Richmond Pearson Hobson

Richmond Pearson Hobson (August 17, 1870 – March 16, 1937) was a United States Navy officer and later a Democratic U.S. Representative from Alabama (1907 – 1915). A hero of the Spanish-American War, he led the attempt to block Santiago Harbor by sinking the collier USS Merrimac on June 3, 1898. For this action he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1933 and was later advanced to the rank of rear admiral on the retired list.

On May 25, 1905, Hobson married Grizelda Houston Hull, a cousin of U.S. Army General Joseph Wheeler, at Tuxedo Park, New York. Nikola Tesla, a close friend of Hobson, was in attendance. Hobson was one of the few people who could persuade Tesla to leave his laboratory for social occasions; the two later sometimes attended the cinema together.