Garret Hobart - Early Life

Early Life

Garret Augustus Hobart was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, to Addison Willard Hobart and the former Sophia Vanderveer. Addison Hobart descended from the early colonial settlers of New England; many Hobarts served as pastors. Addison Hobart came to New Jersey to teach at a school in Marlboro. His mother was descended from 17th-century Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (today New York City) and had moved to Long Island and then to New Jersey. When Addison and Sophia Hobart married in 1841, they moved to Long Branch, where Addison founded an elementary school. Garret was born in Long Branch on June 3, 1844. Three children survived infancy; Garret was the second of three boys.

Garret initially attended his father's school in Long Branch. The Hobart family moved to Marlboro in the early 1850s; Garret was sent to the village school. Childhood tales of the future vice president describe him as an excellent student in both day and Sunday School, and a leader in boyhood sports. Recognizing Garret's abilities, his father sent him to a well-regarded school in Freehold, but after a disagreement with the teacher, the boy refused to return; he was sent to a school in Matawan, boarding there during the week. He graduated from that school in 1859 at age 15, but being thought by his parents too young to go to college, remained home for a year studying and working part-time. Garret Hobart then enrolled in Rutgers College, from which he graduated in 1863 at age 19, finishing third in his class. He received his diploma from Theodore Frelinghuysen, New Jersey's first major-party vice-presidential candidate, who had run unsuccessfully with Henry Clay in 1844. In later life, Hobart was a generous donor to Rutgers, received an honorary degree after becoming vice president, and shortly before his death was elected a trustee.