Mathias Martian Hoffmann was a chaplain, historian, and author born on January 7, 1889 in Dubuque, IA. Graduated from St. Joseph College in 1909. He also attended St. Paul Seminary in MN and received his S.T.B. from Catholic University in 1913. Once ordained, his first assignment was to be an assistant pastor in Dyersville, IA at St. Francis Xavier Church. Hoffmann stayed until 1917, when he entered the U.S. Army as a combat chaplain in Europe with the Texas Rangers First Division. He left with a major rank and went to England to study at Oxford University. Returned to the U.S. in 1919 and joined the faculty at Columbia College where he stayed for 22 years. He chaired the Economics Department after receiving his M.A. from Catholic University in 1924. Hoffmann resigned from his position at the start of WWII to be a combat chaplain once again. After leaving the army in 1945, he was appointed pastor of St. Francis Xavier parish in Dyersville, IA. Hoffmann was a well-known Catholic historian, the author of numerous books and articles on church history in the Midwest, as well as the history of the Dubuque area and the state of Iowa. He passed in Dubuque on January 10, 1961.