REV. JAMES I. HOBBY was reared and lived in Johnson county, and was a member of the North Carolina Conference.

At the North Carolina and Virginia Conference held at Pope's chapel, in Granville county, in 1847, he was enrolled as a member (fraternal messenger). He also attended the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at New Providence as a messenger. In 1848, he was present at the North Carolina Conference at Raleigh, and was spoken of as a "young man of promise." He was appointed a messenger to the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at Hanks' chapel, and also to the Eastern Virginia Conference at Bethlehem, in 1849, and preached the closing sermon at the latter. The meeting was continued, and Elder Hobby assisted Dr. Wellons, the pastor, and visited him at his home in Sussex county. During the past year he had taken work in the bounds of the Eastern Virginia Conference, in Virginia. In 1850, when Rev. W. B. Wellons went on his first visit to his father's after his marriage, Rev. J. I. Hobby was one of the number to spend a social evening with Mr. Wellons and his wife at Rev. Mills Barrett's on the way. Elder Hobby also assisted Elder Wellons in a meeting at Cypress chapel and Bethlehem, in Nansemond county.

In 1852, Rev. Mr. Hobby was pastor of the church at Newbern, which was at that time a member of the Eastern Virginia Conference. In 1852, he was at the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at Mt. Pleasant in Randolph county, North Carolina, and was invited to an honorary seat in the body. At this Conference the union of the North Carolina and Virginia, and North Carolina Conferences was consummated, and at O'Kelly's chapel, in 1854, the two Conferences met as one. At this latter he was elected a delegate to the Southern Christian Association. During the months of April and May, 1854, he was with Rev. W. N. Bragg in a meeting at Wilmington, North Carolina. There were sixty-four conversions and fifty-one joined the church. The membership then was sixty-four. At New Providence in 1855 he served on the committee on temperance. At the Conference at Hanks' chapel in 1856, he was appointed with Elder Littlejohn Utley a messenger to the Georgia Conference. He was also elected a member of the Board of Directors of the Home Missionary Society of the North Carolina and Virginia Conference, on which Board he was continued a number of years.

In 1857, he attended the Conference at Bethlehem, in Alamance county, and served on the committee on Sunday schools. He was appointed a fraternal messenger to the Eastern Virginia Conference. He was at the Conference at Oak Level in 1856, and under charges, but was exonerated by being restored to his former position as an Elder in the body.

He was very successful in his early ministry, but was unfortunate in marrying. "He never did much good as a minister after his marriage."

In 1869, at Wake chapel in Wake county, James I. Hobby hitherto an Elder in the North Carolina and Virginia Conference came forward and surrendered his credentials." The occasion being a very solemn one, the President called the Conference to join in prayer with Rev. W. B. Wellons. After an earnest petition by Elder Wellons, Mr. Hobby took leave of the Conference. Rev. A. Iseley then offered the following which was adopted: "Whereas James I. Hobby, an Elder in this Conference, has surrendered his license and credentials to this body, and desires to withdraw therefrom; therefore, Resolved, That the name of James I. Hobby be erased from the list of ministers of this Conference."

For several years before his death, his body was paralyzed and his mind greatly impaired. On account of his bodily afflictions, he was able to get about very little.