Biographies
MRS. KELSEY HOBDAY
MRS. KELSEY HOBDAY.--Among the clever American women in Sacramento County who
have demonstrated exceptional ability in the management of their estates may well
be named Mrs. Kelsey Hobday who resides about eleven
miles northeast of Galt. She was born at Perry, Ohio, on December 29, 1855, the
daughter of John and Charlotte (Teece) Child and was
christened Emily. Her father and mother were natives of Birmingham, England,
where they were married and thus came to the United States when a young couple,
and made their way on what was then recorded as decidedly "West," and
settled at Perry. In England Mr. Child had been a miller; but in the country of
his adoption he commenced to farm. Nine children were granted this worthy
couple. Ann and Elizabeth, the eldest two, are both deceased, then came George, Thomas, Emily, Sarah, Henry, John and
William. Mr. Child died at the age of eighty-five, while his good wife lived to
see her seventy-seventh year.
One of the annuals of this family pertains
to the accidental causes of Mrs. Hobday's parents
settling in Ohio. A sister of our subject's father, Mrs. Walker, was living at
St. Louis, Mo., and Mr. and Mrs. Child were on their way there to settle; and
at Painesville, Ohio, they were compelled to tarry, because the railway bridge
was burned out. A Mr. Parmalee extended to them the
hospitality of his home, and they thus became interested in the Buckeye State;
and after remaining with the Parmalees for a year,
they settled in Perry, on the bank of Lake Erie. In 1887, they made their
daughter a visit in California, spent one winter, then
went back to their home.
Emily Child attended the schools in Perry,
and in that town, on February 6, 1884, was married to Kelsey Hobday, a native of Mentor, Ohio, and the son of John and
Elizabeth Hobday. They were also natives of England,
where they had been farmer-folk, and they continued agricultural pursuits in
this country. Kelsey was one of eight children, those older than he being Ed,
John, and Basil, and those younger, Sarah, Fannie, Elizabeth and Margaret. He
came out to California in 1872, bought a ranch and improved a home, then
returned to Ohio in 1884, married, and accompanied by his devoted wife returned
to California. They settled in Sacramento County, almost ten miles north of
Galt where he had bought 160 acres of grain land, which they farmed for a while
but which has since been sold. In 1900 he took up eighty acres of government
land four miles east of the place where he had originally settled, or twelve
miles northeast of Galt, which he also devoted to the raising of grain; and
this land he cultivated until he died there, in 1912, the father of five
children: Kelsey Jr.; William; Hiram; and Edward, and the youngest is Sarah,
now employed in the Krebs paint store, Sacramento. Kelsey Hobday
was a stanch Republican and heartily supported the party he believed in as most
likely to protect and favor American industries. He was a Mason, and an
eminently patriotic citizen; and his two sons, Hiram and Edward, have reflected
credit upon his honored name by their service in the United States Army.
Hiram Hobday
entered the United States Army in June, 1917, and joined the marine
corps, and for eleven months he was at Mare Island. Then he was
transferred to the Aviation Detachment and for six months attended the
mechanics' training school, and then he went to Miami, and was at the naval
aviation school for a part of the time, and for a part of the time was at the
maritime flying field, and after five months there was discharged, as a
private, in April, 1915. Edward entered the service in August, 1918, and was
sent to Camp Lewis, in Washington, and joined Company B of the 1st U.S.
Infantry, Thirteenth Division and was eleven months at Camp Lewis, and he was
honorably discharged in July, 1919. Both young men are now loyal members of the
American Legion of Galt.
Kelsey Hobday
Jr., was born on February 2, 1885, on the home place in Sacramento County and
at the age of sixteen began to support himself,
working out on ranches. He clerked for five seasons in a store at Lake Tahoe,
and during the winter seasons he worked at Sacramento, Galt, and Clay, then
thus rounding out five years in a very useful way. He then spent about six
years in the poultry business in Sacramento County, at the Whitaker and Ray
Colony, and in 1922 he came to the old Quiggle Ranch
at Herald, dairying on shares. He was married at Lake Tahoe, in June 1914, to
Miss Jessie E. Perry, who was born at Riverside, Cal., the daughter of B. M.
and Nellie M. Perry, Canadians, an only child.
William C. Hobday
was born on the Hobday ranch, on December, 13, 1893,
and attended the Don Ray Colony school, and started for himself at the age of
twenty-two. He worked for wages until he was married, at Stockton, on May 20,
1916, when he chose for his wife Miss Phebe Webber,
the daughter of Barney Webber. The mother is deceased, but the father resides
with Mr. and Mrs. William C. Hobday. After William
married, he had a chicken ranch at Lodi for two years, and then moved onto the
Webber Ranch, one and one-half miles east of Arno,
where he raises turkeys and chickens, and also devotes his attention to grain
farming. They have two children, Harold and Donald.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County,
California With Biographical Sketches, Page 329-330. Historic Record Company,
© 2007 Sally Kaleta.