The Book of Soden

   Profiles 3/ 1841 - 1998                                                                                

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

1.         BR. ALOYSIUS SODEN  (DIED 1967)

was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and was a member of the Marianist Order of Teaching Brothers ,based in Dayton ,Ohio. He spent a long time on the Japanese mission and was a prisonerof war during World War 2.

He taught at the Marianist School in Yokohama and was respected greatly by his pupils ,to such a degree that after his death they founded the Soden Memorial Foundation in hismemory to help the school in Yokohama.

At the end of the war because of his fluency in Japanese ,he was one of the 6 interpretersused by the Americans to negotiate the surrender with the Japanese .He was assigned tothe Captain of the USS Missourri ,itself since re-commissioned for the Gulf War in 1991.

He died in Dayton , Ohio in 1967.

(Source: Bro. Quigley , Marianist , Dublin , Ireland ,friend of Bro. Aloysius .)

I hope shortly to obtain more detailed information on this man from the Marianists in Ohio.

2.            THOMAS BELDEN SODEN (1814-1918)

PORTRAIT OF THOMAS BELDEN SODEN (1841 ? 1918)

Thomas Belden Soden was born 15^th March, 1841 in Otsego County, New York
Of British parents from Warwickshire, England , his father was Benjamin Soden
and his mother was Sophia Emery Soden.He married Kate Rose Belden  on 
28^th February , 1866 in Stroughton ,Wisconsin and he died on 9^th September , 1918.

They had 8 children :

Benjamin Lewis Soden , Elmina Alverda Soden Edmonds ,

Maude Kate Soden Dittmer McMullen Crosby , Thomas William Soden ,

Guy Belden Soden , Sylvia Ann Soden Horn , Sarah Subrina Soden Mathys , Rock Rollo Soden .  

On the 9^th September , 1957 his eldest daughter, Elmina Alverda wrote   the following
poem about her father:

                                    GRANDPA THOMAS SODEN

I had a Grandpa Soden whom I admired very much
Although at times, no long ago, he was the subject of talk and such.
Men thought he ran from the Civil War  a slacker  who never fought.
Not once did he defend himself, nor answer to such a taunt.
He stood all the ridicule and was tagged a yellow man,
But still he?d not defend himself   - gossip never ran.
It?s sure he had some friends , but to him it didnt matter,
For by his quiet nature he seldom engaged in chatter.
I loved my Grandpa dearly , not for his kind ways alone?
His voice in anger was never raised , never a surly tone.
We never heard him utter a word, his character to defend,
And he spent but little time with the few he called my friend.
He had traveled to California , Lincolns orders to complete;
Our history books skim through the facts of the gold shipment he helped defeat;
But never a word from Grandpa even when the war was done.
Our Union was saved from destruction but Gramps never carried a gun.
Never does his name appear for one courageous deed,
His Civil War activities were his constant , silent , creed.
You know by now that Grandpa was the ?apple of my eye?,
It was only after his death we learned , he had been a Northern Spy.

3.         GUY BELDEN SODEN ,1875 ? 1902

The Story of Guy Belden Soden

This letter was apparently written by Sarah S. Soden before her marriage in 1902 as she signed it with her maiden name. It was among some things that Sarah Subrina Soden Mathys had written about her family during her younger years. It gives some information about her brother Guy Belden Soden and is in Sarah's handwriting. It gives several facts about the Soden family which are quite interesting and will aid us in tracing the family roots in years to come.

(Excerpt taken by kind permission from Pat Bauers Webpage on her ancestors.)

________________________________________________

4.            WARD STEPHENS , CONCERT PIANIST (born 1869)

Son of Joseph Harris Stephens and Rebecca Soden

William Ward Stephens, born September 9, 1869, at 114 Brunswick Street, Newark, NJ; died September 1940 in New York City and is buried in Fairmount Cemetary, Newark, NJ.  Married Ida Mae Pierpont, September 11, 1904, in New York City.   He is known professionally as Ward-Stephens and is regarded as a conductor of great virility and strong personality; a musician and teacher of renowned reputation.  At the age of 5, he was playing in public, entirely by ear and at the age of 16, he was a well known pianist.  He absorbed a fine college education and  then went to Europe, where for twelve years he studied with some of the greatest musicians, including Leschetizky, Rosenthal, DePachmann, Moszkowski, Dreyshock, Sauer, Breitner, Massenet, Saint-Saens, Widor and Navratil.  While in Europe he Russianized his name at the suggestion of Sibyl Sanderson, and to this day he is known in European countries as "Stefanski".  Emily Sauer writes about him in his book called "Meine Welt", and speaks of him as a young man of very great talents.  Studied at 680 Madison Avenue, New York City.  Issue:

(Ancestors  of Caleb Soden by John Voorhis Soden)

5.            WILLIAM SODEN ,Union Soldier (1834 ? 1917)

WILLIAM SODEN, born August 4, 1834, at Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland; died at 443 South Main Street, Rocky Mount, North Carolina, 7 p.m., Monday, March 18, 1912, at the age of  77 years,  7 months, 14 days; is buried in Pine View Cemetery, Rocky Mount, NC. At the age of 16 years, he came to America with his sister, Anna (25) on the sailing vessel "British Queen" (Master, Conway) from Dublin, Ireland, entering the port of New York, November 7, 1850, after a voyage of fifty-two days.

In 1854, he married first, Miss Margaret Morrow, at Philadelphia.

William Soden and Margaret Morrow had three children (Table VI-A).
On October 9, 1860, William Soden received his naturalization papers from the Court of Essex County, Newark, NJ, and on August 10, 1863 he enlisted for             service in the Civil War. 
(See War Record of William Soden).

On April 29, 1879, William Soden married second, Miss Rachel Ann Van Voorhis, of 405 West 32nd Street, New York City, at 51 Astor Street, Newark, NJ, the Rev. Isiah B. Hopwood, of Calvery Presbyterian Church, 80             Pennsylvania Ave., Newark, NJ, officiating.  Rachel Ann Van Voorhis was born at 87 Christopher Street, New York City, November 28, 1844; died at 443 South Main Street, Rocky Mount, NC, 7:30 a.m., Saturday, April 7, 1917; buried in Pine View Cemetery, Rocky Mount, NC.  William Soden and Rachel Ann Van Voorhis had six children.  (See Table VI-B).

(Source: Ancestors of Caleb Soden by John Voorhis Soden)

6.            WILLIAM SODEN ,Emporia, Kansas , USA

Margaret Soden , a native of Sligo , who died in Moores Fork, New York,   on 4^th October , 1861 was the daughter of William and Angelina Soden.She had a brother William T. Soden ,who as an infant came to America with his family, and at 19 years of age ,went to Kansas. In Emporia , William T. married Frances McCormick and they had one child .

Both mother and child  died at birth and were  buried in Soden?s Grove William T. married Jane Esty and ,her sister, Sarah Jane Esty married Charles Weaver.-There are 2 streets in Emporia named after Charles Weaver and William Soden respectively. (Sarah Jane and Charles were the great-great-grandparents of Alicia Williams from whom I acquired this lineage.)

and acquired by Joyce  Soden Brown , Virginia, USA.)

7.            PETER SODEN ,Kansas  (born 1829)

     1829 ,June 24,

     Birth of Peter Soden, Beaghey, Cavan

             (Source: Terry Soden, Wisner , Kansas , USA)

Killygarry Roman Catholic church, Lavey, Co. Cavan, burial place  to many members of the Lavey Sodens