Anyone who has ever read “The Journals of Thomas Hubbard Hobbs,” edited and annotated by the late local historian Faye Axford, comes away feeling they know personally this son of mid-19th Century Athens.

Although Hobbs rests in Spring Hill Cemetery, overlooking the James River in Virginia, a casualty of the Battle of Richmond, his influence on his native Athens lives on in his descendants and in the local street that bears his name, which hundreds travel daily.

Saturday, four of Hobbs’ descendants will accept honors for their esteemed ancestor bestowed by the Thomas Hobbs Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans when they gather at 2 p.m. in Athens City Cemetery — between Hobbs and Washington streets — for the dedication of the restored Hobbs family plot by SCV members.

Before proceeding to the cemetery, descendants will be recognized when a special Civil War exhibit, which includes a copy of the recently discovered roster of Co. F, 9th Alabama Infantry that Hobbs organized, opens at the Alabama Veterans Museum and Archives at 10 a.m.

After the Hobbs plot dedication, the SCV will host a reception at the Donnell House at 3 p.m. The public is invited to all three of the events, which open a week of commemorations for Confederate Memorial and Heritage Month.



Lineage



When Thomas Hubbard Hobbs died from his wounds at the age of 36, he left behind two sons. The older son, Thomas Maclin Hobbs, had a daughter, Anna, who married John M. Frierson of Columbia, Tenn., and they had one son, Maclin Frierson. Anna was widowed at a young age and married Judge James Edwin Horton, who became internationally renowned from the Scottsboro Boys case. Anna and the judge had two sons, James E. Horton, who served as a state senator, and Donelson Branch Horton.

Anna’s sister, Elizabeth Maclin, married Gen. John David Higgins and they had two children, John David Higgins III and Elizabeth Richardson Jackson.

Descendants attending Saturday’s ceremonies will be Kathy Horton Garrett, daughter of Donelson Horton; Susan Horton Faulkner, daughter of J.E. Horton Jr.; David Higgins, son of Elizabeth Maclin Higgins, and Robert Higgins, great-grandson of Elizabeth.

The Hobbs Camp traditionally takes on a commemoration project each year. Member Buzz Estes explained the work the group performed this year on the Hobbs plot.

“With the permission of his descendants, we placed the monument to our camp namesake in the northeast corner of the plot, directly behind his wife’s grave,” said Estes. “As part of the project, the location of every stone was carefully mapped, the stones removed, cleaned and repaired.

“The entire family plot was landscaped, including removing and cleaning concrete curbs, which had sunken over the years. We added soil to establish the original elevation of the stones and curbs and then reinstalled the stones in their original locations. We added a fence and two flagpoles.”

From one of the poles will fly the American flag in honor of Gen. John David Higgins, who commanded the second largest Army Reserve unit in the U.S., and from the other will fly the Confederate flag in honor of Hobbs.



‘A simple man’



The restored stateliness of the Hobbs plot in Athens City Cemetery is in marked contrast to Hobbs’ final resting place in Virginia. When he died from complications of a severe leg wound several days after the Battle of Richmond, his widow, Anne Benagh Hobbs, placed a small stone above his grave inscribed, “A brave and simple man who died in a brave and simple faith.”

Kathy Horton Garrett said Wednesday that Saturday’s commemoration of her ancestor is “very humbling.”

“We really appreciate what they have done,” said Garrett. “Everybody in the family, especially David, whose parents are buried there, are thrilled. We really appreciate both the American and Confederate flags being flown there. It is a wonderful acknowledgement of what Thomas Hubbard Hobbs and his leadership meant to this community.”

Garrett jokingly commented, “It really puts a lot of pressure on us to live up to all that,” but she has been reared in the knowledge of how deep her roots extend into this community.

Her mother, Katherine Horton, widow of Donelson, owns a chest of drawers from which the drawers are missing. The drawers were used by invading Union soldiers as horse troughs and the family refused to have replacements made as the piece of gutted furniture became a symbol of the struggle for which their ancestor died.