William C. Bobbs

Wiliam Conrad Bobbs BIRTH 26 Jan 1861 Ohio DEATH BURIAL Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, PLOT Section 25, Lot 252 son of John Antrim Bobbs and Joan (Joanna) Crawford

1838 - BOBBS-MERRILL

Founded by Samuel Merrill. The company history starts in 1850 when Samuel Merrill bought an Indianapolis bookstore and entered the publishing business. Soon after the Civil War the business became Merrill, Meigs, and Company, and in 1883 the name changed again to the Bowen-Merrill Company. In 1903 William Conrad Bobbs became a partner and the name became the Bobbs-Merrill Company. In 1926, William Bobbs died and his widow Ruth Pratt Bobbs, a noted artist, and son of Julian Bobbs, sold the family interest in the company to stockholders. Howard W. Sams Company purchased Bobbs-Merrill in 1959.

Bobbs-Merrill was an Indianapolis publisher reflecting Midwestern values as seen by its stable of award winning authors: Booth Tarkington,...

Despite such prestigious writers and a well-made, well-bound product, most of the company's income came from an exclusive contract with State of Indiana to publish all state documents and records.


WILLIAM C. BOBBS, PUBLISHER, DEAD
The End Comes Suddenly During an Illness Not Considered Alarming. A LEADER IN INDIANAPOLIS Began Life In a Bookstore -- Active in Literary, Business, Financial and Political Circles. - New York Times.FEB. 12, 1926

married 28 Jun 1887 Marion County, Indiana Julia Emma Minich BIRTH 1861 DEATH 1894 BURIAL Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana PLOT Section 25, Lot 252 daughter of James A Minich & Martha Elizabeth Allison

They had:

Julian C. Bobbs

he married 2nd 17 Apr. 1912 Marion county Indiana Ruth Augusta Pratt Birth Sep 3, 1884 Indianapolis, Marion county Indiana Death Jan 15 1973 BURIAL Jan 17 1973 BURIAL Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, PLOT Sec: 29, Lot: 43 daughter of Julius Fisher Pratt and Mary Ann Smith

Ruth Pratt Bobbs was born into a moneyed family in Indianapolis, Indiana. When she was eight years old, her mother took her to Saturday art school. At sixteen, after the death of her parents, Bobbs went to Paris, where she studied at the Académie Julian. She returned to New York and enrolled in the Art Students League. By the time she came back to Indianapolis to continue her training at the John Herron Art Institute, Bobbs had studied with William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, Kenyon Cox and Frank Vincent DuMond. She also worked with Charles Webster Hawthorne in Provincetown, Massachusetts. At twenty-eight she married William C. Bobbs, president of the Bobbs-Merrill publishing company, a man twenty-three years her senior. After the death of her husband in 1926, Bobbs went back to Paris and opened a studio. When she returned to Indianapolis, Bobbs opened a studio and gallery where she painted portraits of local citizens, entrepreneurs, and government leaders. Despite coming from a wealthy family and marrying into wealth, which created a great deal of skepticism regarding her sincerity as an artist, Bobbs proved she was serious by becoming a very successful portrait painter.

Potrait painter and Indianapolis socialite, born in the Hoosier captial.
Bobb's early instruction was under Indiana artist and illustrator Mary Y. Robinson. She later attened the Herron School of Art and studied at the Academie Julian in Paris and the School of Fine Arts (Boston), among other institytions.

She was marred to William C. Bobbs, president of the Bobbs-Merrill Publishing Company, from 1912 until his death in 1926.

Although she maintained a summer studio at Northport Point, Michigan, Bobbs, lived most of the year in her Indiaapolis studio-home at 11th and Delaware streets and later at 14th and Delaware.

One of the leading women artists and portrait painters in Indianapolis from 1930's through the 1950's, Bobbs was a frequent exhibitor at the Hoosier Salon, the Indiana Artists Club, and the Art Association of Indianapolis annual shows, in 1933 she displayed her work in the states exhibit at the Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago.

She was a member of the National Association ow Women Artists, the Art Assoicaiton of Indianapolis, the Hoosier Salon and the Portfolio Club.

Portraits by Bobbs include Robert H. Tyndall, mayor of Indianapolis; Frank H. Sparks, President of Wabash College; Thomas Carr Howe, president of Butler University; and writer Stephen Vincent Benet.

Works by Bobbs can also be found in the permanent collection or the Indianapolis Museum of Art - Frank N. Ownings Jr. - The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis edited by David J. Bodenhamer, Robert G. Barrows

Indiana, Select Marriages Index, 1748-1993 
Name:	William C. Bobbs
Gender:	Male
Marriage Date:	28 Jun 1887
Marriage Place:	Marion County, Indiana
Spouse:	Julia E. Minich
FHL Film Number:	499375
Reference ID:	19

Year: 1900; Census Place: Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana; Page: 3; 
Enumeration District: 0051; FHL microfilm: 1240388
Name:	Wm C Bobbs
Age:	39
Birth Date:	Jan 1861
Birthplace:	Ohio
Home in 1900:	Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana
Ward of City:	3
Street:	North Deleware
House Number:	1606
Sheet Number:	3
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation: 66
Family Number:	66
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital status:	Widowed
Father's name:	John A Bobbs
Father's Birthplace:	Pennsylvania
Mother's name:	Joan E Bobbs
Mother's Birthplace:	Indiana
Occupation:	Prop, Publishing Co
Months Not Employed:	0
Can Read:	Yes
Can Write:	Yes
Can Speak English:	Yes
House Owned or Rented:	R
Farm or House:	H
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	
Name	Age
Wm C Bobbs	39
John A Bobbs	68
Joan E Bobbs	59
Julian Bobbs	7
Randall H Gavock	23
Ella Gavock	24

Year: 1910; Census Place: Indianapolis Ward 6, Marion, Indiana; Roll: T624_367; 
Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0117; FHL microfilm: 1374380
Name:	W C Bobbs
Age in 1910:	49
Birth Year:	abt 1861
Birthplace:	Indiana
Home in 1910:	Indianapolis Ward 6, Marion, Indiana
Street:	N Meridan Street
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital status:	Widowed
Father's Birthplace:	Pennsylvania
Mother's name:	Johan E Bobbs
Mother's Birthplace:	Indiana
Native Tongue:	English
Occupation:	Mgr
Industry:	Book Co
Employer, Employee or Other:	Wage Earner
Home Owned or Rented:	Rent
Farm or House:	House
Able to Read:	Yes
Able to Write:	Yes
Out of Work:	N
Number of weeks out of work:	0
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	
Name	Age
W C Bobbs	49
Johan E Bobbs	69
Julian Bobbs	16

Indiana, Marriage Index, 1800-1941 
Name:	William C Bobbs
Spouse Name:	Ruth A Pratt
Marriage Date:	17 Apr 1912
Marriage County:	Marion
Birth Date:	26 Jan 1861
Age:	51

Indiana, Select Marriages Index, 1748-1993  
Name:	William Conrad Bobbs
Gender:	Male
Marriage Date:	17 Apr 1912
Marriage Place:	Marion, Indiana
Father:	John Antrim Bobbs
Mother:	Joan Crawford
Spouse:	Ruth Augusta Pratt
FHL Film Number:	499398
Reference ID:	pg 468
Name:	Ruth Augusta Pratt
Gender:	Female
Marriage Date:	17 Apr 1912
Marriage Place:	Marion, Indiana
Father:	Julius Fisher Pratt
Mother:	Mary Ann Smith
Spouse:	William Conrad Bobbs
FHL Film Number:	499398
Reference ID:	pg 468

Year: 1920; Census Place: Indianapolis Ward 3, Marion, Indiana; 
Roll: T625_451; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 69Name:	William C Bobbs
Age:	56
Birth Year:	abt 1864
Birthplace:	Ohio
Home in 1920:	Indianapolis Ward 3, Marion, Indiana
Street:	North Delaware Street
House Number:	1610
Residence Date:	1920
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Marital status:	Married
Spouse's name:	Ruth Bobbs
Father's Birthplace:	Pennsylvania
Mother's Birthplace:	Indiana
Able to Speak English:	Yes
Occupation:	President
Industry:	Publishing Co.
Employment Field:	Employer
Home Owned or Rented:	Own
Home Free or Mortgaged:	Free
Able to Read:	Yes
Able to Write:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	
Name	Age
William C Bobbs	56
Ruth Bobbs	35
Julian Bobbs	25
Esther Foltz	28

Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 
Name:	Ruth Pratt Bobbs [Ruth Pratt Pratt] 
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Age:	88
Marital status:	Widowed
Birth Date:	3 Sep 1884
Birth Place:	Indiana
Death Date:	15 Jan 1973
Death Place:	Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana, USA
Father:	Juluis Fisher Pratt
Mother:	Mary Ann Pratt