Earl Harold Hobson was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, on December 18, 1889, the son of Henry F. and Anne Carter Hobson. During World War I, he served with the 301st Ammunition Train at Camp Devens, Massachusetts, and in France. After the armistice, he worked at a classification camp near Saint-Aignan-des-Noyers. He married Maybell O. Kingsley, daughter of Edwin and Harriet Kingsley, before July 1918, and they had at least two children: Rhoda and Bruce. After the war, Hobson worked for the Y.M.C.A. in Newport and Jamestown, Rhode Island.
From the guide to the Earl H. Hobson papers, Hobson, Earl H. papers, 1918-1919, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)