Jacob Hoobler II the son of Jacob and Margaret Braun Hoobler, their sixth child, was born September 16, 1805 in Toboyne Township, Cumberland County, PA and died November 8, 1894 in Wabaunsee County, KS. We have little record of his childhood, but from his mother's reminiscences, we can safely assume that he joined the rest of the family at the church camp meetings. Adam Shambaugh, a minister, wrote in a book titled "Early Days along the Wabash", and told of "walking 30 miles to watch night meetings, 60 miles to 2 day meetings, and 90 miles to camp meetings, over the hills of Pennsylvania. They would take a wagon in which were bedding, children, and provisions. The older ones walked. They would spend the nights with other Christian families, who joined them the following day. When they finally reached the meeting destination, people had assembled from all directions. They had a most glorious meeting."
Jacob II was just seven years old when his father died. Accompanying his family and close relatives to Ohio and then to Indiana, he was just 21 when in March of 1827 he bought land in Township 19 in Fountain County. On February 19,1829, his brother, Rev. John Hoobler, married him to Mary Dice at Veedersburg. (Rev. John also officiated at the wedding of their brother George to Susanna Meyers.) All seven of Jacob II and Mary Dice's children were born in Fountain County.
Soon after 1850, Jacob II, George, Rev. John and their families all joined in the westward movement to Newton Township, Livingston County, IL south of Streator. Jacob II was a farmer, but it is said that he preached the first sermon in German in that township. One of Jacob II and Mary's sons, Franklin, a member of the 129th Illinois Volunteers, was killed during the "War of the Rebellion" at Buck’s Lodge, Tennessee, and another daughter, Eliza, died in her teens.
By 1877, the movement westward had begun again, and the family of Jacob II and Mary began to scatter. The oldest son, John D., and a daughter Margaret Jane (Mrs. Peter Sheibley) remained in Illinois. The remaining children, Jacob III, William, and Mary all came to Kansas. The parents joined them sometime after 1880. They lived in the little house that Jacob III built when he first settled on railroad land along the banks of the Kansas River in Wabaunsee County. A grandson, Vern, vaguely remembers hearing stories of the old couple that spoke only German. Their daughter, Mary, who married Russell Anderson, lived on a farm nearby.
In Kansas, at age 85, Mary Dice Hoobler applied for a "mother’s pension", awarded to mothers of Civil War killed in action veterans. Her son Franklin's war record states that Franklin was "killed by a comrade while cleaning his gun, to go on guard duty." The death was ruled accidental. His tombstone, with the carved figure of a fallen soldier, is beside a fellow soldier in Phillips Cemetery, Manville, Illinois. Mary’s signature was just a "mark", and witnessed by H. S. Romick of Maplehill, and Mary Barkies of Kaw Township, who knew her. Mary died before the pension application could be processed.
Mary Dice Hoobler, affectionately known as "Aunt Polly", died on March 11, 1893 at the home of her son, William, a postmaster at Wilcox, Trego County, KS. Mary Hoobler Anderson accompanied her mother's body back to Illinois for burial. The aged Jacob II returned to the home of Jacob III and Margaret Elmira Smith Hoobler, just south of St. Marys, KS. There he died on November 8, 1894, at the age of 89 years. He is buried beside his wife in Phillips Cemetery Manville, IL.
The children of Jacob Hoobler II and Mary Dice are:
John D Hoobler was born 1830. See John D Hoobler 1830 page.
William Hoobler was born 1831. See William Hoobler 1831 page.
Mary Hoobler was born 1833. See Mary Hoobler 1833 page.
Margaret Jane Hoobler was born 1835. See Margaret Jane Hoobler 1835 page.
Eliza Hoobler was born about 1840. See Eliza Hoobler 1840 page.
Franklin Hoobler was born 1842. See Franklin Hoobler 1842 page.
Jacob Hoobler III was born 1847. See Jacob Hoobler III 1847 page.
Footnote: Our thanks to Dorothy Hoobler.
