Joshua Clark Cobb

     Joshua Clark Cobb was born on 7 Jul 1839 in Eddyville, Caldwell Co., Kentucky.^8,9,10 He married Manie Saunders, daughter of Reuben Saunders and Adeline S. Roberts, in 1871 in Paducah, Kentucky. Her brother John had married his sister Bobella the previous November.^11,12,13 He died on 22 Dec 1895 in Paducah, McCracken Co., Kentucky, at age 56.^8,14 He was buried on 24 Dec 1895 in Oak Grove Cemetery, Paducah, McCracken Co., Kentucky.^15,16
     He was probably one of the three males under age 5 listed in the household of his father, Robert Livingston Cobb, in the 1840 Federal Census of Caldwell Co., Kentucky.¹⁷
     As a boy Joshua attended the schools in Eddyville, Kentucky. Later he took a course in the schools at Lebanon, Tennessee. At the outbreak of the war, he was a student at the College of Georgetown, Kentucky.⁴
     He appeared on the 1850 Federal Census of District No. 1, Caldwell Co., Kentucky, in the household of his parents.^18,19 He appeared on the 1860 Federal Census of Eddyville, Lyon Co., Kentucky, in the household of his parents.^20,21

R L Cobb & Sons

     With his brothers focused on mills and the iron business, Joshua's father maintained the family mercantile business in Eddyville founded by his father.^22,23,24 Joshua and his brothers Robert and Linah joined their father in the family business as they came of age. It is not clear just when each joined the firm, but all were participating by 1859. The firm was then called R L Cobb & Sons.^25,26,27 Robert withdrew from the partnership 1 Jul 1861, leaving Linah, Josuha and their father operating the business.²⁸

Military Service

     Joshua enlisted 1 Dec 1863 as a private in Company I, Faulkner's Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry, C.S.A. He was appointed 3rd Corporal 7 May 1864.²⁹ He was wounded at the battle of Harrisburg, Mississippi, which occurred 13 to 15 Jul, 1864.³⁰ He was received an injury to his eye resulting in the loss of sight in one eye. According to his son that occurred when he leaned over a campfire to light a cigar and a pistol cartridge fell out of his belt into the fire, the resulting explosion showering his face with hot embers. Whether this is the injury he received at the battle of Harrisburg is unclear.^31,32,33 He was apparently still in the hospital from his wounds when it was surrendered 4 May 1865. He was among those paroled by the Union on 12 May.³⁴

The Family Business Collapses

     The Civil War left the family in "much reduced circumferences," to use a phrase popular at the time. Robert was an ardent secessionist in a neutral state. He sold some of his holdings to invest in Confederate bonds, and lost much of the rest through failures brought on by the war.³⁵
     On 29 Feb 1868 Linah and Joshua filed nearly identical petitions of bankruptcy at the U.S. District Court in Paducah. They reported that the firm owed debts of $38,600, including $2,220 due on accounts to 12 farmers and $3,600 due on accounts to other merchants, all apparently suppliers to their mercantile business. In addition they reported $17,800 in notes due 50 individuals and firms, and $15,000 due the Commercial Bank of Kentucky. While a few notes dated to 1859, the majority of the debts originated in 1866 and 1867, indicating that the firm had fallen into difficulty after the war. One note of interest was one for $225 borrowed 2 Oct 1867 from Robert's sister-in-law, Marina Turner Cobb, wife of his brother Joshua.³⁶
     The firm's assets were listed as a 324½-acre parcel in Christian Co. valued at $500, notes written by 77 debtors with a total amount of $39,800, and 226 accounts due the firm totaling $30,600. On paper at least, the partnership was solvent, with over $110,000 in assets and less than $39,000 in debts. That probably explains why neither the firm itself nor their father filed for bankruptcy. Why Linah and Joshua did so is unclear. Neither showed other significant assets, but Linah owed the firm $10,700 and Joshua $5,800 on their personal accounts. Clearly some of the notes and accounts due the firm were uncollectable; as a beginning those owing 17 of the 226 accounts due were deceased, and the addresses of 33 more were unknown. If we assume only half of the notes and accounts due the firm could be collected, each partner's share would be worth around $5,500, less than what either owed.³⁷ (For further details of the bankruptcy proceeding see the extracted Case Files.)
     The financial picture apparently was bleaker than portrayed by these filings. On 28 Dec 1867 the Lyon Circuit Court issued a writ against the estates of Robert, Linah, and Joshua for $600, with interest from 26 Nov 1867 and costs of $23.40. As a result, the Cobb's brick ware house and lot on Water St. in Eddyville was sold at court house door on 24 Feb 1868. The purchaser was Willis Benson Machen, sometime business associate of the Cobbs, paying $600. A second writ was issued 26 Mar 1868 by Caldwell Circuit Court against the estates of the Cobbs and O. M. Jenkins, for $2219.10 with interest from 30 Nov 1867 and costs. It was levied on the same property, and the right of redemption was sold 27 Apr 1868 at the court house door. Machen again was the purchaser, paying an additional $2448.50. But before the deed was issued, Johusa supposedly paid Machen $3,600 (how did he have that sum of money?), and Machen had the deed issued in Joshua's name.³⁸ The property was sold 17 Nov 1869 to Frederick Henry Skinner for $3,000. The deed was from both Joshua and Machen, suggesting some question about the validity of the prior sale.³⁹
     The deed in this last sale identified the ware house as "now occupied by Cobb and Terry," suggesting that the Cobbs had taken on a new partner, although no other reference has been found to him. It is not clear which of the Cobbs were still involved in the business, if any. Joshua, at least, had already moved to Paducah.⁴⁰
     After 1869 the Cobbs would appear to have had few, if any, assets left in the county. The Lyon Circuit Court issued two writs 24 Jan 1868, one in favor of Garret Gray against Thomas P. Paine, O. M. Jenkins, R. L. Cobb, and W. B. Machen, the other in favor of John Gallatly against Thomas P. Paine and L. M. Cobb. They were levied on the property of Paine, not the Cobbs.⁴¹

Moving to Paducah

     Joshua moved to Paducah, Kentucky, about 1868.^42,43,40 He appeared on the 1870 Federal Census of Paducah, McCracken Co., Kentucky, in the household of his parents.⁴⁴
     He was the southern traveling agent for the Erie Transportation Company from 1867 to 1869. He then worked for a major firm located in New Orleans, traveling extensively. He was with them until the dissolution of the firm, caused by the death in 1873 of a leading member of the firm, Mr. Gunthe.^4,45 He then worked for the firm of Buckner and Terrell in Paducah, Kentucky, where he was an appraiser and grader of tobacco.^4,46
     After their marriage, Joshua and Manie lived with her father, who owned one of the most pretentious homes in Paducah.⁴⁷ Joshua and Manie appeared on the 1880 Federal Census of Paducah, McCracken Co., Kentucky, in the household of Reuben Saunders, her father. Their children, Reubie, Irvin and John, were also listed in the household.⁴⁸
     Joshua was apparently well suited to his work with tobacco, and continued in that business until 1878. But his pay there was insufficient to support his growing family in the style his wife thought appropriate, so in that year he went to work for the immense wharfboat and forwarding business operated by the Fowlers. His wife's sister's late husband had been a Fowler, and he was taken on by the firm as a relative, though he remained a subordinate, running the boat store, clerking, and filling in for others. That including captaining the daily packet ship from Paducah to Cairo, Illinois when the regular captain was indisposed.^49,50,51
     In 1885 Manie's father gave her a house in Paducah, and she and Joshua moved there with their family.⁵²
     His eyesight grew much worse from his war injuries, and in early 1892 the steamboat company he worked for changed hands and he was fired. The family's plans for Irvin to go to military school were abandoned when he had to go to work to support the family.^53,54