Born at the quiet rural village of West Liberty, on the southern
border of Logan county, Ohio, on the seventeenth May, 1821, William
Hubbard inherited nothing but an honest name, a healthy constitution,
and a vigorous intellect. Deprived of a father's care at an early
age, he grew up under the guidance of a widowed mother, whose
exemplary virtues, strong good sense, and patient industry, left
their impress on the mind and character of her son.
At that early day, the "log school-house" furnished almost the
only means of education; but with this, and that home training
which every mother should be competent to afford, William became
well versed in all the usual branches of an English education.
Early in the year 1832 he took his first lessons in the "art
preservative of arts"—the printing business—in the office of
the Logan Gazette, a newspaper then edited and conducted,
in Bellefontaine, by Hiram B. Strother. Here he served with fidelity,
skill, and industry for seven years, when, early in 1839, he became
the publisher of the paper, and continued as such for a period
of six months. During all this time, as, indeed, in the years
which followed, he employed his leisure moments in developing
his literary taste, and in the profound study of the best writers
of prose and poetry.
In the summer of 1841 he began his career as a school teacher
in a district near his native village, in one of the ever-memorable,
universal "people's colleges" of the times, the "log school-house."
In this useful, but perplexing and ill-paid capacity, he continued
most of his time, until the fall of 1845. Meantime, in 1841, he
had determined to study the profession of law, and for that purpose
became the student of Benjamin F. Stanton and William Lawrence,
attorneys in Bellefontaine. His studies were somewhat interrupted
by his duties as teacher, and by his literary pursuits, yet as
he had made it a rule of his life never to do any thing imperfectly,
he was not admitted to the bar until he had become a thoroughly
well-read lawyer, in the year 1846.
In the fall of 1845, Mr. Hubbard was editor of The Logan Gazette,
and, in 1847, becoming owner of the press, he has ever since been
its editor and proprietor. As a political writer he has a wide
and deservedly high reputation. Notwithstanding his duties as
an editor, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Logan county,
in 1848, and again in 1850, and, in that capacity, served with
skill and ability for four years, when he declined a re-election.
In 1858 Mr. Hubbard received the nomination of the political
party to which he belongs, as its candidate for Congress. He could
scarcely hope for success in a district largely opposed to him
politically, but though defeated, his vote was highly complimentary.
In debates and addresses in that canvass, he added much to a local
reputation as an orator.
Early love of books, a warm imagination, cultivated by study
and by the beautiful scenery of the fertile valley of the Mad
river, with a heart full of pathos and of ardor, all contributed
to " Wake to ecstasy the living lyre," and turn his thoughts into eloquence and poetry. His first published
poetical production was in January, 1838. We have never known
a writer of so much genius with so little ostentation. He has
never sought, but always shunned notoriety. His poetical writings,
if collected, would make a good sized volume.