Jobes, Charles S., 1853-1929

Charles S. Jobes was a convict leasing broker and civil engineer during Reconstruction.

Born in 1853 in Jennings County, Indiana, Jobes moved to Kosciusko, Mississippi in 1871. He worked as a civil engineer in the railroad and levee construction industries. By 1874, he was engaged in the convict leasing business with Ridgley Ceylon Powers, and in 1875, Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames granted Jobes and Obadiah Crew French a license to organize a firm for leasing convicts from the state penitentiary. As general brokers, they leased all of the state's convicts and subleased them to others at increased rates. They were in operation through 1876.

By 1880, Jobes was working as a banker, and in 1886, he moved to Harper County, Kansas, continuing to work as a banker until 1897. From 1897 to 1901, he was a National Bank Examiner stationed out of Wichita, Kansas. He was responsible for over two hundred fifty National Banks. After 1901, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he became the president of the American National Bank. He was also the vice president of the Pioneer Trust Company and president of the Security National Bank.

Jobes was married to Alma G. (Taylor) Jobes. The pair had four children, including two sons and one daughter who lived to adulthood. Charles S. Jobes died on September 27, 1929 in Kansas City, Missouri. He is buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City.

(FindaGrave; The Wichita Eagle, September 28, 1929; The Sedalia Democrat, September 27, 1929; U.S. Census Record for Kosciusko, Mississippi, 1880; Albert D. Kirwan, Revolt of the Rednecks: Mississippi Politics, 1876-1925, 167; George Creel, Men Who Are Making Kansas City; A Biographical Directory; Impeachment Document over Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, February 22, 1876, Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi, mdah_803-999-06-01; William Noonan to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, June 8, 1874, Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi, mdah_803-991-09-07)

Charles S. Jobes belonged to the following social groups: