Timothy Dwight Hobart - Hobart and The JA Ranch

Hobart and The JA Ranch

In 1914, JA manager James Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr., a nephew of ranch owner Cornelia Adair (1837–1921), was elected to the United States Senate from New York. Adair then asked Hobart to take over the management in 1915. On Cornelia’s death, Hobart became a coexecutor of her estate. As the sole JA administrator in 1932, Hobart had urged Adair’s grandson and principal heir, Montie Ritchie (1910–1999), to sell off the JA lands, but Ritchie, who became sole owner and manager on Hobart’s death, refused. Ritchie turned around ranch operations during the 1940s, having overcome the effects of his grandmother’s estate debts, the Great Depression, and drought. Today, the ranch remains in fifth-generation hands of the original Adairs.