Merida Ambros Hobbs (1888-1967)

Portrait courtesy of the Texas Legislative Reference Library.

   We continue our theme of oddly named Texas legislators with Lavaca County resident Merida Ambros "M.A." Hobbs, and I can't help but point out that a first name like Merida is just a tad too close in spelling to the word Mierda, the Spanish word for...excrement. While his first name is certainly unusual, Hobbs appears to have preferred going by his initials, as most period sources mentioning him list him under the name "M.A. Hobbs".

  One of nine children born to Merida Hubbard and Ellen Adelia Hobbs, Merida Ambros Hobbs was born in Texas on November 21, 1888. He inherited his unusual first name from his father and married in May 1909 to Pearl Harbour (1890-1969). The couple were married for over fifty years and had two children, Leila Mae (1910-1998) and Winford Ambros (1926-1997). 

    A rancher for a good majority of his life, Hobbs is recorded as being the owner of 900 acres of land in Ezell, Salem County, Texas. He was a member of the Lavaca County school board for a period of ten years and in November 1940 was elected to the first of two terms in the Texas State House of Representatives. During the 1941-43 session, Hobbs held seats on the committees on Agriculture, Federal Relations, and Livestock and Stock Raising, and the State Eleemosynary and Reformatory Institutions. Reelected in November 1942, Hobbs served as vice-chairman of the House Committee on Livestock and Stock Raising during the 1943-45 session and also was named to the committee on Congressional and Legislative Districts. 

   Information has proven to be quite scant when it comes to Hobbs' life after leaving the Texas legislature. Notice has been found of his death at age 78 on May 9, 1967, at a hospital in Hallettsville, Texas. His obituary in the Shiner Gazette records him as being a "retired rancher" and notes that he had been in "ill health for many years." Hobbs was survived by his wife Pearl, who, following her death in 1969, was interred alongside her husband at the Salem Cemetery in Ezell, Texas.

   

      Portrait courtesy of Find-A-Grave.