Moss Family of Texas:Information about Ambrose Jr. Cobbs
Ambrose Jr. Cobbs (b. 1602, d. Bef. January 15, 1655/56)
Notes for Ambrose Jr. Cobbs:
from:COBB CHRONICLES:AN OVERVIEW OF THE CLAN by John E. Cobb, Col. USAF (Ret.) (c) 1985, pp. 57-59
The immigrant Ambrose Cobb, a "Man of Kent," was born in Lyminge, Kent, about 1603.He was living in Willesborough, Kent, in 1625 when he married Ann White, a sister of Susan White who had married his brother Thomas in 1619.In about 1630, Ambrose and his family sailed from the port of London (probably Gravesend) to a point of debarkation at the mouth of the James River, Colonial Virginia.The ship that brought Ambrose and his family to the new land has yet to be identified.
Between the years 1623-1637, 2675 individuals were listed as either land recipients or persons transported to the colony.Of these, only 663 were positively known to be free men.Ambrose Cobb was one of the elitists; for he paid for his own transportation, the transportation of his family and for his indentured servants.
Shortly after his arrival he made his way to York County, near Williamsburg where he remained until about 1635.His oldest son, Robert, found the settlement to his liking and stayed there.In 1676 Robert was appointed Justice of the Peace of York County by Sir William Berkley.In 1682, still in politics, he was appionted high sheriff of York County by Sir Henry Chicheley.
Ambrose Cobb, the immigrant, was among the adventureres who came to Virginia and not a part of the English separatist movement.The family was closely assiciated with the Church of England in Virginia for generations.Ambrose's oldest son Robert lived in Marston Parish, York County, where he became a church warden in 1658.When Marston Parish was absorbed into Bruton Parish in 1674 in Williamsburg, Robert was elected to the Vestry that erected the brick church there.Ambrose Cobb, son of Robert and grandson of the immigrant, maintained a position of leadership in the Bruton Parish as a member of the vestry from 1710 to 1715.
The immigrant Ambrose was in Henrico County, Virginia, at the time his son Ambrose was bron in 1635.His youngest son Rhomas was born there about 1637.Ambrose Cobb, a man of "experience and dignity," was appointed a tobacco viewer for Henrico County for the period 1640-41 by the Virginia Assembly.
Ambrose lived on his alloted land pending approval of his "headrights."An Englishman who paid for his own transportaiton cost to Virginia or another's was given 50 acres for each person including himself.Ambrose Cobb's headright grant was issued on 25 July 1639 for:350 acres upon the Appomattuch (sic) River, adjacent to John Baugh and Abraham Wood, for the transportation of 7 persons:Ambrose Cobb (himself), Ann Cobb (his wife), Robert Cobb (his son) and Margaret Cobb (his daughter), Richard Barker, Hugh Barker and Thomas Harding.(WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY, Vol. 19, p. 51).Ambrose Cobb did not claim land in the name of his other two sons, Ambrose and Thomas, as they were born in Virginia.
Henrico County, Book 1, 1677-1692, page 266, places Cobb lands as:lying along the Appomattox River in that part of Henrico County that later became a part of Chesterfield County.(The Appomattox River flows into the James River in the vicinity of the present town of Hopewell, Virginia).It is on the north side of the river, bound on the east by "The Point of Rocks."It is near Swifts Creek, about nine miles northeasterly down the river from Petersburg."Cobbs Island" is in the Appomattox, a short distance from "Cobbs Hall."
It was here among the great plantations of Virginia that "Cobbs Hall" (later to become famous in the annals of Virginia history) was built.At Ambrose Cobb's death, "Cobbs" became the property of his son Robert who sold the estate to Michael Masers in 1656.In the same year Masters passed it on to Thomas and John Burton.In 1694, a son of Thomas Burton sold the mansion to Colonel John Bolling (1676-1729), the great grandson of John Rolfe and Pocahontas.It is not known where Ambrose Cobb was buried.His will has never been discovered.He is believed to have died about 1656, the year his son Robert was selling his 350 acre grant.He is probably buried at "Cobbs Hall" and his grave hidden by the times.During the Revolution, the British did not distrub the mansion but destroyed the supply of tobacco and corn.In 1864, many of the old estates were damaged by Federal troops."Cobbs" was overrun by the Union Forces and all the grave markers except one were wrecked.
Ambrose and family came to Virginia on the ship TREASURER.
More About Ambrose Jr. Cobbs and Ann White:
Marriage: April 18, 1625, Norton, County Kent, England(Willesborough).
Children of Ambrose Jr. Cobbs and Ann White are:
- Ambrose Cobbs, b. 1625, d. date unknown.
- Jane Cobbs, b. 1629, Willesborough, County Kent, England, d. December 01, 1634, Willesborough, County Kent, England.
- Margaret Cobbs, b. 1630, Willesborough, County Kent, England, d. date unknown.
- +Robert Cobbs, b. Abt. 1632, Petham Lyminnge, County Kent, England, d. December 29, 1682, York County, Virginia.
- Richard Cobbs, b. 1634, Petham Lyminnge, County Kent, England, d. date unknown.
- +Ambrose IV Cobbs, b. 1635, Henrico County, Virginia, d. 1688, York County, Virginia.
- Thomas Cobbs, b. 1637, Petham Lyminnge, County Kent, England, d. date unknown.