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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Dr. D. A. Hoffman, whose position in the ranks of the medical fraternity in Oskaloosa is among the foremost, was born in Jackson, Ohio September 28, 1824, and although he has now passed the eighty-first milestone on life's journey he is still a factor in professional ranks here, his life having been one of great usefulness and activity. His father, Daniel Hoffman, was a native of Woodstock, Shenandoah county, Virginia, born January 18, 1790. He learned the gunsmith's trade under the direction of his father and with the family removed to Ross county, Ohio, in 1806. He served as a private soldier in the war of 1812 and at its close went to Harper's Ferry, Virginia, where he worked for a short time in the armory. In 1814 he engaged in mercantile pursuits at Circleville, Ohio, and two years later removed to Jackson, that state, where he made his home until his death in 1861. He held many important offices, serving as county commissioner, as clerk of the courts and as a member of the Ohio legislature. He married Julia James, who was born on what is now called Neal's Island in the Ohio river between Marietta and Parkersburg West Virginia, April 10, 1800. They were married in 1818 and theirs was a very happy union. Mrs. Hoffman died at Jackson, Ohio, in 1863. Her father, John James, removed from Connecticut to Ohio in 1787, six months after the first settlement was made at Marietta by General Putnam. Daniel Hoffman was the father of six children, namely Colonel John J. Hoffman. of Garnett. Kansas; Ripley C.. a practicing attorney of Columbus, Ohio; David. A., of this review; Charles B., who died in infancy; Cornelia V., the wife of J. L. Long, of Jackson, Ohio; and Daniel W., who practiced in Ottawa, Kansas, until his health failed, when he went to Circleville, Ohio. He was a major in the Ohio Heavy Artillery in the Civil war and he died in the Buckeye state, December 31, 1875. The eldest son, John J. Hoffman, was captain of a company of infantry, enlisting for three months' service in the Union army. Later he re-enlisted and became lieutenant colonel in the Second Virginia Cavalry. Dr. Hoffman of this review attended the common schools of his native city until 1838, at which time he entered his father's store as a salesman, there remaining until the fall of 1841, when he became a student in the Ohio University at Athens, where he remained for two years. Thinking that he would find professional life preferable he took up the study of medicine at home and in the fall of 1844 went to Athens, Ohio, where he continued his preliminary reading for a period of two years under the direction of Dr. William Blackstone. He attended lectures at Cleveland, Ohio, during the sessions of 1846-7 and 1847-8 and was graduated on the 24th of February of the latter year. Dr. Hoffman entered at once upon practice in Ohio, following his profession in both Jackson and Logan. In May, 1861, he came to Oskaloosa, Iowa, where he has since engaged in active practice. In April, 1883, his son was admitted to a partnership under the firm style of D. A. and R. C. Hoffman. Dr. Hoffman was married November 16, 1848, to Miss Emily Smith, of Logan, Hacking county, Ohio. They have four children: Edgar B., who is living on a farm about eight miles west of Oskaloosa; John A., an attorney practicing in Great Falls, Montana; Effie L., the widow of J. F. Rogers, who died in Kansas in August, 1883; and Ripley C., who is practicing with his father and is represented elsewhere in this work. Dr. Hoffman has accumulated the finest private cabinet of curiosities in the way of collecting birds and minerals to be found in the state of Iowa. He likewise has a splendid library of medical, scientific and miscellaneous works and is a man of broad research and general knowledge, his scholarly attainments being at once manifest in his face and in his conversation. With a mind continually broadening to the influences of knowledge he is today one of the honored and representative citizens of Oskaloosa. Dr. Hoffman is now in his eighty-second year, but old age need not suggest, as a matter of course, want of occupation or of interests. Indeed there is an old age which grows better and stronger with the passing years both intellectually and spirtually and gives out of its rich stores of wisdom and experience to others, and such has been the life of Dr. Hoffman. A member of the Masonic fraternity, he has been worshipful master of the blue lodge, high priest of the chapter and first eminent commander of the commandery at Oskaloosa, filling the last named position for five years. His identification with the Masons dates from 1846 and with the Odd Fellows from 1847 and he is also a Knight of Pythias. He has had ample opportunity in his professional career to exemplify the spirit of mutual helpfulness and brotherly kindness which constitute the basic elements of these orders.
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy