Duval County FlArchives Biographies.....Hobson, William Andrew 1862 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 12, 2008, 9:48 pm Author: B. F. Johnson (1909) William Andrew Hobson The successful man of affairs who by industry and frugality accumulates a fine property, builds houses and establishes a prosperous business can befittingly take pride in his work and the results achieved, but how much greater a degree of satisfaction may becomingly be felt in the heart of the man of holy calling who by his zeal and untiring efforts builds up a great congregation, erects a magnificent church edifice, and under his leadership sees his one time scattering flock become a great moral and intellectual force in the community! The First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, under the pastorate of Rev. William Andrew Hobson has grown from a small membership and an unpretentious building to a powerful and enthusiastic congregation of over seven hundred members, with a splendid house of worship, perfect in every appointment. Dr. Hobson has been pastor of the First Church since 1900 when he was called from Alabama, of which State he is a native, and where his honored father, Rev. Francis M. Hobson was for forty years the beloved pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa county. He was born in Bibb county, June 5, 1862, his parents being Rev. Francis Marion Hobson and Mary Catherine Shows Hobson. He attended the public schools of Tuscaloosa county, and the Tuscaloosa High School in his youth and rounded off his education in Howard College, at Birmingham, and the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. He graduated from Howard College in 1892 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He taught school for a while, but determining to enter the ministry, took the theological course at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Ky. His first charge after leaving the Seminary was the Woodlawn Baptist Church at Birmingham, Ala., which when he took charge had a small membership, and was able to pay for only one-half his time. He put all of his time and ability into the work, however, and within a year had so greatly increased the membership and aroused the cooperation of the members that they not only paid off all the church debt, but paid their pastor for full time and erected a small but comfortable mansion for his home. In 1896 he was called to East Lake Church, which is attended by the faculty and students of Howard College, the Baptist educational institution where Dr. Hobson had only a few years before been a student. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Howard College in 1897. His ministry at East Lake was characterized by the same earnest efforts and satisfactory results that had marked the period of his first pastorate; the membership was increased and new life infused into the congregation. A long standing debt was lifted and thorough organization perfected for effective work along every line. His services were not limited, however, to his church as during his four years pastorate he occupied the chair of Biblical Literature in Howard College, was President of the Board of Ministerial Education and edited the Young Peoples Department in The Alabama Baptist. The First Baptist Church called him to Jacksonville in 1900 and on May 1, he entered upon his duties in the largest field he had yet filled, and has accomplished results in proportion. While the church is now great and strong and prosperous, it had only a small membership at the beginning of his pastorate and occupied a small and unpretentious building. Now the membership is upwards of seven hundred, and its splendid and artistic stone edifice, which is fitted in becoming taste and elegance, is as uniformly filled with overflowing congregations as any church in the city. The church in itself and through its pastor is a tower of strength and a powerful factor in the elevation of the moral tone of the community. When Dr. Hobson began his work in Jacksonville there was but one Baptist church in the city. Now there are eight with the old First as the honored mother. Dr. Hobson voluntarily took up the editorial duties of The Florida Baptist Witness after the death of the editor, Rev. J. C. Porter, and by his earnest devoted efforts doubtless preserved the organ of the Florida Baptist State Convention from untimely end. He takes great interest not only in education, but in all organized church work. He is one of the most devoted Trustees of John B. Stetson University. He is a member of the Educational Commission of the Florida Baptist State Convention; Vice-President of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and President of the Florida Training School for Christian workers and a Trustee of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is an occasional contributor to both the religious and the secular press. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a Democrat. Dr. Hobson married Miss Lou Alma Cheek, a daughter of Dr. Tolbert Fanning and Mary Jackson Simmons Cheek. They have one son, Tolbert Francis Hobson. Richard Pearson Hobson, of Alabama, is a cousin of Dr. Hobson. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/duval/photos/bios/hobson81gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/duval/bios/hobson81gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 6.2 Kb