Charles Hoag was born in New Hampshire in 1835. That same year his father, Aaron, moved the family to Bangor, Maine. Ths family came to Hassan, Minnesota, just west of Anoka, in 1859. They staked out a claim on Section 19. The elder, Aaron Hoag, had a younger brother named Charles, and for whom he may have named his son. This brother moved to Minneapolis in 1852. He called his farm Diamond Lake Farm. It is located at what is today about 60th Street in south Minneapolis. Hoag was the first school master of the city and the second Treasurer of Hennepin County. He also taught in St Anthony and, most interestingly, was instrumental in giving Minneapolis its name. In 1852, the Hennepin County commissioners selected Albion as the name for the city. Not wanting to accept the new name, Charles Hoag, along with George Bowman, the editor of the St Anthony Express, set about finding an alternative name. That night, Hoag, was thinking about Indianapolis and tried to form a word using Indian suffixes. He decided on using the Greek "polis," meanig city. He joined it with part of "Minnehaha", which was Dakota for "curling water" or "waterfall." The next morning, he had an article published, with Mr Bowman's help, that proposed the name Minnehapolis, explaining that the "h" was silent.Writing in the article in the Express he said, "I am aware that other names have been proposed such as Lowell, Brooklyn and Addiesville, but until some one 9sic is decided upon, we intend to call ourselves Minnehaoplitans." In a town meeting in December, 1852, the "h" was dropped and the name Minneapolis was accepted as the name of the community across the river from St Anthony. At the outbreak of the war the younger Charles Hoag volunteered to serve his country. On April, 29, 1861,26 year old Charles, along with his neighbor, James Ghostley, were mustered and placed in Company H of the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. Hoag was promoted to the rank of corporal. He was in the ranks at Bull Run and Fair Oaks. However he met with misfortune at the battle of Antietam. The regiment was in danger of being outflanked. The Lt Col bent the angle of the ranks to meet the danger. As a corporal Charles was in the front rank when a bullet hit his left leg. He was in the hospital until Nov 2, 1862 when the doctors had him to be discharged for disabilty. Charles returned home and worked on his father's farm. In 1877, he married Mary A Inveen. The raised two children, George and Ida. The 1910 roster of the veterans of the First Minnesota states that he was living in Minneapolis. He died later that year on Dec 6, 1910. His remains were buried in the GAR section of Lakewood Cemetery, Lot 8A, Tier G, Grave 15. He was 75 years old. Sources: Roster of the First Minnesota Infantry, 1910. History of Hennepin County and Minneapolis, 1881, E. Niell 1860 Minnesota Census, MHS Lakewood Cemetery files. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
