Joshua Cobb1,2,3

Family Chart
ID# 2236, (1776 - 1860)
FatherElkanah Cobb1,2 (21 Jan 1746/47 - 10 Aug 1795)
MotherMary Willard1,2 (abt 1753 - 2 Aug 1842)

Key Events:

Birth: 27 May 1776, Stillwater, Albany Co., New York4,5
Marriage: 2 Oct 1802, Greene Co., Pennsylvania, Nancy Crawford (6 Aug 1782 - 3 Aug 1864)6,7,8
Death: 27 Aug 1860, Washington Twp., Decatur Co., Indiana9,6
Burial: Sand Creek Cemetery, Greensburg, Indiana10
ChartsDescendants of Gideon Cobb
AncestryThe Cobbs of Pawlet, Vermont

Copyright Notice

Narrative:

     Joshua Cobb was born on 27 May 1776 at Stillwater, Albany Co., New York.4,5 He moved to Canterbury, Connecticut, with his parents Elkanah Cobb, and Mary Willard between 1776 and 1778.11,12 He moved to Pawlet, Vermont, with his parents by 1780.13,14,15 He was probably one of the five males under age 16 listed in the household of his father, Elkanah Cobb, in the 1790 Federal Census of Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont.16
     He moved to Wells, Vermont, with his parents on 6 Mar 1792.17,18
     His father died on 10 Aug 1795, when Joshua was 19 years old.19,20,21

Moving to Pennsylvania --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---


     Joshua moved to Greene Co., Pennsylvania, apparently before his marriage in 1802, as his wife's family had lived in that area for many years. He married Nancy Crawford, daughter of Col. William Crawford and Alice Kennedy, on 2 Oct 1802 in Pennsylvania, probably in Greene Co.6,7,8
     Joshua appeared on the 1810 Federal Census of Cumberland Twp., Greene Co., Pennsylvania, with a household consisting of 3 males under age 10 (sons Willard, Dyar and John), one 26 to 45 (himself), one female age 16 to 26 (unknown), and one age 26 to 45 (wife Nancy.)22

Keel-Boating to New Orleans --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---


     While living in Pennsylvania Joshua was a captain and pilot of keel-boats, making six trips to New Orleans. On one of those trips he cordelled (towed with a rope) and poled his boat back upstream to Pittsburgh. In two other trips he sold his boats and rode home on horseback. On his last trip he walked the whole distance from New Orleans to his home. On this journey he arrived at Louisville the people were celebrating the arrival of a steamboat having made the trip from New Orleans in 40 days.23 On 12 May 1814 Gideon's brother Joshua, of Greene Co., Pennsylvania, gave their younger brother John a power of attorney to recover debts owed to him by Cobb & Clark. There is no record of what those debts were.24
     On 24 Dec 1816 Joshua was appointed by Governor Simon Snyder to be Justice of the Peace in Greene Co., Pennsylvania, for the district composed of Cumberland and Jefferson Twps.25

Moving West to Indiana --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---


     Joshua and Nancy moved their family of six children down the Ohio River by flatboat to Dearborn Co., Indiana, where they lived on a farm for a year and a half.26,27,28 (See map.)
     Joshua appeared on the 1820 Federal Census of Laughery, Dearborn Co., Indiana, with a household consisting of two males under age 10 (sons Oliver and Elkanah), three age 10 to 16 (John, Dyar and Willard), and one aged 26 to 45 (himself), two females under age 10 (daughters Maria and Ella), and one aged 26 to 45 (wife Nancy.)29 In the spring of 1821 they then moved some 40 miles northwest to Decatur Co., far beyond any considerable settlement, in what was called then the "New Purchase." Only two houses could be seen from their farm.30,23,31
     On 27 Feb 1822 Joshua was granted a patent for 80 acres of land in Dearborn Co., Indiana, under the Cash Entry Act of April 24,1820. That act reduced the minimum price of public land to $1.25 per acre, and the minimum purchase to 80 acres, but required payment in cash, not on credit. According to family tradition, the $100 was raised in part by selling their only cow and best bed and bedding.32,23 He built a log cabin for the family, using no nails, screws, or hardware, later adding a larger one to form an "L." When the family moved there their nearest neighbors were seven miles away, and there were only two other families within 25 miles.23
     Settling in the wilderness, he gave up working on the rivers and farming became his primary occupation.33,34,35 He did have a "wet weather" saw mill, which apparently meant it depended on a stream that only ran in rainy weather.36
     Joshua appeared on the 1830 Federal Census of Decatur Co., Indiana, with a household consisting of two males age 10 to 15 (sons Oliver and Elkanah), one 15 to 20 (unknown), two age 20 to 30 (could be any of the three surviving older sons), and one age 50 to 60 (himself), one female age 5 to 10 (daughter Martha), one age 10 to 15 (probably Ella, though she was actually age 16 at the time), one age 15 to 20 (Maria), and one age 40 to 50 (wife Nancy.)37
     Joshua appeared on the 1840 Federal Census of Decatur Co., Indiana, with a household consisting of one male age 20 to 30 (could be Oliver or Elkanah), one age 60 to 70 (himself), and one female age 15 to 20 (daughter Martha), one age 20 to 30 (Ella), and one age 50 to 60 (wife Nancy). Son Dyer and his family are listed on the preceding line, apparently living close by.38
     He and Nancy appeared on the 1850 Federal Census of Marion Twp., Decatur Co., Indiana, in the household of James B. Terhune and Martha M. Cobb, their daughter and her husband.39
     Joshua and Nancy appeared on the 1860 Federal Census of Marion Twp., Decatur Co., Indiana, in the household of their daughter Maria and her husband, Churchill G. Christy.40
     Joshua died on 27 Aug 1860 in Washington Twp., Decatur Co., Indiana, at age 84.9,6 He was buried in Sand Creek Cemetery, Greensburg, Indiana.10

Children:
     Children with Nancy Crawford:

Citations

  1. [S862] Births, Marriages and Deaths, Pawlet, Vermont, 1768-1856, pg 5.
  2. [S1171] Hollister, Pawlet for One Hundred Years, pg 261, article attributed to Henry Willard.
  3. [S1097] Campbell, "Descendants of Henry Cobb."
  4. [S862] Births, Marriages and Deaths, Pawlet, Vermont, 1768-1856, pg 5, shows date, town, and state.
  5. [S1098] Campbell,[no subject] e-mail to author, 14 Feb 2006, citing family Bible, shows date.
  6. [S4079] The William Crawford Memorial, pg 287, shows date.
  7. [S1097] Campbell, "Descendants of Henry Cobb", shows date.
  8. [S4077] Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men of the State of Indiana, pg 83, shows state.
  9. [S1097] Campbell, "Descendants of Henry Cobb", shows date, town, county, and state.
  10. [S1098] Campbell,[no subject] e-mail to author, 14 Feb 2006, states he visited the grave recently.
  11. [S862] Births, Marriages and Deaths, Pawlet, Vermont, 1768-1856, pg 5, shows Joshua as born at Stillwater in May 1776, and Sarah born in Canterbury in Jul 1778.
  12. [S2275] Sylvester, History of Saratoga County, pg 289, shows that many families returned to Connecticut for safety during the most dangerous period of the war.
  13. [S1171] Hollister, Pawlet for One Hundred Years, pg 178, shows Gideon was one of the earliest settlers from Connecticut; pg 40 shows he was a selectman in 1780; pg 39 shows John was a constable in 1780; and pg 179, shows Elkanah moved from Connecticut in 1770 [so apparently he and his wife returned there after their time in Saratoga and Connecticut].
  14. [S862] Births, Marriages and Deaths, Pawlet, Vermont, 1768-1856, pg 5, shows Elkanah's son Willard was born in Pawlet 17 Mar 1781; pg 32 shows Ebenezer's son Darick was born in Pawlet 11 Mar 1780; and pg 85 shows Joshua was married in Pawlet 17 Sep 1781.
  15. [S2267] Land Records, Pawlet, Vermont, 1:266-7, John Fassett, commissioner for the state of confiscated land to Ebenezer Cobb of Stillwater, Albany Co., New York, dated 9 Nov 1779; 1:69-70, John Clark to John Cobb of Canterbury, Windham Co., Conicticut [sic], dated 9 Nov 1778; 1:171, Peter Van Baurer to Joshua Cobb of Stillwater, Albany Co. dated 4 Feb 1780; 1:271-2, Joel Simonds to Joshua Cobb of Pawlett, dated 19 Sep 1781; 1:275-6, Ebenazer Cobb of Pawlett to Joshua Cobb of Pawlett, dated 20 Sep 1781; 2:37, Benjamin Petton to Elkanah Cobb of Pawlett, dated 18 Dec 1783; and 2:65, Nathan Niles to John Cobb of Pawlett, dated 27 Oct 1784.
  16. [S1781] Elkanah Cobb household, 1790 U.S. Census, Rutland Co., Vermont.
  17. [S2395] Land Records, Wells, Vermont, C:272-3, notes of town meeting 6 Mar 1792 at the schoolhouse near Nathan Warram and meeting of authority & selectmen afterwards for the appointment of tavern or houses of intertainment, shows Elkanah nominated for license; C:425, town meeting 14 Feb 1793 at schoolhouse near Elkanah Cobbs does not mention tavern license; notes for 1794 meeting not found; B:423 notes of town meeting 10 Mar 1795 held at school house near Elkanah Cobb's, and meeting of authority afterwards for the appointment of tavern or houses of intertainment, shows Elkanah nominated for tavern license.
  18. [S863] Cobb, History of the Cobb Family, pg 154, shows that in probate proceedings he is called "Elkanah Cobb late of Wells.
  19. [S2395] Land Records, Wells, Vermont, B:99-100, deaths 1782-1811, shows date.
  20. [S500] Findagrave.com, online, memorial #28545418, Elkanah Cobb, shows date, and includes tombstone photo showing same.
  21. [S2222] "Register of Deaths," The Rutland Herald, 7 Sep 1795, shows town, as Pawlet.
  22. [S1099] Joshua Cobb household, 1810 U.S. Census, Greene Co., Pennsylvania.
  23. [S4077] Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men of the State of Indiana, pg 83.
  24. [S1975] Deeds, Caldwell Co., Kentucky, B:9-10, 25 Jun 1814.
  25. [S1104] MacKinney, Pennsylvania Archives, Ninth Series, vol VI, pg 4610.
  26. [S4076] Harding, History of Decatur County Indiana, pg 640, shows they moved to Indiana in 1818.
  27. [S4077] Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men of the State of Indiana, pg 83, shows they moved to Indiana in 1819.
  28. [S1098] Campbell,[no subject] e-mail to author, 14 Feb 2006, states that a Dearborn Co. history book describes the move, in fall 1818.
  29. [S1173] Joshua Cobb household, 1820 U.S. Census, Dearborn Co., Indiana.
  30. [S4076] Harding, History of Decatur County Indiana, pg 640.
  31. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavit of Churchill G. Christy, 9 Mar 1897, shows she lived in the county since the latter part of 1820.
  32. [S2359] Cobb, cash sale land patent, 27 Feb 1822, Bureau of Land Management, Brookville Land Office.
  33. [S4077] Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men of the State of Indiana, pg 86, shows Oliver tended the family arm in his youth.
  34. [S1580] Johua Cobb household, 1840 U.S. Census, Decatur Co., Indiana, reporting that two persons in the household were engaged in agriculture.
  35. [S1585] James B. Terhune household, 1850 U.S. Census, Decatur Co., Indiana, shows occupation as farmer.
  36. [S4077] Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men of the State of Indiana, pg 86, shows Oliver "attended the wet weather saw-mill whenever it rained enough to run it."
  37. [S1100] Joshua Cobb household, 1830 U.S. Census, Decatur Co., Indiana.
  38. [S1580] Johua Cobb household, 1840 U.S. Census, Decatur Co., Indiana.
  39. [S1585] James B. Terhune household, 1850 U.S. Census, Decatur Co., Indiana.
  40. [S1117] C. G. Christy household, 1860 U.S. Census, Decatur Co., Indiana.
  41. [S4079] The William Crawford Memorial, pg 287.
  42. [S500] Findagrave.com, online, memorial # 30717050, Willard Cobb, includes tombstone photo showing him as son of Joshua & Nancy Cobb.
  43. [S11295] Dyar Cobb, Certificate and Record of Death.
  44. [S1166] Kennedy, "Re: The Joshua Cobb Family," e-mail to author, 29 Jan 2007.
  45. [S4079] The William Crawford Memorial, pg 288.