William
Hobby was born in Moscow, Texas, on 26th March, 1878. Later the family
moved to Houston and Hobby attended Houston High School.
In
1895 Hobby began working for the Houston
Post as a circulation clerk. Later he became a business
writer for the newspaper. This was followed by the posts of city editor
and managing editor. In 1907 he left the Houston
Post to become manager and part owner of the Beaumont
Enterprise.
Hobby
was an active member of the Democratic
Party and eventually became secretary of the state executive committee.
Hobby was elected lieutenant governor in 1914 and governor of Texas
in 1917. At 39, Hobby was the youngest man to hold the office.
Hobby
became an important figure during the First World
War as over half of the country's military camps and most of its
airfields were located in Texas. Hobby is credited with setting up
an effective military draft system in Texas during the final two years
of the war.
After
completing his term of office, Hobby returned to the Beaumont
Enterprise. Later he was to acquire the Beaumont
Journal. In 1924 he became president of the Houston
Post. With the help of Jesse
H. Jones,
Hobby became the owner of the newspaper in 1939. The Houston Post
Company also owned the radio station, KPRC, and the television station,
KPRC-TV.
Hobby became a member of
what became known as the Suite 8F Group.
The name comes from the room in the Lamar Hotel in Houston where they
held their meetings. Members of the group included Lyndon
B. Johnson,
George Brown and Herman
Brown (Brown & Root), Jesse H. Jones
(multimillionaire investor in a large number of organizations and
chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation), Gus
Wortham (American General Insurance Company), James
Slither Abercrombie (Cameron Iron Works), Richard
Russell (chairman of the Committee of Manufactures, Committee
on Armed Forces and Committee of Appropriations) and John
Connally (Governor of Texas). Alvin Wirtz
and Edward Clark, were also members of
the Suite 8F Group.
William Hobby died in Houston
on 7th June, 1964. Three years after his death, the Houston International
Airport, was renamed the Hobby Airport.
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