Eunice Hale Waite Cobb
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Eunice Hale Cobb (; January 27, 1803 – May 2, 1880) was an American writer, public speaker, and activist. She was born in
Kennebunk, Maine Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, York County, Maine, United States. The population was 11,536 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Kennebunk is home to several beaches, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, the 1799 K ...
, in 1803 and she married Rev. Sylvanus Cobb in
Hallowell, Maine Hallowell ( ) is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,570 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Popular with tourists, Hallowell is noted for its culture and old architecture. Hallowell is included in th ...
, in 1822. She was a devoted and efficient assistant to his religious work as a Universalist preacher. Her eldest son, Sylvanus, Jr., derived much of his noted faculty for story-telling from her practice of telling him stories – often continued from evening to evening, as he sat at her feet when a child. She wrote hymns, and occasional poems, and obituary lines. Her faith in God was expressed in all her poetry. As a public speaker, she was very persuasive and convincing. She was the first female president of the Ladies Physiological Institute, of
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, and served it in that capacity for some 15 years. She died in 1880.


Early life and education

Eunice Hale Waite was born in Kennebunk, January 27, 1803, the second child of Elizabeth Stanwood and Captain Hale Waite. Her father had removed to Kennebunk from
Ipswich, Massachusetts Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,785 at the 2020 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island. A res ...
, a short time before Cobb was born, and he returned there soon after her birth, so that Ipswich was associated with her earliest childhood. Captain Waite died when Cobb was five years old, leaving a widowed mother and four children, two of whom died at a very early age. After her father's death, Cobb was cared for by her maternal grandparents, who were
Calvinists Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...
. At the age of ten, her mother married Samuel Locke (1784-1873), of Hallowell, a man of liberal education who was a school preceptor by profession. He was known to have exerted an influence on his stepdaughter. Thoroughly imbued with the Calvinistic doctrine by her grandparents, Cobb, at an early age, became a prominent member of the Baptist church of Hallowell. Asking her stepfather for spiritual guidance, he responded: "I will not try to shake your faith, but I would have you study candidly, patiently, intelligently, fearlessly, the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
."


Family

Of her genealogy, the following was contained in a son's memoir: — Thomas Waite of Ipswich is first mentioned in 1658. He was appointed sergeant in 1664. His wife was complained of before the court for wearing a silk dress, but it was decided that she was entitled to do so. From various circumstances, it is supposed that Thomas Waite was of the same family with the Maiden Waites, and with'them descended from Samuel Waite of Wethersfield, Essex County, England; but the evidence of such descent seems unattainable. Of his five children, the second son, John, was born in 1658, died May 21, 1736. He married for his first wife, Kathren Carroll, August 14, 1685; for second wife, Hannah Dorr, November 16, 1712. Their children numbered eight. Jonadab, the third son, was born February 20, 1690, married Hannah Adams, September 11, 1725, and died July 6, 1761. They had one child, John, baptized August 17, 1729. He was married to Sarah Kimball, November 30, 1749; died in February 1752, leaving his widow, Sarah Waite (who in 1773 married John Hodgkins), and two children, of whom John, the youngest, was born April 24, 1752. In the year 1773 he married Eunice Hale of Newbury. March 1782, she died; and December 29, 1785, he took for his second wife, Judith Hale. John Waite died August 6, 1789. Of the three children by his first marriage, Hale was the second, born April 30, 1779; died 1807. He married Elizabeth Stanwood, and had two daughters, the youngest of whom was Eunice Hale, who married Sylvanus Cobb. In March 1684, Sergeant Thomas Waite was granted land on which to build a house for his son John; and it was in that house that Hale Waite, the father of Mrs. Cobb, was born. Philip and Jane Stanwood were living in Gloucester in 1653, and from them Elizabeth was directly descended. Isaac Stanwood, born May 2, 1755, married Eunice Hodgkins of Ipswich, February 26, 1778. Their second child, and first daughter, was Elizabeth, born September 29, 1781; baptized October 14, 1781.


Career


Writer

Cobb followed her stepfather's advice, and the result was an article written by her, "The First Article", for the ''Universalist Magazine'' of April 21, 1821, a paper published by Henry Bowen, in Boston, and edited by Rev.
Hosea Ballou Hosea Ballou D.D. (April 30, 1771 – June 7, 1852) was an American Universalist clergyman and theological writer. Originally a Baptist, he converted to Universalism in 1789. He preached in a number of towns in Vermont, New Hampshire, an ...
. The article occupied one-fourth of the paper. Ballou decided to have this first article printed in sheets and distributed for the purpose of strengthening others who stood doubtful between the old and the new theologies. Two copies were printed on white satin and sent to the author. In May 1821, at the age of 18, Cobb commenced a diary, which she kept until she died. In that same month, she heard a sermon by Rev. Sylvanus Cobb, a Universalist preacher. They were married in Hallowell, at her stepfather's house, on September 10, 1822. As a minister's wife, Cobb was first settled in
Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A college town, the city is home to Colby College, a New England Small College Athletic Conference, NESCAC college, and Thomas College. As ...
. Her second settlement was in
Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden is a hilly woodland area no ...
. Her next change was to their home of 22 years, in
East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which was annexed by the city of Boston in 1836. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Massachusetts, Winthrop, Revere, Mas ...
, with which church she was connected for 40 years. This home was so pleasant, they named it the "Castle of Peace". Cobb was a frequent contributor to the religious press. She wrote a good deal for Universalist papers, writing in prose and verse. The most and best of her writings were of personal and local interest. Cobb's name as a writer appears in the work devoted to the poets of
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
, published at the end of the nineteenth-century, her poetry devoted to the good of humanity. Immediately after the death of her youngest son, James Arthur, at nine years of age, Cobb wrote his memoir.


Activist

Cobb's life was spent in work for the public welfare, including
Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...
s. She had interests in all the great reforms of her day. In the cause of temperance movement, temperance, she was an effective worker and speaker. She was a champion for the rights of woman in the broadest sense. While she was not identified with the public advocates of woman's rights, she counted among her warmest and most devoted friends eminent leaders of this reform, and sympathetically interchanged views on this topic. She attended, by invitation, the first Woman's Rights Convention held in
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
– at
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...
. Cobb and her husband joined with Professor Charles P. Bronson in founding the Ladies' Physiological Institute of Boston, the leader of all similar institutions in this country, Rev. Cobb obtaining the charter for it. Professor Bronson acted as president, by courtesy, the first year. Cobb then became the first elected president, and served until old age compelled her to resign the leadership. She continued her official connection with the organization by serving as corresponding secretary until a short time before her death.


Personal life

Cobb and her husband had nine children, including: * Sylvanus, Jr. (1823–1887) *Samuel Tucker (1825-1897) *Eunice Hale (1827–1871) *Ebenezer (1829–1898) *George Winslow (1831-1909) *Sarah Waite (1832–1853) *
Cyrus Cyrus () is a Persian-language masculine given name. It is historically best known as the name of several List of monarchs of Iran, Persian kings, most notably including Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC. It remains wid ...
(1834–1903) *
Darius Darius may refer to: Persian royalty ;Kings of the Achaemenid Empire * Darius I (the Great, 550 to 487 BC) * Darius II (423 to 404 BC) * Darius III (Codomannus, 380 to 330 BC) ;Crown princes * Darius (son of Xerxes I), crown prince of Persia, ma ...
(1834–1919) *James Arthur (1842–1852) Five of her family served in the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
: four sons, Sylvanus, Jr., George, Cyrus and Darius, as well as Lafayette Culver, husband of her daughter, Eunice Hale. Sylvanus, Jr., commanded at Fort Kittery, Maine, and the others served in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
and
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
.
Stanwood Cobb Stanwood Cobb (November 6, 1881 – December 29, 1982) was an American teacher, author and prominent Baháʼí of the 20th century. He was born in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Darius Cobb and his wife, née Laura Mae Lillie. Darius and his ...
was a grandson. Rev. Cobb died October 81, 1866, age 68, of hypertrophy of the heart. He was the author of a "Commentary on the New Testament," a "Compend of Divinity," and several other works. He founded, and for many years edited, the "Christian Freeman". He had been a
Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
. Cobb was told that her name was inscribed on the Masonic record in such a manner as virtually to make her an honorary member of the order. She was also a prominent and active member of the
Independent Order of Rechabites The Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR), also known as the Sons and Daughters of Rechab,Alan Axelrod ''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders'' New York; Facts on File, inc 1997 p.206 is a fraternal organisation a ...
, a temperance association organized by women. The first sign of her failing health was a paralytic shock. She had always desired to die in the old
rocking chair A rocking chair or rocker is a type of chair with two curved bands (also known as rockers) attached to the bottom of the legs, connecting the legs on each side to each other. The rockers contact the floor at only two points, giving the occupant ...
in which her mother and grandmother died, while the Sunday morning bells were ringing; her wish was met. Cobb died at the residence of her son, George, on May 2, 1880, in East Boston, and was buried at
Woodlawn Cemetery Woodlawn Cemetery is the name of several cemeteries, including: Canada * Woodlawn Cemetery (Saskatoon) * Woodlawn Cemetery (Nova Scotia) United States ''(by state then city or town)'' * Woodlawn Cemetery (Ocala, Florida), where Isaac Rice and fa ...
,
Everett, Massachusetts Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Everett was the last city in the ...
. Her papers, including diaries and biographical material, are held by
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an institute of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts ...
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
.


References


Attribution

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobb, Eunice Hale 1803 births 1880 deaths 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American poets American women's rights activists Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Everett, Massachusetts) Cobb family Members of the Universalist Church of America People from Kennebunk, Maine