Saturday, September 19, 2020

1850s Calling Cards of Mary Jane (Coombs) Hobbs (1801-1884) & daughter Mary Harrod Hobbs (1829-1880) of Bangor, Maine; & Mary Harrod's Husband Elisha Hunt Allen (1804-1883) of Hawaii


Calling card of Elisha Hunt Allen (1804-1883) & 2d wife Mary Harrod (Hobbs) Allen (1829-1880)

Three calling cards in an envelope left in the 1850/s1860s era at the residence of the Thomas C. Farris family on First Street in Bangor, Maine:

  • Mrs. Frederick Hobbs - Mary Jane (Coombs) Hobbs (1801-1884) of Bangor, Maine, wife or widow, depending on when she left the calling card, of attorney and Maine legislator Frederick Hobbs (1797-1854).  
  • Miss Mary H. Hobbs - Mary Harrod Hobbs (1829-1880), adopted daughter of Mary Jane (Coombs) Hobbs (1801-1884) and Frederick Hobbs (1797-1854). The information about her adoption is contained in a publication of the New England Historic Genealogical Society: Memorial biographies of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Vol. 2, p. 280-287
  • Mr. and Mrs. Elisha H. Allen, Hawaiian Islands - they were Elisha Hunt Allen (1804-1883) and his second wife Mary Harrod (Hobbs) Allen (1829-1880)

This envelope containing three calling cards is part of a larger collection of 9 other envelopes and a great quantity of individual cards left at the Farris residence, mostly from eastern Maine merchants, lumbermen, attorneys and their wives, or widows, and children.


Elisha Hunt Allen (1804-1883), a Massachusetts native, was a US congressman from, first, Maine, and, later, Massachusetts; a United States consul to the Hawaii Islands; and, after he set up his residence in Hawaii, a Hawaiian consul to the United States. His first wife, Sarah Elizabeth (Fessenden) Allen, died in 1845. On a trip back East, he married Mary Harrod Hobbs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1857.

Once in Hawaii, Mary kept up a frequent correspondence with her adopted mother, Mary Jane (Coombs) Hobbs back in Bangor, Maine. Among many events, she described the tragic death in 1862 of King Kamehameha IV's young son, who was the same age as Mary's son Frederick Hobbs Allen (1859-1937). Mary was especially close to Queen Emma.

Calling card of Mary Harrod Hobbs (1829-1880) before her 1857 marriage to Elisha Hunt Allen (1804-1883)

See an article written by Rhoda E. A. Hackler in Volue 26 (1992) of The Hawaiian Journal of History; it contains information on the Allens, many examples of Mary's correspondence to her mother and a few photographs.

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Calling card of Mary Jane (Coombs) Hobbs (1801-1884) of Bangor, Maine; then wife or widow of Frederick Hobbs (1797-1854


No comments:

Post a Comment