| Son | William Cobb (b. circa 1655) |
| Son | Samuel Cobb (b. circa 1660) |
| Son | Joseph Cobb (b. circa 1660) |
| Son | Joshua Cobb (b. circa 1662) |
| Daughter | Alice Cobb (b. circa 1665, d. before 14 March 1732) |
| Daughter | Deborah Cobb+ (b. about 1668) |
| Daughter | Mary Cobb (M. Gladwin\Gladding) (b. circa 1670) |
| Son | Indgould Cobb (b. circa 1673) |
| Pedigree Chart | |
| Included in charts - lists | Box Pedigree - CRS Charles Ryland Scott Ancestors Indented - CRS |
| Relationship | 8th great-grandfather of Charles Ryland ("Ryland") Scott 10th great-grandfather of Isaac Silas Vaughn 10th great-grandfather of Katherine Gilstrap Scott 10th great-grandfather of Joseph Ryland Scott 10th great-grandfather of Charles Parker ("Parker") Scott 10th great-grandfather of Orly Marie Vaughn 10th great-grandfather of Avital Catherine Vaughn |
| Anecdote | In the earliest days of the settlement of America, John Cobb left England, crossed the Atlantic, and settled on the north-eastern Virginia peninsula known as the "Eastern Shore". There are references to the Cobb family in Northampton County,VA all the way from 1642 to 1830 - almost 200 years. And most of these references seem to be John's descendants. There are also a number of loose branches in this family tree. One of John's sons seems to have left Northampton and gone to parts unknown. There are Cobbs in nearby Accomack County from 1787 to the 1860s (and possibly later) whose connection to the Northampton family has not yet been uncovered. There is a Cobb who disappears from Northampton around 1820 whose name appears in 1830 only in Maine. To confuse things, one branch of the Northampton County family may have gone to North Carolina for a few years in the 1770s and then returned.The biggest challenge in sorting out the family history is that the final generation of the Northampton County family may have migrated to Tennessee just before 1830, but finding proof has been impossible. This report tells all that has been dug out of the local records in Virginia and Tennessee. Perhaps you, the reader, can help solve the remaining family history puzzles. First Generation In 1642, a Mr. Cobbs arrived in Northampton County, Virginia from England. A letter from William Webb of London refers to "Mr. Cobbs intending towards your parts with Sir Edmund Plowden.. Please assist towards furnishing him in stocking his plantation.." He is likely the John Cobb who appears in later records between 1650 to 1688. John appears as a neighbor to John Major in 1650 and in 1661 secures a grant for 600 acres because of his role in the "transportation of 12 persons". (Most of the early grants in the Chesapeake region went to men who imported indentured servants into the colonies. Over 70% of the immigrants to the Chesapeake in this era were servants bound by some form of contract to serve from about 5 or 6 years to pay off their passage and earn a profit for all involved in the transaction - recruiting agent, merchant, ship owner, factor and planter.) This grant of John's was located in the uppermost reaches of Nassawadox Creek, extending from what is now the center of the town of Exmore to the west about one and a half miles, to the south to Nassawadox Creek and to the north to about 1/3 of a mile from the Northampton/Accomack County boundary. Nassawadox Creek flows westerly across the peninsula to Chesapeake Bay. He sold 100 acres of this land in 1687 and the remainder he distributed to his sons in his will. John Cobb was married first to Debora whose maiden name is unknown. Their home was filled with the laughter and tears, joys and challenges of raising at least 6 and possibly 7 children: William, Samuel, Joseph, Joshua, Ingold, Alice, Debora, and Mary. (Since Joseph is not mentioned in John's will, he either died or his name is a misreading or misrecording of Joshua.) John lived to see his children grow to adulthood - some of them married and some had become grandparents. His first wife died after 1661 and he married a widow Mary Crabtree whose son John Crabtree is mentioned in his will. John died in 1688. John's will begins with the typical preamble to wills of the era:In the name of God Amen, I John Cobb of this County of Northampton in Virginia being sick and weak of body, but of perfect memory, I give god thanks for it. I do make this my last will and Testament in ....as follows: First, I bequeath my soul to God my maker and Jesus Christ his .. and my body to the Earth from whence it came to be buried in Christian manner according to the discretion of my executors. He gives a token amount of cash to his son William who seems to have left the area to parts unknown. John distributes the rest by giving Samuel 200 acres, Joshua 150 acres, and Ingold 150 acres. He directs that the land for Ingold Cobb revert to his grandson John Green, if Ingold dies without children. Loose Ends There is also a Henry Cobb mentioned as a neighbor to the grantee on a Northampton County grant in 1671. His connection to John is unknown, but he was born prior to 1650. He could have been a son who died early. There is also a Richard Cobb b 1632 mentioned in a court order in 1662. Neither Henry or Richard appear in other records I have discovered so far.1 | |
| Birth | 7 June 1632 | John Cobb was born on 7 June 1632 in Plymouth, MA, USABG.2,3 |
| Marriage | about 1652 | He and Debora Dutton were married about 1652 in Northampton, Virginia, United StatesBGO. Thomas Johnson claimed that John Cobb had begotten with child his servant Debora Dutton.2 |
| Marriage | circa 1680 | He and Mary, (Widow Of Wm. Crabtree), were married circa 1680.4 |
| Will | 23 June 1688 | He signed a will on 23 June 1688 in Northampton, Virginia, United StatesBGO. To my son William Cobb 12p. To son Samuel Cobb 200 A. to be laid out at my dwelling house, reserving the use thereof for my wife Mary Cobb for life and her son John Crabtree to live with her if she pleases. To son Joshua Cobb 150 A. where he now lives adjoining the land of Mrs. Jackson. To my son Indgould Cobb 150 A. adjoining the land of Simon Teague, Thomas Maddux and John Core. To Joshua Cobb's two daus. 2 heifers. To Mary Greene the dau. of John Greene one calf. My sons Ingould and Samuel Cobb, and my (three) daus. Alice Greene, Debora Scott, and Mary Gladwin resid. legatees to be eq. div. My son Ingould extr. Witt: (Capt.) Arthur Robins, Edmond (X) Joynes, Giles (GC) Copes, John (H) Henderson - Codicil - 3 July 1688 - If my son Ingould dies without issue, then the 150 A. given him to go to my grandson John Green, Jr. To son Samuel my horse mill, but to grind his mother-in-law's bread during her life, i.e., his mother-in-law Mary Cobb. I acknowledge my sale of 300 A. to Edmond Joynes, land formerly given by Mr. Stephen Charleton to Richard Stevens and by the said Stevens sold to me. (Note: Thomas Johnson claimed that John Cobb had begotten with child his servant Debora Dutton - 1651-1654, p. 139, f. 158).5 |
| Will | 3 July 1688 | He signed a will on 3 July 1688 in Northampton, Virginia, United StatesBGO. "Codicil - 3 July 1688 - If my son Ingould dies without issue, then the 150 A. given him to go to my grandson John Green, Jr." New addition to Cobb's will made on this date.4 |
| Death | between 3 July 1688 and 28 September 1688 | He died between 3 July 1688 and 28 September 1688 in Northampton, Virginia, United StatesBGO. It was on this date that his will was proved.5,4 |
| Probate | 28 September 1688 | He had his estate probated on 28 September 1688 in Northampton, Virginia, United StatesBGO.4 |
| Last Edited | 19 September 2017 |