James Dyer Cobb

Narrative:

     James Dyer Cobb was born on 24 Sep 1789 in Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont.^7,8,9
     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.¹³
     He moved with his parents to Wells, the next town north of Pawlet, by 1792.^14,15
     His father died on 10 Aug 1795, when James was 5 years old.^16,17,18
     James attended school at Burlington, Vermont.⁶ He entered United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, on 8 Mar 1808, graduating 1 May 1811.^19,20

A Military Career Foreshortened --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Upon graduation he was made a Second Lieut., Light Artillery. He served on recruiting service from 1811 to 1813, and in the War of 1812-15, in garrison at Greenbush, New York, from 1813 to 1814. He was promoted to First Lieut., Light Artillery, 1 Apr 1812.^21,22,23 According to the version of the story passed down by the family, he recruited a company for the war, but not being allowed by the government to command it he broke his sword and resigned his commission.⁶
     The official version, however, is a bit different. On 21 Jul 1813, while serving at Greenbush, New York, he was arraigned before a General Court Martial assembled there by Col. S. Larned, on charges of disobedience of orders and unofficer-like conduct. He was convicted and sentenced to be cashiered.
     On 29 Jan 1814 the Adjutant General wrote to Col. Larned informing him that the proceedings, including those against James, were illegal and he did not have authority to institute a General Court Martial. The issue was that only a general officer had authority to convene a general court martial, and Greenbush was only a cantonment under a military district. On 3 Feb 1814 the Adjutant General issued an order to Lt. Cobb to report to Col. Larned in Albany for a new trial. But the Colonel, in correspondence with the department, described "the inconvenience that would result from the decision that the court was illegal" because the sentences had been executed, and in one instance a man had been shot for repeated desertions. On 9 Mar the Adjutant General advised Col. Larned that the President had decided that Greenbush should be a separate command, thus confirming the earlier Court Martial, and that no further proceedings were necessary. The Adjutant General advised Lt. Cobb on 28 May 1814 that the President had approved the sentence and he was dismissed from the Army.^24,25,26

Seeking Redress in Congress --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     James pursued relief in the U. S. Congress for many years, involving a number of Representatives as he moved about the country. His petition "complaining that he has been dismissed by a Court Martial, illegally constituted, and unlawfully conducted, and praying that he may be allowed his pay from the date of his pretended or unlawful dismissal, to the time of disbanding the corps to which he was attached" was presented to Congress 7 Feb 1825 and again the following year, and 7 Jan 1829 by Representative Rollin Carolas Mallary of Vermont. The Committee on Military Affairs reported in Jan 1830 that it had found that the approval of the President was insufficient to render the sentence of an illegally constituted court valid, and that Lt. Cobb was entitled to all the rights of a first Lieutenant until the time his unit was incorporated with the Artillery, which had been done as part of a reduction in the size of the Army directed by Congress in 1815 and 1821.^27,28
     A bill directing the Treasury to pay him from the time of his discharge until the company was disbanded, on 2 Mar 1821, was passed and signed by the President 11 Feb 1830. James received not only his regular pay, but also the extra three month's pay allowed those removed from the service by the 1821 act. The Committee commented in its report that nature of the original charges was not the issue before it, but it felt "no hesitation in saying that they did not materially implicate his character, and that the evidence adduced to support them was dubious."^29,30
     That did not end the matter. On 13 Mar 1844 Senator John Crittenden of Kentucky introduced a petition by James "praying a restoration to the rank in the army of the United States of which he states he has been illegally deprived by the sentence of a court martial, and arrearages of pay and emoluments." His claim now was that he was still rightly an officer, apparently ignoring the reduction in the army in 1821, and should be restored to the rolls and "allowing the promotion to which he is entitled by rules of the service." After languishing for some years it was sent back to committee by Senator William Seward of New York 21 Jan 1853 but failed to advance.³¹
     On23 Dec 1853 a new petition was filed Senator Robert Johnson of Arkansas on essentially the same grounds. That petition received an adverse report from committee. On 16 Feb 1858 Senator Sam Houston of Texas had the 1844 petition for restoration of rank and back pay revived, which again received an adverse report from committee 3 Mar 1859. Its report stated that the "great number of applications made by this memorialist to the executive and the Congress for relief has induced the committee to examine the case with great care." It concluded that despite the illegal court martial, James ceased to be an officer not in 1821, but on 17 Jun 1815 when the first reduction in the army took place. Since he had already received more compensation by reason of the longer period allowed previously than would have resulted from the supposed promotion, it was unnecessary to address whether he might have received that promotion.^32,33

Becoming an Educator --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     James married Rachael Isaacs Jones, daughter of Richard Jones and Mary Donaldson, and sister of the woman his older brother Elkanah had married four years before, on 24 Apr 1817 in Prince George's Co., Maryland.^10,11,12
     After leaving the Army James seems to have taken up education, though he occasionally engaged in other occupations. In pursuit of his varied career, he and his family moved around the country extensively. He was in Maryland in 1817, and soon moved to Georgetown, but is known to have been also in Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Ohio, and Indiana, and may well have lived in other places as well. (See map.)
     He was a tutor to a private family for fifteen months, then decided to open his own school. In Jun 1817 he advertised in the Washington newspaper that he "had lately purchased a healthy situation in the country" about two miles west of Vansville, Prince George's Co., Maryland. There he offered to "devote the whole of his time and attention" to instruct no more than 10 pupils whose parents wish to have their children educated at a boarding school in the country.³⁴
     Apparently the boarding school did not live up to his expectations, because by 1820 James and Rachael had moved a dozen miles or so into the District of Columbia. James appeared on the 1820 Federal Census of District of Columbia with a household consisting of three males under age 10 (son George, his wife's son Joseph Cecil by her prior marriage, and another), and one aged 26 to 45 (himself), one female under age 10 (Martha I. Cecil, his wife's daughter by her prior marriage), and two age 16 to 26 (his wife, Rachael and another.)³⁵
     In Feb 1821 James opened the Union Academy of Georgetown and Washington, offering instruction to youth of both sexes in spelling, reading, penmanship, arithmetic, English grammar, Latin and Greek, geography, history, chronology, maps and globes, and the various branches of the mathematics. The school was located west of the residence of the Russian minister in Washington.^36,37

The Washington Literary, Scientific & Military Gymnasium --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     James opened the Washington Literary, Scientific and Military Gymnasium on Prospect St., Georgetown, District of Columbia, on 4 Sep 1826. He was superintendent, and taught in the science department and the English branches. A Mr. Chauncy W. Fitch taught Greek, Latin, and French. A "gentleman of high literary attainments" was engaged to give lectures in natural history, and there were also lectures in "chymistry and mineralogy." Students were known as cadets, and required to dress in "uniforms of a military cut and fashion." The hours of instruction were from sunrise to sunset, with study and recitations for eight hours, and the remainder for military and gymnastic exercises. He promised parents that "cadets are never to be out of the knowledge of the superintendent." Cadets from a distance could board with his family for $130 per year. They would pass their evenings with him "in a room for the purpose," and lodge in rooms adjoining his. Board, clothing, and tuition were not to exceed $275 per year, including a $2 per year charge for firewood.^38,39,40 His nephew, Joshua Cobb, studied there during the school's second year, and he wrote a letter of recommendation for the boy in support of Joshua's application to West Point.⁴¹
     A Board of Visitors, several identified as military officers, published their report on the school on 3 Jul 1827. After pontificating at length on the methods of instruction of youth over the centuries, they declared themselves "highly gratified with the examination and military exercise of the cadets." They mention the "rigid" examination in the branches of mathematics, and were satisfied by those in Latin, Greek, and French, and noted the accomplishments of the students in drawing. They seem to have been especially impressed with the military maneuvers "which would have done honor to more experienced troops."⁴² James continued to superintend the school until 1829. No further record of it has been found, so it may well have closed then. There are notices in the newspapers for a number of similar institutions, so there may have been considerable competition for students.⁴³

The Move to Ohio, Indiana, then Back to Ohio --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     James appeared on the 1830 Federal Census of Lebanon, Warren Co., Ohio, with a household consisting of two males under age 5 (sons James and Joshua), one age 5 to 10 (unknown), two age 10 to 15 (George and and perhaps his wife's son Joseph Cecil), and one aged 40 to 50 (himself), two females age 5 to 10 (daughters Mary and Sophia), one age 15 to 20 (his wife's daughter Martha I. Cecil), and two age 30 to 40 (his wife, Rachael and another). There was also one free Black woman, aged between 10 and 24, perhaps a servant.⁴⁴
     He was a counselor at law in Ohio, supposedly from 1832 to 1842.^45,46 But on 16 Apr 1835 James was granted a patent for 80 acres of land in Decatur 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. His tract was described as the west half of the southeast quarter of section 29, twp. 10 north, range 10 east.⁴⁷
     James and Rachael were living in Greensbury [Greensburgh ?] Indiana in Apr 1836 when their son George returned there from college and died shortly afterwards.⁴⁸ James was apparently an active member of the community while he was there. At a meeting held 22 Apr 1837 in Greensburgh to address citizen concerns about the tax burden of the system of Internal Improvements adopted by the state legislature in 1835-36, he was appointed one of a committee of seven to draft language urging reconsideration.⁴⁹ On 20 Aug 1838 he was granted a patent for two more parcels under that act. One was 80 acres, described as the north half of the southwest quarter of section 28, and the other of 160 acres, the east half of the southeast quarter of section 29, both of twp. 10 north, range 10 east.⁵⁰
     The family apparently moved back to Ohio, as James appeared on the 1840 Federal Census of Dayton, Montgomery Co., Ohio, with a household consisting of one male age 10 to 15 (son Joshua), two aged 15 to 20 (James and another), and one aged 40 to 50 (himself), two females under age 5 (daughters Georgiana and Alice), one age 5 to 10 (Caroline), one age 10 to 15 (Mary), one age 15 to 20 (Sophia) and one age 30 to 40 (his wife, Rachael Isaacs Cobb.)⁵¹
     While at Dayton James apparently tried to open a school there modeled on the one he had started in Georgetown. He place an advertisement in the Washington newspaper on 9 Oct 1841 for his Western Literary, Scientific, and Military Gymnasium, using much of the same language he had used to describe his earlier school. The notice included eleven references, including the governor of Ohio, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John McLean, three colonels, and his cousin, Caleb Clark Cobb, of Eddyville, Kentucky. No further record of the school has been found, so whether it actually opened, and if so for how long, is unknown.⁵²

Then to Arkansas --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     By 1847 James had been named superintendent of the Washington Male and Female Seminary in Washington, Arkansas. Newspaper advertisements in the spring of that year, for the second term, to start 7 Apr 1848 for five months named him as also teaching physics, ethics and belles lettres. His son James and daughter Mary were also listed as instructors there. He had been replaced by the fall of 1848 by Rev. H. C. Thweatt.^53,54,55
     James and Rachael appeared on the 1850 Federal Census of Washington, Hempstead Co., Arkansas, enumerated 3 Oct 1850, reporting real estate valued at $2,000. Their children Mary, Joshua, Caroline, Alice and Georgiana were listed as living with them, as was on female slave, age 50.^56,57
     He was a special agent to visit land offices in Arkansas in 1851, and a clerk in the Third Auditor's Office of the Treasury Department from 1851 to 1853. He was a professor of Mathematics in Franklin College, Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1854 and in Andrew College, Trenton, Tennessee, in 1856. He became president of La Grange College, Alabama, in 1857.⁴⁵
     James's long-running efforts in Congress do not seem to reflect any ongoing conflict with the Army. In addition to the various officers who served as references for his schools, he was appointed one of the 15 members of the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy in 1850. In the announcement of his appointment he was shown as Capt. James D. Cobb of Arkansas, and in the 1850 census claimed as his occupation to be a Lieut. Col. U.S.A. In the report of the board dated 18 Jun 1850, he is listed first among the members of the Committee on Police, which reported on "the physical wants, the health, and the moral condition of the Cadets." They were generally satisfied with the facilities, and seemed particularly impressed that the barracks included "bathing-rooms, where the Cadets, at a very slight expense, can bathe once a week, or oftener, if desired."^58,59,60
     James and Rachael apparently separated, or perhaps were divorced, before 1860. In the 1860 census he is listed as living with his eldest daughter and her husband in Arkansas, while she was living with her eldest daughter by her first marriage in Louisiana, listed under her maiden name.
     James appeared on the 1860 Federal Census of Saline Twp., Hempstead Co., Arkansas, in the household of his daughter Sophia and her husband, William H. Crabtree, with no occupation listed. His second-youngest daughter, Alice, as also listed in the household.^61,62
     James apparently died before 1870. No record of his death has been found, but he was not listed with Sophia and her husband in 1870, nor has he been found elsewhere.