William Cobb Sr. (abt. 1730 - abt. 1802)

Born about 1730 in Isle of Wight, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Barsheba (Whitehead) Cobb — married 1751 in North Carolina

Descendants

Died about 1802 at about age 72 in Knox County, Tennessee

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Biography

William Cobb was born in 1732 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia and died in 1803 in Knox County, Tennessee. He married his cousin, Barsheba Whitehead. He was a member of the first Washington County Court and in 1780 was one of the Judges and Viewers of Currency of the Realm. His residence, Rocky Mount,was used by Governor Blount in 1790 as the Capitol of the Territory of the United States South of the Ohio River.

wife: Barsheba Whitehead
Children:d

Catherine, born 1776, died 1824, married Julius Connor:

Richard Caswell, born 1778, died 1811, married Rebecca Buckingham;

Arthur, born 1780, died 1818, married Ailsie Massengale;

William, born 1783, died 1839, married Isabella Cooper;

Barsheba, born 1797, died 1856, married Absolom Kyle.^[1]

William Cobb In The Massengill Book

The following biographical material is from The Massengills, Massengales and Variants (1472-1931), by Samuel Evans Massengill, M.D., on page 819:

"William II (our William) married Barsheba Whitehead. They probably moved from Isle of Wight County, the part that was made Southampton County, in 1748, to the adjoining county in North Carolina, Northampton, for Pharaoh Cobb II was born there in 1751. Pharaoh's brother William named a son Joseph. He was the ancestor of the Cobbs at Beans Station, now Tate. These names, William, Pharaoh, and Joseph, continue in the family.

"William II was born about 1714 and died in Knox County near McMillan's Station between 1802 and 1803. He moved with Pharaoh and Penelope, possibly other children, to Watauga in 1770. He was one of the twenty-seven original magistrates appointed for Washington County, NC, 1777, and served continuously, except during the existence of the State of Franklin, till he moved to Beans Station in 1795. He bought a tract of land at Sycamore Shoals for his son Pharaoh, who had married his mother's niece, another Barsheba Whitehead. The Kings Mountain soldiers met, according to several authorities, at William Cobb's in what was known as The Fork, where they were fed and many of them mounted on horses furnished by William Cobb. They then marched up the Watauga River to Pharaoh Cobb's home where they were provided with food. From Sycamore Shoals they left next morning for Kings Mountain. Pharaoh Cobb went with them. See his record of Revolutionary service.

William Blount came to William Cobb's home in 1790. Here he organized the Territory South of the River Ohio. The first official act of William Blount I find dated at Knoxville is in 1793.

William Cobb sold his land in Washington County [to son-in-law Hal Massengill, husband of William's daughter Penelope], 1796, but he had entered land near Beans Station in 1795. In 1801 he sold some land in Anderson County, signing himself a citizen of Grainger County. In 1803 he sold another tract, signing as a citizen of Knox County."

William Cobb During Revolutionary War

Rocky Mount – where William Cobb came with his family and 100 slaves in 1769, two centuries ago, to flee the British rule in North Carolina – has been restored to its frontier grandeur.

The Cobbs furnished horses, mules and slaves to transport provisions to the battle site. Only men from the Upper East Tennessee area, then a part of North Carolina, fought in that battle. Thomas Jefferson said, “the Battle of King’s Mountain was the turning point of the Revolutionary War.” Ten years later President George Washington appointed William Blount “Governor of the Territory of the United States West of the Allegheny Mountains and South of the River Ohio.” Blount reached the Watauga Settlement Oct 10, 1790 and he chose the Cobb home at Rocky Mount for his headquarters. He ran the Southwest Territory and, as Indian agent, conducted court under a giant Rocky Mountain oak. He stayed on until March 1792 waiting for completion of permanent Southwest headquarters, known as Blount Mansion in Knoxville.

William was born about 1714. He passed away about 1802.

Sources

1. ↑ Historical Southern Families, Volume XII by Mrs. John Bennett Boddie, 1968, pp. 190-19.
2. ↑ [Hawkins County Post April 11, 1968, Page A-4]

• History of the Southwest Territory, including William Cobb's role

[1]

• Some Tennessee Heroes of the Revolution, Compiled From Pension Statements by Zella Armstrong

• The Massengills, Massengales and Variants (1472-1931), by Samuel Evans Massengill, M.D.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

• Entered by Vicki Norman

• Massengill book quote added by Bill Schultz
• The Massengills, Massengales and Variants (1472-1931), by Samuel Evans Massengill, M.D.