Caroline Hodnett (maiden name: Finley) was born on January 24, 1810, in Virginia to John Finley and Mary Caroline Dempsey. The family moved to Georgia by the 1820s, and she married William Collier Hodnett on March 1, 1826. They had at least fourteen children: George Troup, born around 1826; Thomas Jefferson, born around 1828; Benjamin Franklin, born around 1830; Mary Elizabeth, born around 1832; Elizabeth Susan, born around 1834; James Madison, born around 1836; Susan, born around 1839; John Wesley, born around 1840; Samuel Graham, born around 1842; William Henry Harrison, born around 1844; Robert Ridley, born around 1846; Lovick Pierce, born around 1849; Martha Ann, born around 1851; and Columbus, born around 1854. They lived in Troup County, Georgia, and by 1860, they owned $6,000 of real estate and $8,000 of personal property. Her husband died on September 29, 1863. A decade later, she owned $1,165 of real estate and $250 of personal property. She died in Troup County on January 9, 1887.