grays Veterans Association, is a member of the Automobile Club and a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a veteran member of the New Haven Grays, with which he was connected for eleven years and was in active service on the border of Mexico. His life has been one of untiring activity intelligently directed and with the passing of years he has advanced not only along business lines but in public regard as well and is today ranked with the valued and honored citizens of New Haven.