Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/709

Rh appointed by the legislature solicitor-general of the western circuit of Georgia in 1837, held the office for three years, and during that period ob- tained an extensive practice. He entered congress as a democrat in 1848, and served by successive re- elections till 1851. distinguishing himself by his familiarity with the rules, his sl^ill as a debater, his vehement professions of love for the Union, and his equally earnest advocacy of state rights. His imperiousness, and his bold championship of slavery, made him the leader of the southern party in the house in 1847, and he was elected speaker in 1849, after a long and close contest. He de- manded the extension of slavery into California and New Mexico by Federal authority, and advo- cated the compromise measures of 1850. An issue being taken on this latter question by the south- ern rights extremists of Georgia, he was nominated for governor by the Union party in 1851, and after a violent contest was elected by a large majority. At the expiration of his term of service as govern- or, in 1853, he resumed the practice of law, but still took an active part in politics. He was again elected to congress in 1855, atlvocated Mr. Buchanan's elec- tionthroughout the northern states in 1856, and in 1857 became his secretary of the treasury. He found the treasury full, and the bonds repre- senting the national debt at a premium of six- teen to eighteen per cent. He used the surplus funds in the treasury in purchasing this indebted- ness at this high premium, but the approach of the civil war so affected the national credit that he was compelled to attempt to borrow at an exor- bitant discount the money necessary to defray the ordinary expenses of the government. On 10 Dec, 1800, he resigned, giving as his reason that tlie state of Georgia (then about to secede) required his services. On his return to Georgia, he ad- dressed the people of the state, urging forward the secession movement. He was one of the delegates from Georgia to the provisional congress which prepared and adopted the constitution of the Con- federacy, and presided over each of its four ses- sions. Of the first Confederate congress, that as- sembled 18 Feb., 1862, Mr. Cobb was not a member; but, having done his utmost to organize the oppo- sition, he was withdrawn from civil office, not being a favorite with Jefferson Davis. On the de- mand of the Georgian members, the Confederate congress appointed him brigadier-general, and sub- sequently promoted him to a major-generalship, but he took little part in military movements. At the close of the war he strongly opposed the re- construction measures as calculated to retard the restoration of the south to the Union, keep back its prosperity, and destroy the negro race. See a memorial' volume edited by Samuel Boykm (Philadelphia, 1869).— His brother, Thomas Read Rootes, lawyer, b. in Cherry Hill, Ga., 10 April, 1823 ; killed at the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., 13 Dec, 18C2, was graduated at the University of Georgia in 1841, standing at the head of his class, was admitted to the bar, and was reporter of the supreme court of Georgia from 1849 till 1857, when he resigned. He was a trustee of the university, was active in the cause of education in his native state, and had a high reputation and large practice as a lawyer. He was an able and eloquent member of the Confederate congress, in which he served as chairman of the committee on military affairs, and afterward became a general in the Confederate army. Mr. Cobb was a Presbyterian, took much interest in religious and educational matters, and gave largely to the Lucy Cobb Institute. He pub- lished "Digest of the Laws of Georgia" (1851); " Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States" (Philadelphia, 1858); "H'istorical Sketch of Slavery, from the Earliest Periods" (Philadelphia, 1859); and several essays in behalf of a state system of education.

COBB, Jonathan Holmes, manufacturer, b. in Sharon, Mass., 8 July, 1799 ; d. in Dedham, Mass., 12 March, 1882. He was graduated at Harvard in 1817, and numbered among his classmates George Bancroft, Ciileb Gushing, and Stephen H. Tyng. Mr. Cobb was one of the first to interest himself in the cultivation and manufacture of silk in the United States. In 1825 the annual importations of this material amounted to $10,250,000, in conse- quence of which congress adopted measures direct- ing public attention to the desirability of produc- ing silk at home. Meanwhile Mr. Cobb succeeded in raising the si Ik- worm in Dedham, and in 1829 called the attention of the Massachusetts legisla- ture to the fact. This body directed that a work be prepared on the subject, appropriating $600 for the purpose, and Mr. Cobb was asked to write the book. Of his " Mainuxl of the Mulberry-Tree and the Culture of Silk " (Boston, 1831), numerous copies were distributed by the members of the Massachu- setts legislature. In 1833 the printing of 2,000 copies was ordered by congress, which were circu- lated throughout the United States by the mem- bers of that body. The New England silk com- pany, under the* superintendence of Mr. Cobb, began operations about 1835, with a capital of $50,000. It employed sixteen sewing-silk ma- chines, and, under the protective duty of forty per cent, on sewing-silk, made arrangements to manufacture 200 pounds a week. A factory was erected, which at that time was the largest build- ing in the town, but it was destroyed by fire in 1844. From these efforts has come the silk indus- try of to-day, which produces in the United States annually more than $25,000,000 worth of silken fabrics, of so excellent quality that they are fre- quently sold as of foreign manufacture. In 1820 Mr. Cobb established the " Village Register," and in 1831 was instrumental in founding the Dedham institution for savings, of which, for many years, he was secretary. For forty-five years he was regis- ter of probate,, and for twenty-eight town-clerk.

COBB, Lyman, author, b. in Massachusetts about 1800; d. in Colesburg, Potter co.. Pa., 26 Oct., 1864. He was one of the greatest educators of his time, and was also active in charitable enterprises, being a member of numerous benevolent societies. He was the author of "Evil Tendency of Corporal Punishment" (New York, 1847), and numerous text-books, including "Just Standard for Pronouncing the English Language" (New York, 1825); "Spelling-Book " (1826), with "Introduction" (1831), and "Expositor" (1835); several readers (1831-'44); "Miniature Lexicon of the English Language' (1835-54); "Arithmetical