Lorenzo Warwick Hobbs (1827-1912), Builder and Architect
Lorenzo Warwick Hobbs was born to Warwick and Hannah Hobbs in Wells, Maine in 1827. Lorenzo was a carpenter in West Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1849 when he married Mary Melvina Frost. They had two children in Massachusetts before moving to Nebraska in 1856.[1][2][3][4][5] They soon settled in Decatur (north of Omaha on the Missouri River) where Lorenzo was mayor in 1859.[1][5] By the mid-1860s, the family was residing in Omaha, where Lorenzo was a delegate to the Territorial Legislature in 1865 and 1866, representing Douglas County. Mary M. Hobbs died in Omaha in 1867; Hobbs married Adeline Story Douglas in 1868 and by 1870 there were four children in their household.[6][7][8][9][a] In Omaha Lorenzo had a two-story carpentry shop and was said to have "erected many of the old-time buildings and residences in the city."[1][10]
The Hobbs family does not appear in Omaha City Directories after 1870; by 1875 Lorenzo was advertising as an Architect & Carpenter in Sidney, Nebraska.
This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the Format and Contents page for more information on the compilation and page organization.
Contents
Compiled Nebraska Directory Listings
Omaha, Nebraska, 1866-1870
Educational & Professional Associations
1849-1855: carpenter, West Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1856-1864: master carpenter in Omaha, then in Decatur, Nebraska, where Lorenzo was mayor in 1859.
1865-1866: Douglas County delegate to territorial legislature.[1]
1865-1870: carpenter in Omaha, Nebraska.
1875-1885: architect & carpenter in Sidney, Nebraska.
Buildings & Projects
Dated
Undated
Notes
a. The 1855 Massachusetts State Census lists Lorenzo and Mary Hobbs' children as Mary (born c. 1851) and William (c. 1853). The 1860 U.S. Census reflects two additional births, H[enry] A., born about 1867 in Massachusetts, and Rebecca, born about 1869 in Nebraska. After Mary's death and Lorenzo's remarriage to Adeline, the four children in the household included Mary's children Rebecca, George (c. 1862), and Abigail (c. 1865) and Adeline's daughter Josephine (c. 1869).[4][6][9]
References
1. "Lorenzo Hobbs, Omaha Pioneer, Dies at Norfolk," Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News (February 8, 1912), 5; "Lorenzo Hobbs, Old Pioneer Citizen, Dead," Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald (February 9, 1912), 6.
2. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Records, 1840-1915, s.v. "Lorenzo Hobbs, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
3. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census, s.v. "Lorenzo Hobbs," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.
4. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., State Census, 1855, s.v. "Lorenzo Hobbs," [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
5. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, s.v. “Lorenzo Warwick Hobbs,” [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. SEE https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19881785/lorenzo-warwick-hobbs
6. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census, s.v. "Lorenzo Hobbs" in Decatur, Nebraska, [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.
7. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, s.v. "Mary Melvina Hobbs," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. SEE https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19881786/mary-melvina-hobbs
8. Ancestry.com. Nebraska, U.S., Select County Marriage Records, 1855-1908, s.v. “Adeline Douglas,” [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.
9. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census, s.v. “Addie Hobbs,” [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.
10. "Hobbs & Co. are building a new carpenter shop two stories high, 22x50 feet, on the corner of Harney and 8th streets," Omaha (Nebraska) Herald (December 11, 1867), 3.
Page Citation
E. F. Zimmer & D. Murphy, “Lorenzo Warwick Hobbs (1827-1912), Builder and Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, December 11, 2023. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, May 16, 2024.
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