Thomas Willis Cobb (1784 – February 1, 1830) was an American politician who served as a United States representative and Senator from Georgia.

Thomas Willis Cobb
United States Senator
from Georgia
In office
December 6, 1824 – November 7, 1828
Preceded byNicholas Ware
Succeeded byOliver H. Prince
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's at-large district
In office
March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1821
Preceded byWilson Lumpkin
Succeeded byAlfred Cuthbert
In office
March 4, 1823 – December 6, 1824
Preceded byNew seat
Succeeded byRichard H. Wilde
Personal details
Born1784
Columbia County, Georgia
DiedFebruary 1, 1830 (aged 45–46)
Greensboro, Georgia
Political partyDemocratic-Republican

Biography

edit

Born in Columbia County, Georgia, he pursued preparatory studies, and studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Lexington, Georgia. He moved to Greensboro and was elected as a Representative to the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1821. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Seventeenth Congress, but was elected to the Eighteenth Congress and served from March 4, 1823, to December 6, 1824, when he resigned, having been elected to the U.S. Senate; while a Representative during the Eighteenth Congress, he was chairman of the Committee on Public Expenditures. He was elected to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Nicholas Ware and served from December 6, 1824, until his resignation in 1828. The press announced that he would "probably resign" in August 1828,[1] and his successor, Oliver H. Prince, took office in November 1828.[2] Cobb was a judge of the superior court of Georgia, and died in Greensboro in 1830. Cobb County, Georgia is named in his honor and its county seat, Marietta, is named for his wife Mary.[3] He was a slaveowner and the cousin of Confederate Generals Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb and Howell Cobb.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ "We regret to learn". Richmond Enquirer. August 29, 1828. p. 3.
  2. ^ "Prince, Oliver Hillhouse". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  3. ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 143. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
  4. ^ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 2022-02-14, retrieved 2022-03-06
edit
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's at-large congressional district

March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1821
Succeeded by
Preceded by
New seat
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's at-large congressional district

March 4, 1823 – December 6, 1824
Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 2) from Georgia
1824–1828
Served alongside: John Elliott, John M. Berrien
Succeeded by