Biography

Popular novelist and biographer Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor was born on March 24, 1865 in Chicago, the son of Henry Hobart (1835-1875) and Adelaide Chatfield Taylor (1834-1888). His father was a wealthy Chicago area businessman who was involved in the manufacturing of agricultural implements. Henry Taylor would go on to be one of the original directors of the Elgin Watch Company and the Commercial National Bank of Chicago.

Hobart graduated from Cornell University in 1886 where he majored in science and literature. While attending Cornell he managed the varsity baseball team for several seasons.

When his uncle Wayne Chatfield (1840-1892) died, he left Hobart 2.5 million dollars with the stipulation the he add Chatfield to his surname. Hobart who was born with the middle name Chatfield then became known as Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor.

After graduation he founded a weekly literary magazine called America. While considered by some to be a literary success, the magazine eventually proved to be a financial failure. While in Europe as a special correspondent for Chicago Daily News and not long after he had sold his interests in the magazine, Hobart wrote his first novel "With Edge Tools" (1891) followed by "An American Peeress" (1894). The success of the latter helped cement his career as a writer with the critics and the public.

Hobart over his career, would author biographies, comedies historical fiction and books of non-fiction. Examples of some of his more popular works might include:

"Two Women & a Fool" (1896) "The Vice of Fools" (1897) "The Secretary of the Legation" (1899) "The Idle Born" (1900) with Reginald De Koven "The Crimson Wing" (1902) "The Middle West Discovers Outdoors" (1905) "Moliere: a biography" (1906) "The Land of the Castanet, Spanish Sketches" (1906)" "Fame's Pathway: A Romance of a Genius" (1909) "Goldoni: a biography" (1913). "Chicago" (1917) "Odyssey of a Modern Ulysses; Cities of Many Men" (1926) "Charmed Circles" (1935)

Hobart wrote two books that brought him international acclaim. The French government awarded him the Legion of Honor for his biography of the French playwright Moliere (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin ) and Italian government of King Victor Emmanuel III presented him with the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus and the Order of the Crown of Italy for his biography of the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni). During his life he had also received honors from the governments of England, Portugal, Venezuela and Spain.

In 1890, Hobart married Rose Farwell (1870-1918), on the day following her graduation from finishing school. She was the daughter of Charles B. Farwell (1823-1903), a former congressman and senator from Illinois and the sister-in-law of composer Reginald De Koven.

Hobart and his wife were both avid golfers. He is thought to have built the first golf course west of New York on property his father-in-law owned in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Hobart and Rose were the parents of a daughter and three sons.

Adelaide, (1891-1982), was a former actress and night club owner. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government for a canteen she operated on their behalf during the Second World War.

Wayne (1893-1967), served as Under Secretary of Commerce and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Later he served as president (1945-1946) of the Import-Export Bank and as an economic advisor to the Marshal Plan.

Otis (1899-1948), was a playwright and theatrical producer. At one time he was rumored to be engaged to actress Miriam Battista. Otis died in Ossining, NY after a traffic accident.

Robert (1908-1980) was a successful businessman whose name occasionally cropped up in the newspaper society pages. He is probably best remembered by some for his four year marriage to former debutante and distant cousin, Brenda Frazier (1921-1982). After their marriage failed, Brenda said of him that he was a gentleman in every sense of the word.

Hobart married Estelle Barbour Stillman (1878-1960) in 1920; two years after Rose had passed away. Estelle was the daughter of a wealthy Detroit banker and the widow of New York banker, George Schley Stillman, who died of meningitis in 1907 after contracting typhoid fever.

Author Finley Peter Dunne' (father of Finley Peter Dunne) once headed a committee that wrote Hobart asking him if he would mind if they submitted his name as a candidate for the office of mayor of Chicago. Dunne suggested to the committee that if Hobart declined, maybe he would let them submit just part of his name.

Throughout most of his life, Hobart was known as a patron of fine art and had moved freely among society's high circles. In September of 1937 he announced he was withdrawing from public life. A near fatal heart attack suffered earlier that year while attending the coronation of King Edward VI had greatly sapped his strength.

Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor passed away on 17, January, 1945 at his residence in Montecito, California, after a long period of declining health. He was survived by his second wife, Estelle, and all four of his children from his first marriage.
- IMDb mini biography by: John F. Barlow