Who is John Hoback mountain man?
John Hoback along with 2 friends Reznor and Robinson were
adventurers.
The history of Hoback's family starts with Jacob Hoback coming
from the Frankfort area of Germany in 1738 aboard the ship Thistle
arriving in Philadelphia. Jacob Hoback's brother Michael and
Jacob's family came at the same time. The ship log only lists adult
males but we do know that one of Jacob's sons was named
Michael.
Questions surround which Michael did what. John Hoback descends
from one of the Michaels. John Hoback's parents were with Daniel
Boone when he settled Frankfort Kentucky.
John Hoback married Lillie Hearn and had at least 2 children
with her. He left Kentucky, heading west with Lewis & Clark.
Later Hoback, Reznor and Robinson headed out to Missouri to meet up
with friends to head west to be fur trappers. This group founded
Henry's Fort at Henry's Fork in Wyoming.
Hoback, Reznor & Robinson lost all their possessions after
spending a winter trapping so they started back to Kentucky. This
trip took them through a different pass than the one used by Lewis
and Clark. They happened upon Wilson Price Hunt the leader of the
Overland Astorians. He hired them to lead them west. They took the
group back through the new route that later became the Oregon
Trail. This was in 1811. Hunt was so pleased with their work he
named the Hoback River after John Hoback.
The Astorians set the group up with supplies and hired them to
trap. They again had misfortune and was heading back to Kentucky.
They again met up with some Astorians and decided to stay in the
west to trap.
In 1812 or 1813 they met up with some of their old friends from
their first trip trapping. The friends were also being sponsored by
the Astorians. So they formed a group with 2 cabins about a mile or
so apart. One of the men was married to an Indian woman. One day
while she and her 2 children were visiting a nearby village she
heard that some of the younger men were wanting to attack the
trappers. She hurried back to warn the men. When she came upon the
first cabin finding her husband and all others but one already
dead. She took the survivor and her 2 children and headed for the
other cabin only to arrive and find all dead. She then returned to
the friendly village to hide from those who had killed the
trappers. A few days later another man who worked for the Astorians
came into the village. She told him her story, if it were not for
that we wouldn't know what had happened to the group.
The stories of many of the mountain men are recounted in a book
by Robert M. Utley titled A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men
and Paths to the Pacific.
Much of the genealogy has been researched by myself as my
great-grandmother was a Hoback.
HOBACK ANCESTRY
First Generation
(4) Great Grandparents
Johann "Michael" Hoppach and Anna Martha Hoback (d before
1781)
John "Michael" Hoback (Americanized)
b 1709 Alesac, France
d Blue Ridge Mountains
Second Generation
(3) Great Grandparents
Johannes Valentine Hoppach and Elizabeth Van Benschoten Hoback
(b abt 1745 Duchess County, N.Y. - d 1799 Hardin County,
Kentucky)
John Valentine "Felty" "Felt" Hoback (Americanized) (Trapper
John)
b 1745 Hessen County, Germany
d 1-5-1814 Wyoming
(Left Hardin County, Kentucky in 1800)
(Family reported John dead in 1909 after 7 + years missing)
Third Generation
(2) Great Grandparents
Michael Hoback and Margaret Elizabeth Howell Hoback (b abt 1776
Virginia - d October 1850 Larue County, Kentucky))
d winter 1840-41
m 11-14-1792 Nelson County, Kentucky
Fourth Generation
Great Grandparents
Valentine "Felty" Hoback and Nancy Ann Clark Hoback (b 1805
Breckenridge, Kentucky - d after February 1865 Hardin County,
Kentucky)
b 1798 Hardin County, Kentucky
d Between June 1859 and May 1863
m 9-28-1820 Hardin County, Kentucky
John Hoback is my great-great-great-great-great-great-great
grandfather. My name is Danny Schanz, Son of Steve Schanz.
