Los Angeles County
Biographies
JOHN HENRY HOBBS
HOBBS, JOHN HENRY, Mining, Los Angeles and Pasadena, California, was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, January 22, 1874, the son of James Thomas Hobbs and Mary (Dalton) Hobbs. He married Charlotte Estep at Colorado Springs, June 26, 1898, and to them there has been born a daughter, Catharine Wray Hobbs.
Mr. Hobbs spent the greater part of his life in his native State and attended the public schools there. At a later date he completed a business course in a college at Colorado Springs and was graduated in the class of 1894.
Immediately after the completion of his education, Mr. Hobbs, who had devoted special attention to the study of banking, entered the offices of Clarence Edsall & Company, a brokerage firm of Colorado Springs, and at the end of eighteen months resigned to go into the employ of the El Paso National Bank of that city. He retained his position there until the beginning of the year 1896.
At that time, Mr. Hobbs, in conjunction with the Edsall interests, took up mining and has been interested in mining enterprises since that time, his operations taking him to various mining fields of the United States and Mexico. His first venture was in the latter country, where he mined successfully until 1898, and at the end of the two-year period he returned to Colorado, locating at Cripple Creek. He was then taken into the brokerage firm of Edsall, Key & Company as an equal partner, and was given the management of all the mining properties which the firm controlled. These he managed until 1907, at which time ti went to New York City and opened brokerage offices at No. 1 Wall Street, under the firm name of Hobbs & Seeley.
Through his knowledge of mining and his affiliation with various important mining men of the West, he soon built up an extensive stock business and during the time he remained in Wall Street was extremely active. While in New York, Mr. Hobbs became associated with John Hays Hammond, the eminent mining expert and engineer, and together they went to California in October, 1908, becoming jointly interested in the Tom Reed Gold Mines Company of Arizona and the Pacific Mines Company of California. The former was one of the most productive properties ever worked in the Southwest, but the holdings of the Pacific Mines Company exceed it in value. This company, which is owned by five prominent mining men of New York and Los Angeles, has one mine which produces one hundred and fifty tons of ore daily, the gold value being unusually high. Mr. Hobbs is a Director of the company and one of the active factors in its management.
Mr. Hobbs at one time held the controlling interest and the office of President in the Nugget Mining & Milling Company, which, in 1899, became involved in a very serious and bitter litigation with the Doctor & Chief Mining Company and the Jackpot Mining Company of Colorado. The litigation continued for more than a year and was finally terminated in 1900 by the consolidation of the three companies into what is known as the Doctor Jackpot Mining Company of Colorado. Mr. Hobbs was an active factor in the litigation and also the peacemaker, the merger of the contesting companies being brought about largely through his efforts. Since the reorganization he has served as Secretary, Treasurer and Director of the Doctor Jackpot Mining Company, one of whose mines has produced gold valued at more than three and a half million dollars.
In 1905, Mr. Hobbs acquired the lease on what was known as Stratton’s Independence, Limited, a valuable property in the Cripple Creek district of Colorado. This mine was valued at ten million dollars and was considered the most important lease in the Cripple Creek region at that time.
In his mining operations, Mr. Hobbs has combined the abilities of the practical engineer with those of the financier and in both branches of the business has proved unusually successful.
Mr. Hobbs devotes himself assiduously to his work, but at the same time is a prominent figure in club and social circles of Southern California and is an ardent devotee of the sport of Polo. He played Polo in Denver and Colorado Springs for several years before transferring his home to California and is regarded as one of the experts of the game. He is the owner of a stable of pedigreed ponies and ever since his location in the Southwest has been a conspicuous figure in the matches played between the teams of Southern California and various foreign players visiting the United States. In 1910, he was a member of the championship team of Coronado Beach, winners of the State trophy, and the following year played as a member of the Pasadena Polo Club team, one of the fastest in the United States. In 1912, Mr. Hobbs was elected Captain of the Coronado Country Club team, made up of brilliant players who have proved their abilities in matches with the world’s best Poloists. Polo being the principal sport of the winter season in Southern California, Mr. Hobbs figures prominently in the Polo set and enjoys unusual personal popularity.
In addition to the mining projects already mentioned, Mr. Hobbs is interested in several others, these including the La Luz Mines Company, of Guanajuato, Mexico, of which he is President, and the Empire Copper Company, in which he also holds the office of President. This latter concern has been operating in Idaho for more than seven years and during that time Mr. Hobbs has been the directing force. He is possessed of grit and determination, and during the sixteen years he has been in the mining business has contributed materially to the upbuilding of the various sections where he has operated.
Mr. Hobbs maintains his offices in Los Angeles, but has his residence in Pasadena, California, the beautiful winter resort where many of the notables of the United States have their homes. Mr. Hobbs is a member of several clubs there, including the Pasadena Polo Club, Pasadena Country Club, and the Midwick Country Club. His other club affiliations include the Denver Club and Denver Country Club of Denver, Colorado; El Paso Club and Cheyenne Mountain Country Club of Colorado Springs; and the Rocky Mountain Club, of New York City.
Transcribed 7-20-10
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 469, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2010 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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