Zion Hobbs (1855 - abt. 1924)

Born 1 Mar 1855 in Yokum Station, Lee, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Died about Feb 1924 at about age 68 in Beattyville, Lee, Kentucky, United States

Biography

Zion Hobbs was born on 1 Mar 1855 at Yoakum Station in the Lee District of Accomack, Virginia; "he was named for his mother's family, the Zions, a prominent German clan of southwest Virginia." He was the son of Shelby Hobbs and Lucinda Zion. ^[1] In 1860 he lived with his parents and siblings in Lee, Virginia.

By 1870, the fifteen year old Zion was already listed as a farm laborer.

Zion was 22 when he married 19 year old Mary Rebecca Patterson, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Patterson, on 19 Jan 1877. ^{[4] [5]} They had seven children:

1. Emory, ^[6]
2. James, ^[7]
3. Rosa, ^[8]
4. Lula, ^[9]
5. Louise Eliza, ^[10]
6. John, ^[11]
7. William ^[12]

According to a profile on his Find A Grave memorial: In their early marriage, Zion and Mary farmed land adjoining that of Zion's father and brothers. They later moved east toward Big Stone Gap and farmed near the Lee-Wise County line.

As for their children, Lula died of the croup at the age of 18 months in the spring of 1884; four-year-old James died of the same disease only two days later. Rosa married Thomas Pace Miller in 1902 and removed to Carter County, Tennessee, but her fate after the 1910 census is unknown. William died of pyemia at the age of 17. Emory, Eliza, and John lived to marry and have children, but of Zion and Mary Hobbs' seven children, only Emory has living descendants.

Zion and his wife separated sometime after 1896, and neither has been found in any census record after 1880. It seems the children were scattered here and there after the separation. In the 1960's, Emory Hobbs conveyed to his granddaughter-in-law, Dorcas Hobbs, that he did not know when his mother [Mary Rebecca Paterson] died or where.

The young couple were farmers in 1880, and this is the only census record for the two of them together.

Also from Find A Grave: ^[14] In his last years, Zion lived with his son John in Beattyville, Kentucky, where he died sometime in late February of 1924. His body was brought back to Virginia to be buried in the old Wade Cemetery near the place where he had formerly lived, "below Big Stone Gap near the Lee County line." There is no death certificate on file for him in Kentucky, and his date of death and place of burial were for many years unknown to the family until his obituary in The Powell Valley News was discovered (quite accidentally) in 2019.

This profile is a collaborative work in progress. If you have information, and citations, you would like to add, please do! Or leave the information in a comment.

Sources

1. ↑ Virginia Births and Christenings, 1584-1917," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X5DY-D5B : 10 February 2018), Zion Hobbs, 01 Mar 1855; citing Yokum Station, Lee, Virginia, reference item 4 p 15; FHL microfilm 32,441.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M41X-FT5 : Sun Mar 10 04:13:26 UTC 2024), Entry for Shelby Hobbs and Lucinda Hobbs, 1860.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFG2-4DL : Tue Mar 05 09:49:35 UTC 2024), Entry for Shelby Hobbs and Lucinda Hobbs, 1870.
4. ↑ "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X5B9-B6Y : 29 January 2020), Zion Hobbs, 1877.
5. ↑ This record cites 1876. "Virginia, Vital Records, 1715-1901", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6J14-CTJR : Sun Mar 10 13:36:35 UTC 2024), Entry for Zion Hobbs and Shelby, 19 Jan 1876.
6. ↑ "Virginia Births and Christenings, 1584-1917", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X5GH-93F : 28 January 2020), Zion Hobbs in entry for Emery L Hobbs, 1877.
7. ↑ "Virginia, Library of Virginia State Archive, Births, Marriages, and Deaths 1853-1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZBF-Y29R : Fri Mar 08 20:54:02 UTC 2024), Entry for James Hobbs and Zion Hobbs, 10 Aug 1880.
8. ↑ citation needed
9. ↑ "Virginia Deaths and Burials, 1853-1912", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR3V-8JJ : 29 January 2020), Zion Hobbs in entry for Lula M. Hobbs, 1884.
10. ↑ "Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Birth Records, 1853-1896", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6278-G7RR : Sun Mar 10 01:15:23 UTC 2024), Entry for Lousia N Hobbs and Zion Hobbs, 1 Dec 1889.
11. ↑ "Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Birth Records, 1853-1896", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:62QZ-5LBT : Sun Mar 10 00:59:59 UTC 2024), Entry for John S Hobbs and Zion Hobbs, 21 Jun 1892.
12. ↑ "Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Birth Records, 1853-1896", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:62QC-7Z6K : Thu Mar 07 20:33:15 UTC 2024), Entry for William Hobbs and Zion, 3 Jan 1896.
13. ↑ v
14. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #216277288

See Also

• Family Search Profile Zion Hobbs