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General Grenville Dodge was the son of Sylvanus Dodge and Julia Phillips, and the brother of Nathan Phillips Dodge II, or N. P. Dodge, which should ring some bells if you're from Omaha.; you can't sling a dead cat in the metro area without hitting an N. P. Dodge "house for sale" sign. They are ubiquitous here. 

Dodge was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, and attended Norwich University in Vermont, where he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering. He got involved in surveying for the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. He moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa and spent the next decade surveying for many railroads, and one in particular...Union Pacific.

Dodge joined the Union Army and spent the next four years energetically fighting.  He eventually was promoted to Major General.  President Abraham Lincoln engaged him in finding the spot for the starting point of the transcontinental railroad.  In 1866 he left the Army and became the chief engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad.  His mansion on 605 South 3rd Street in Council Bluffs is today a museum.

Dodge married Ruth Anne Browne in May 1854, whom he met in Peru, Illinois.  The Non-Pareil has an excellent bio of her.    Her dream, which she recounted to her daughters, was the catalyst for the creation of the Ruth Anne Dodge Memorial that today sits next to Fairview Cemetery in Council Bluffs.  It's local name is the Black Angel, and I have some pages devoted to it.  Ruth Anne died in September 1916 and is buried in the mausoleum with Grenville.     

The Dodge, Lockwood, and Phillips families have the highest, tony spot in Walnut Hill. N. P. Dodge II was the president of the Walnut Hill Cemetery, so it shows that in your graveyard choices it pays to be the head of the cemetery. Everyone else was left with the less choice plots.  There is a photo of the family at the link in the first sentence in this paragraph, from the Non-Pareil. 

 As we all know, the transcontinental railroad sealed the fate of the native peoples in the country

 

 

 

Caroline Dodge was the daughter of N. P. Dodge Sr., and sister of N. P Dodge II. In 1895 she graduated with a Law degree from CUNY. She joined a law practice in Omaha. I can't find that she ever married, so she must have been an independent career woman. 

 

 The N. P. Dodge Sr. plot.

 

 N. P. Dodge Sr. ledger stone

 

 Susanna Lockwood Dodge ledger stone

 

 The photo above and below are for an infant son of N. P. Dodge Sr. and Susanna Lockwood Dodge.