Howell Cobb (August 3, 1772 – May 26, 1818) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

politician, farmer and soldier. Born in

Granville County, North Carolina Granville County is a county located on the northern border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,992. Its county seat is Oxford. The county has access to Kerr Lake and Falls Lake and is part of t ...

, Cobb later moved to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. From February 23, 1793, until January 31, 1806, Cobb served in various military positions in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

including ensign and lieutenant in the Second Sub Legion and as captain in the Artillerists and Engineers. In 1806, Cobb was elected as

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

to the

10th United States Congress The 10th United States Congress was a meeting of the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate, Senate and the United States House of Representatives, House of Repr ...

, and he was reelected to that position in the 11th, and

12th United States Congress The 12th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1811 ...

es. He resigned from Congress before October 1812 to accept a captain's commission in the U.S. Army to fight in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. After his second period of military service, he returned to his

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

, Cherry Hill, northwest of Louisville. Cobb died there in 1818 and was buried in the family cemetery on that estate. At time of his death he owned several slaves. In his will he emancipated his slave William Hill, and left the rest of his slaves to his nephew

Howell Cobb Howell Cobb (September 7, 1815 – October 9, 1868) was an American and later Confederate political figure. A southern Democrat, Cobb was a five-term member of the United States House of Representatives and the speaker of the House from 1849 to ...

. In his will he stated: Cobb's nephew and namesake Howell Cobb served as the

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by Davi ...

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's Georgia National Guard, National Guard, when not in federal service, and Georgia State Defense Force, State Defense Fo ...

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

and Provisional President Pro Tem of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

References

External links

* Retrieved on 2008-03-19
Howell Cobb (1772–1818) entry
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

* William J. Northen,
Men of Mark in Georgia
', A. B. Caldwell, 1912, pp. 443–444. 1772 births 1818 deaths United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 19th-century American planters People from Granville County, North Carolina People from Louisville, Georgia United States Army officers Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) People from colonial North Carolina Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{US-army-bio-stub