Soldier Information
Name: William Coff
Alias: Cobb
Place of Birth: Macon Bibb GA Year of Birth: 1842
Occupation: Farm hand
Eyes: Dark Hair: Dark Complexion: Dark
Height in Feet: 5 Inches: 8
View Ledger
Enlistment Information
Enlistment Date: August 1, 1864
Enlistment Place: Louisville
Enlistment State: KY
Compiled Military Service Record
Document: View
Congressional District: 4
Company: E Regiment(s): 107th USCI
Mustered Where: Louisville, Kentucky
Mustered Out Date: May 5, 1866
Rank at Muster Out: Private
Notes:
On August 2, 1864, Private William Cobb was mustered into Co. E 107th USCI at Louisville, Kentucky. On December 17, 1864, he was “forwarded” the U.S. Army military hospital in Fort Marion, Virginia. He was admitted to the hospital for frostbite, a condition that later resulted in his discharge and his total disability. While hospitalized, he was charged $4.64 for various pieces of equipment including a cap pouch, waist belt, bayonet scabbard, and a gun sling. Throughout the remainder of his service, Private William Cobb was moved from hospital to hospital. From January through August 1865, he was in the hospital at Point of Rocks, Virginia. From September 1865, he was in the hospital at Fort Monroe, Virginia and at that time, the Government owed him $100—the first installment of his Bounty pay, and he still owed the Government $4.64. By December 1865, he was in the US Army hospital at “Fort Hicks,” but this was a transcription error. There was no such location. The correct location was Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. On February 20, 1866, Private William Cobb was transferred to the hospital at Fort McHenry. He was discharged on May 5, 1866, at Fort McHenry with a surgeon’s certificate verifying that the soldier was 100% disabled due to frostbite.
Soldier Death Information
Died in war? No
Military Death Date:
Military Death Location:
Military Cause of Death:
Death Date: August 18, 1917
Cause of Death: Scorbutus (scurvy) and senile dementia
Death Certificate
Soldier Pension Information
Pension Card Link: Pension Card
Pension Application Date: February 6, 1868
Application No.: 131301 Certificate No.: 119943
Alternate First Name: Alternate Last Name: Cobb
Widow Pension Information
Widow Pension Card: Pension Card
Widow Application Date: October 8, 1917
Application No.: 1108574 Certificate No.: 879490
No other family pension card found
Pension File Information
Pension File:
Pensioners:
Pensioner County: Breckinridge Pensioner State: KY
Number of Pages:
Pension Notes:
On February 6, 1868, William Cobb applied for and was later granted an invalid pension. William Cobb died in Cloverport, Kentucky (Breckinridge County) on August 18, 1917. On October 8, 1917, Elizabeth Cobb applied for and was later granted a widow’s pension. Elizabeth Cobb died on January 10, 1919.
The widow’s pension index card link was retrieved at Ancestry, as her full name was noted on the card. The Fold3 index card noted soldier invalid and widow applications as well as the soldier’s death date in 1917, and this file is linked to the soldier pension index card field.
Freedman’s Bank/Freedmen’s Bureau Information
No Freedman’s Bank information found
No Freedmen’s Bureau Documents found
Family Information
Mother First Name: Mother Maiden Name:
Father First Name: Father Last Name:
Siblings:
Wife #1 First Name: Harriett Maiden Name: McDade
Wife #2 First Name: Elizabeth Maiden Name: Ross
Wife #3 First Name: Maiden Name:
Children: Albert Cobb 1885
Family Notes:
William Cobb married Harriett McDade (or “McDay”) in Cloverport, Kentucky (Breckinridge County) on April 4, 1872. No further information was found regarding Harriett McDade. No official marriage records were located for William Cobb. He married Elizabeth “Lizzie” Ross Wortham (1854-1919) sometime after the 1880 Census was conducted. According to the 1910 Census, Elizabeth Ross Wortham married William Cobb in 1884. When the 1880 Census was taken, Elizabeth was married to George Wortham (1833-unknown). Elizabeth Ross was the daughter of Rev. Zale Ross (1828-1892), a well-known Methodist Episcopal minister who preached at churches throughout the Ohio Valley from as early as the 1850s, and until to his death in 1892. He was born in Scott County, Kentucky and died in Bowling Green, Kentucky (Warren County) where he is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery. Rev. Zale Ross is mentioned in the NKAA database for his work as one of the co-founders of the Lexington Conference of Methodist Episcopal Churches. Rev. Zale Ross’s last will and testament, probated in Bowling Green, Kentucky included the names of his descendants. Rev. Ross made a specific bequest that his house in Cloverport, Kentucky should go to his daughter Elizabeth Ross “Caub” [sic]. This was possibly the same house on Oak Street in Cloverport that she shared with her first husband George Wortham, and with her second husband, William Cobb. After William Cobb’s death in 1917, and Elizabeth Cobb’s death in 1919, the house was occupied by their son, Albert Cobb (1885-1967) and his spouse, Elizabeth “Betty” Cobb (1898-1942), before Albert and Elizabeth Cobb moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, around 1930. Albert Cobb was twice-married but had no children.
Family Tree:
View Family Tree on Ancestry.com Please note: this requires a paid Ancestry.com account to view
1870 Census
1870 Census Link: View
1870 Profession: Factory worker
1870 Live with/near former enslaver? Unknown
1870 Real Estate Value: 0 1870 Personal Estate Value: 500
1870 Ability to Read? Cannot read Ability to Write? Cannot write
1870 Census Notes:
In 1870, William Cobb, age 25, lived in Cloverport, Kentucky, and despite his disability, worked in a factory. He owned $500 in personal property but was not the head of the household. William Cobb lived in the household of George Wortham, age 38, born in Kentucky, mulatto, who worked as a common laborer. George Wortham owned $700 in real estate and $200 in personal property. George Wortham was married to Lavinia Wortham, age 41, who was mulatto, born in Virginia and kept house. Also in the household was their daughter, Mary J. Wortham, age 12, mulatto, born in Kentucky and attended school. Others in the household were Jane Heston, age 70, mulatto, born Virginia, no occupation; and George Wortham (or “Wathen”) (unknown if or how he is related to George Wortham), age 18, Black, born in Kentucky, and worked in a factory. It is important to note that after the 1870 Census was conducted, George Wortham’s married Elizabeth Ross (1854-1919), who later became the second wife of William Cobb.
1880 Census
1880 Census information not found
1890 Census
1890 Census information not found
1900 Census
1900 Census Link: View
1900 Profession: None
1900 Ability to Read? Cannot read Ability to Write? Cannot write
1900 Own/Rent: Own 1900 Home Free/Mortgage: Free 1900 Farm/House: House
1900 Census Notes:
In 1900, William Cobb was 57 years old and lived in Cloverport, Kentucky. He owned his home, free and clear. He was married to Elizabeth Cobb, age 45. According to the 1900 Census, Elizabeth Cobb had given birth to 5 children but only one was living. That statement, however, was incorrect. Elizabeth Cobb may have responded to the enumerator with the number of children that she had with William Cobb, but she was previously married, and three of her children from her first marriage lived in the Cobb household. Ten years later, in the 1910 Census, Elizabeth Cobb stated that she had given birth to 10 children but that only four were living. Also in the 1900 household was William and Elizabeth Cobb’s only surviving son, Albert Cobb, age 15, who attended school. The three children from Elizabeth Cobb’s previous marriage who lived in the Cobb household in 1900 were: Zale Wortham, age 23, day laborer; George Wortham, age 20, day laborer; and Leonard Wortham, 20, day laborer.
1910 Census
1910 Census Link: View
1910 Profession: None
1910 Ability to Read? Can read Ability to Write? Can write
1910 Own/Rent: Own 1910 Home Free/Mortgage: Free 1910 Farm/House: House
1910 Census Notes:
According to the Census, in 1910, William Cobb, age 69, and was born in 1841 in Alabama (incorrect–he was born in Georgia). He had been married to Elizabeth “Lizzie” Cobb for 26 years. Elizabeth Cobb was 56 years old, and had given birth to 10 children but only 4 were living as of 1910. This was William’s first marriage and Elizabeth’s second marriage. Also in the household was their only surviving son, Albert Cobb, age 24, Black, single, and employed as a fisherman at a mussel shelling plant in Cloverport. In the early 1900s, mussels were harvested from the Ohio River. The mussels themselves were considered inedible and were discarded. Their shells were used to make pearl buttons and the afterwards, the shells were ground up to use as chicken feed and/or fertilizer. On occasion, freshwater pearls were found in the mussels and used to make jewelry. Although a pearl button factory was eventually established in Cloverport, most of the shells were sent down the Ohio River and Mississippi River to manufacturers in Indiana and Iowa respectively.
1920 Census
1920 Census Link: View
1920 Profession: Fisherman
1920 Ability to Read? Can read Ability to Write? Can write
1920 Own/Rent: Own 1920 Home Free/Mortgage: Free 1920 Farm/House: House
1920 Census Notes:
By 1920, both William and Elizabeth Cobb were deceased. Their only surviving child, Albert Cobb, age 34, and his wife Elizabeth “Bettie” (or “Betty”) Cobb, age 32, lived in a house that they owned free and clear on Oak Street in Cloverport, Kentucky. This is likely the same house that belonged to his parents, William and Elizabeth Cobb. Albert Cobb continued to make a living as a fisherman on the Ohio River. Bettie Cobb had no occupation.
Enslaver Information
Name: Erastus Coff Location:
Previous Enslaver:
Enslaver Notes:
The enslaver’s identity has yet to be determined. William Cobb’s Ledger and CMSR identified his enslaver as Erastus Cobb (or “Coff”). No person named “Cobb” was listed in either the 1850 or 1860 Slave Schedules in Meade County and/or Breckinridge County. More research is needed to identify William Cobb’s enslaver.
1850 Enslaver Census
1850 Census information not found
1860 Enslaver Census
1860 Census information not found
1870 Enslaver Census
1870 Census information not found
1880 Enslaver Census
1880 Census information not found
Compensation Information
Compensation Application not found