William Andrew Hobbs Papers, 1882-1902

William Andrew Hobbs (1849-1904) was born at Brunswick, Ohio.  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 of Oberlin, who died in 1878.  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 J. Mead, an Oberlin graduate with the class of 1877.  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.