Esther Jane "Jennie" Hobart ( Tuttle; April 30, 1849 – January 8, 1941) was the wife of Vice President

Garret Hobart Garret Augustus Hobart (June 3, 1844 – November 21, 1899) was the 24th Vice President of the United States, serving from 1897 until his death in 1899. He was the sixth American vice president to die in office. Prior to serving as vice pre ...

and a philanthropist and community activist in New Jersey.

Biography

Born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey, Hobart was the daughter of the prominent attorney

Socrates Tuttle Socrates Tuttle (November 19, 1819 – February 12, 1885) was the Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey from 1871 to 1872. Biography He was born on November 19, 1819 in Colebrook, New Hampshire to Horatio Tuttle and Betsey Thomas. He had two children, H ...

and his wife, Jane Winters. She married

in Paterson on July 21, 1869, at the start of his career as a lawyer and politician. They had four children, two of whom died in childhood. The other two were Garret Jr. and Fannie, who died in 1895. In 1896 her husband was elected

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

and the family moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Second Lady of the United States The second gentleman or second lady of the United States (SGOTUS or SLOTUS respectively) is the informal title held by the spouse of the vice president of the United States, concurrent with the vice president's term of office. Coined in contrast ...

, Hobart often served as White House hostess because the First Lady, Ida Saxton McKinley, suffered from

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

. Vice President Hobart died of heart failure on November 21, 1899. After his death, she returned to Paterson and became involved in community affairs. She was a close friend of Mrs. McKinley and rushed to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, to offer her support when President McKinley was shot in September 1901. During the American women's suffrage movement, Hobart positioned herself as definitively

anti-suffrage Anti-suffragism was a political movement composed of both men and women that began in the late 19th century in order to campaign against women's suffrage in countries such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. T ...

. She organized the New Jersey Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage and held regular meetings. Hobart died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

on January 8, 1941, in Haledon, New Jersey, where she had been living on her son's farm, and was buried in

Cedar Lawn Cemetery Cedar Lawn Cemetery is a rural cemetery in Paterson, New Jersey, and is also considered one of the finest Victorian cemeteries in the USA. Cedar Lawn Cemetery officially opened in September 1867, and recorded its first burial on September 27, 186 ...

in Paterson, New Jersey.Burstyn, Joan N
"Past and Promise: Lives of New Jersey Women"
p. 153.

Syracuse University Press Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. History SUP was formed in August 1943 when president William P. Tolley pro ...

, 1997. . Accessed May 1, 2011. "She maintained a close relationship with her son and in later years, when her health was failing, lived with his family at Ailsa Farms in

Haledon Haledon ( ) is a borough in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 9,052, an increase of 734 (+8.8%) from the 2010 census count of 8,318, which in turn reflected an in ...

. She died there of bronchial pneumonia, at age 91, on January 8, 1941, and was buried at the Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Paterson."

References

External links

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New Jersey Women's History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobart, Jennie Tuttle 1849 births 1941 deaths Burials at Cedar Lawn Cemetery Deaths from pneumonia in New Jersey People from Haledon, New Jersey People from Paterson, New Jersey Second Ladies of the United States Spouses of New Jersey politicians Anti-suffragists