William Andrew Hobbs Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-034

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Consists primarily of handwritten sermons arranged in alphabetical order by sermon title. The author annotated the sermons with the places and dates of their delivery. The date range is 1882-1902, representing the entire working life of W. A. Hobbs as a minister. Box 4 contains a journal of a trip to the Holy Land in 1892-93, which includes descriptions of sea travel, places in Italy (Genoa, Rome, Naples), Greece, Egypt, the Holy Land and Turkey.

Dates

Creation: 1882-1902
Other: Date acquired: 04/17/1969

Creator

Hobbs, William Andrew (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical or Historical Information

William Andrew Hobbs (1849-1904) was born in Brunswick, Ohio to Abraham (1826-1902) and Laura Susan Linman Hobbs (1830-1891). He came to Oberlin from Elsie, Michigan in 1870, entered the Preparatory Department, and graduated with the A.B. degree in 1876. In August of that year he married Myra A. Hale (1856-1878) of Oberlin, who died in 1878. With her, he had a son, William Hale (1877-1898). During the next two years he taught at Allouez, Michigan, and then returned to Oberlin for the A.M. in 1880, and the B.D. from the Seminary in 1881. In the same year he was ordained to the ministry at Waverly, Illinois, and in 1882 he married his second wife, Anna Jane Mead (1847-1945), an Oberlin graduate with the class of 1877. With her, he had a daughter, Mary Matthews (1887-1964). Hobbs preached in Waverly until October 1888, when he accepted a call to the Congregational Church at Warsaw, New York, where he remained for eleven years. In 1899 he took charge of the church at Traer, Iowa, and continued as its pastor until his death. In December 1902 he suffered a stroke and could no longer preach. He died as a result of a second stroke in 1904. He was survived by his wife and a daughter, Mary M. Hobbs. A son, William H. Hobbs, nearly completed his studies at Oberlin before his early death in 1898.

Source:

Alumni and Development Records (RG 28), Oberlin College Archives.

Note written by Anne Cuyler Salsich.