Randolph  County,  Indiana

Hosea  C. Hobbick


            One of the enterprising and successful business men of Winchester, Randolph county, is Hosea F. Hobbick, who conducts one of the largest and best equipped hardware and tinware stores in the county, his large and successful business having been built up through his own thrift, perseverance and honest dealings, for he began life in a business way at the bottom of the ladder and worked up gradually, often in the face of obstacles which he has removed one by one, obstacles which would have discouraged others of less sterling mettle, so he is eminently deserving of the position he has won in the industrial world and of the high esteem in which he is universally held.
            Mr. Hobbick was born in Winchester, Indiana, May 21, 1859, and here he has been content to spend his life, being reared and educated here. He is a son of David and Sarah (Shaw) Hobbick, the mother having come to this county from Caddington, Ohio, being a daughter of Aaron Shaw, a merchant of that place. Our subject is one of three children, he being the eldest; the others are Emma, who married Edward Ginn, a carriage painter, of Winchester, has one child, Hubert; Grant died when eighteen years of age.
            David Hobbick, the father, was born in Randolph county, and here he grew to manhood and received his education in the old-time schools of his community. When a young man he learned the trade of a machinist, in which he became quite expert. The paternal grandfather of our subject was a native of Germany, where he spent his early life and was married. Soon after this event he emigrated to the United States.
            Hosea F. Hobbick was apprenticed to the tinner's trade when a boy, which he mastered in due course of time, learning its every phase, and becoming one of the most skilful in this vocation in this section of the state. As he prospered he saved his money and finally opened a hardware store in his native city on a small scale. This has continued to grow with advancing years, until now, after twenty years, our subject's store is one of the largest, most modern and best managed in Winchester, and he enjoys an extensive and rapidly growing trade which extends over a wide territory. He handles all kinds of hardware and tinware, always carrying a large, up-to-date and well-selected stock, and, according to his many customers, his prices are always right, and he has dealt with his thousands of customers in a uniformly honest and courteous, manner, so that he has won and retained their good will and esteem. He is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished in a business way.
            Mr. Hobbick was married June 22, 1887, to Mary McIntire, of Winchester, where she grew to womanhood and was educated. She is a. daughter of John McIntire, a well-known carpenter and contractor, whose family consists of four children, namely: Mary, wife of our subject; Albert, who is employed at the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, Ohio; James is employed at Kechman's Wire Works in Muncie; and Ulysses. To Mr. and Mrs. Hobbick five children have been born, namely: Chester, born in 1888, is with his father in the store; he married Gertrude Wilcox, and they have one child, Mary Virginia; Eola died when six years old; Helen died in infancy; Robert died when seven years years old; Clifford was born August 5, 1900. Mrs. Hobbick is a Quaker in her religious belief. Fraternally, our subject is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and politically he is a Progressive.
            David Hobbick, father of our subject, was a gallant soldier for the Union during the Civil war, having enlisted in the Sixty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which he served most faithfully for a period of three years, during which he was in many of the great battles. His death occurred in January, 1883. His widow survives at this writing, being now seventy-four years old.
Past and Present of Randolph County, Indiana, 1914.
Contributed by Gina Richardson

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