Hobart, Mathilda 1869 – 1915

HOBART, HOBBART, WAITE

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/19/2024 at 21:00:42

Source: Cresco Plain Dealer Aug. 27, 1915 P-4 C-3

Fatal Auto Accident Near Decorah.
Sunday afternoon Mr. and Mrs. William C. Hobart, of Minneapolis, were killed in an automobile tragedy six mile west of Decorah on the south Ridgeway road. The accident occurred about 4:30 just west of O. P. Hovey's place. Mrs. Hobart was instantly killed. Mr. Hobart lived a few minutes.
Mr. and Mrs. Hobart left Minneapolis Saturday afternoon about two o’clock in their new, seven passenger Studebaker Six automobile. They were making a pleasure trip to Milwaukee, where they expected to visit at the home of Mrs. Hobart’s sister, Mrs. L. H. Waite. They stopped at Cresco for water and gasolene. When they left Cresco they were going at a high speed. Several times they were seen along the road, always going at great speed. A. L. Olds, a Charles City banker, and family were the last to see them alive. The Olds party were bound for Decorah. They were behind Mr. and Mrs. Hobart. When they last saw Mr. and Mrs. Hobart, Mrs. Hobart was driving and Mr. Hobart was sitting alone in the back seat. There are various theories as to the cause of the accident. Some believe that Mr. Hobart tried to climb into the front seat to relieve his wife at the steering wheel and that in so doing he swerved the course of the auto enough to upset it. Others believe that the car struck one or more of the three little ruts where the accident occurred and so was upset. When last seen by the Olds party, the Hobarts were going about 40 or 45 miles an hour, so it would not have taken much to cause an acci¬dent. Mrs. Hobart was used to driving driving and was a capable driver as a rule.
Mr. Olds and family came upon the Hobarts with the auto overturned on them. Both were pinned beneath it and Mrs. Hobart was dead. The steering wheel was crushed into her breast and she was mangled about the head. On Mr. Hobart’s head was the car door. He was still alive when Mr. Olds reached him. He spoke, but Mrs. Hobart was pressing against the horn button and sounding it so loudly that Mr. Olds could not understand anything he said. Mr. Olds ran to O. P. Hovey's farm and got a rope which was tied around the car and with Mr. Olds’ machine righted it. Mr. Olds’ son drove to Decorah for a doctor, but it was too late. B. M. Graham’s truck was used to pull the Hobart car in. The steering wheel was broken and several parts were sprung, the top and the wind¬shield being destroyed. The bodies were taken in the ambulance to the Decorah Furniture Co. undertaking rooms. The car, spattered with blood, was placed in Walter Bucknell’s garage.
The remains were taken to Minneapolis on the 11:05 Milwaukee train, Tues¬day morning.
Mr. Hobart was 57 years old and Mrs. Hobart was 46. They were married in 1912. They leave no children. Mrs. Hobart’s mother lives at Rochester, Minnesota.
Mr. Hobart was a member of the firm of Hobart & Willis, contracting plumbers, 826 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis.
When Mr. and Mrs. Hobart were found, their clothes were gone through to find some clew to their identity. They discovered some $1500 worth of diamonds on their persons and also more than $1000 in money. Mrs. Hobart had about $1000 tied up in her corset. Mr. Hobart had his keys on a tag bearing his name, the name and number of his Elk’s Lodge in Minneapolis, and it was through the Minneapolis Elks that his friends and relatives were found.— Decorah Journal.

Source: Cresco Plain Dealer Sept. 24, 1915 P-6 C-3

The finding of the dead bodies of Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Hobbart of Decorah under their automobile, with the man carrying $1,000 on his person and the woman wearing jewelry exceeding that amount, caused much excitement there. The fact that there are heirs by a first marriage and that it is impossible to tell which died first, has caused some controversy, but it is believed that the heirs will get together and make a settlement of the two estates.

Transcriber’s Note: Find a Grave indicated William C. Hobart was born in 1856 and died Aug. 22, 1915. His wife was Mathilda who was born in 1869 and died this same date. They are both buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee, WI.