Background
Hildebrand was born in Wabash in Wabash County in northern Indiana, the son of Charles Hildebrand and the former Sarah Jane Spencer.
Hildebrand was born in Wabash in Wabash County in northern Indiana, the son of Charles Hildebrand and the former Sarah Jane Spencer.
He was educated in the Wabash schools, Manchester University in North Manchester, Indiana, and the University of London in London, England.
During World War I, Hildebrand served in the Third Infantry Division of the United States Army. She was a daughter of Isaac Theodore Brown and the former Sarah Elizabeth Sibley. The couple had two children, Franklin (born 1929) and Elizabeth (born 1933).
Hildebrand owned newspapers in Portland, Indiana, and Elkin, North Carolina, prior to his purchase in 1930 of the Jeff Davis Parish News.
In 1948, he converted the Jeff Davis newspaper to the Jennings Daily News. He sold the paper in 1957 and retired to New Hampshire.
A public lecturer, Hildebrand was also active in civic affairs He helped to organize the Jennings Production Cr Association.
On retirement, Hildebrand wrote 104 newspaper columns about the history of Jefferson Davis Parish, which were published after his death in book form entitled As I Remember.
He died in Peterborough in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, and is interred in nearby Temple, also in Hillsborough County.