Edward Harmon Hobbs was born on June 5, 1835, in Ellenburg, New York, to Benjamin and Nancy Hobbs. His father was a farmer. He grew up and attended school in Ellenburg before enrolling in Middlebury College in 1858. He left school in 1861 after the Civil War began. On December 18, 1861, he received a commission as a 1^st lieutenant in the 98^th New York Infantry. The regiment took part in the Peninsula Campaign, and he mustered out on June 2, 1863.

 

He married Julia Ellen Buxton on February 7, 1862, and their son Charles was born around 1863. He attended Albany Law School after leaving the army, and he earned admission to the New York bar in 1864. He worked as a lawyer in Brooklyn, New York, and by 1870, he owned $500 of personal property. According to his colleagues, he “stood high both as an admiralty and common law practitioner” and possessed a “keen and judicial mind.” He died in Brooklyn on August 12, 1907.

 

Image: Edward Harmon Hobbs (New York Cartes-de-visite, 1860-1865, Ancestry.com)

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