Philip L. Cobb (1870-1929) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 22, 1870. His father, Caius C. Cobb, came to Cleveland in 1839 and was active for fifty years in the bookselling business, originally with Moses C. Younglove and later as partner in J. B. Cobb & Co., and Cob, Andrews & Co. His mother, Helen M. Andrews, was born in Cleveland in 1836, daughter of Edward W. Andrews, a gunsmith and early resident of Cleveland.
Philip Cobb received his early education in the public schools of Cleveland, attending Brownell, Sterling, and Central High School. He graduated at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1892, as a civil engineer. While in college he did surveying for the Lehigh Valley Railroad in New York state. From 1892 to 1896, he worked on design and construction for the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad.
He returned to Cleveland in 1897, taking a position with The Brown Hoisting Machinery Co., and then later with the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company. Cobb spent the remainder of his life in Cleveland, marrying twice - first to Vinnette Vaupel in 1899, and following her death, to Louise Bill in 1909. Philip Cobb died on August 7, 1929.
On of Philip Cobb's major interests was genealogy, and particularly that of his family. He wrote a number of books in the field, including: A History of the Cobb Family Parts I - III; A History of the Cobb Family part IV: Boston Family; A History of the Cobb Family Part V: English Wills and Genealogical Notes; The Andrews Genealogy: With Notes on the Macmillan, Pritchard, Cross and Other Allied Families; History and Genealogy of the Wells Family; Cemetery Inscriptions From Cambridge, N.Y.; Wells Family and Others; and Inscriptions in Willoughby Center Cemetery.
At least three branches of Cobbs settled in the United States; two in Massachusetts and one in Virginia. Philip Cobb's earliest American ancestor was Thomas Cobb. he was born in Oxfordshire, England, and in 1685 emigrated to Boston with his family in pursuit of religious and political freedom. He worked for a number of years as a blacksmith in Boston and then moved with his son, Robert, to Hingham, Massachusetts. Thereafter, the Cobb family quickly settled in all parts of New England.
Members of the family were involved in various American wars. In 1745, Richard Cobb fought in King William's War. Edward Cobb was a captain in the American Revolution, and his son, David, was among the forces at the battle of Lexington in 1755. Numerous members of the Cobb family also served in the American Civil War.
As the American frontier moved westward, so did the Cobb family. Today, descendants of the Cobb family are represented in states from Massachusetts to California. The Cobb family has distinguished itself in various pursuits. They have contributed much to the fields of law, literature, business, and religion, such as Calvin Cobb who owned and operated a newspaper in Boise, Idaho, and Junius Cobb who was a pioneer in the book and stationery business in Cleveland, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois.
The Philip L. Cobb Papers, 1858-1929 and undated, consist of genealogical information collected by Philip Cobb on both the Cobb and allied families. This material takes the form of genealogical charts, manuscripts written by Philip Cobb, correspondence, notebooks and notes, newspaper clippings, genealogical data cards, and index cards.
This collection traces the Cobb family from 14th century England to 1929, the year of Philip Cobb's death. It should be noted that most of the information in the collection is represented in the publications by Philip Cobb which can be found in the Research Library of the Western Reserve Historical Society.
The collection is arranged by document type. The genealogical charts begin with Philip Cobb and trace his earliest known ancestors in both the Cobb and allied families. There is also a chart concerning the Cobb ancestry in England. Two charts of the Samuel Cobb family are maintained in an oversize folder. The manuscripts in the collection are typed or written drafts of publications by Philip Cobb concerning the Cobb family and its allied branches. The notebooks contain data on the Cobb family derived from sources such as town, probate, or cemetery records. Correspondence within the collection pertains primarily to genealogical matters or to requests for copies of Cobb's publications. Some personal correspondence is also included. Correspondence of Philip Cobb with Edward H. Whorf, a professional genealogist, is maintained separately. Additional correspondence is also located in the geographic and allied family files. The geographic files detail the Cobb family by locality and are maintained in an arrangement scheme devised by Philip Cobb. The two main sections of this are the Cobb family in England and the United States. The United States files are arranged alphabetically by state and then by town or county. The file for each locality is further arranged by notes, correspondence, and newspaper clippings with the latter two maintained chronologically. The notes are derived from family or local histories, town, probate, cemetery, and church records, or from similar primary sources. The newspaper clippings are primarily from the genealogical query section of "The Boston Evening Transcript." There are also copies of obituaries or other articles relating to family members. It should be noted that dates given for newspaper clippings refer to the date of publication and do not necessarily reflect the time period covered by the clippings themselves. The allied family divisions, which have also been maintained in Philip Cobb's arrangement, follow the same format as the geographic divisions. They are arranged alphabetically by surname and further arranged by notes, correspondence, and newspaper clippings. The genealogical data cards contain vital statistics on members of the Cobb family and are arranged alphabetically by Christian name. The index cards were used by Philip Cobb in the preparation of his publications. They consist of three indices of Cobb family members arranged alphabetically by Christian name. There are also two indices of allied families arranged alphabetically by surname and then Christian name. A separate card index provides information on family members by geographic area and is arranged alphabetically by name of town.
All photographs have been removed to the photograph and print collection.
The researcher should also consult MS 4360 Cobb-Andrews Family Papers.
Processed by Donald Haggerty in 1978.
None.
A list of geographic divisions used in the Geographic Files and a list of Cobb allied families is available at the Reference Desk of the WRHS Research Library.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3313 Philip L. Cobb Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Provenance unrecorded.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.