He was the third son named in his father's Will to share gavelkind from his estate

In 1633, Ambrose and Ann sold their lands in England, possibly as the preliminary preparation for their immigration to the Virginia Colony. It is believed they made the voyage in 1635, most likely landing at Jamestown. Their party consisted of Ambrose and Ann; children Ambrose, Robert, and Margaret; and Richard Barker, Hugh Barker, and Thomas Harding. It is not known positively, but probably safe to assume, that the latter three men had indentured themselves to Ambrose, in order to gain free passage to the New World. It is known that under the Land Grant laws of the day, Ambrose as a "Headright" was entitled to 50 acres of land for each person for whom he had paid the transportation charges to Virginia. The ultimate fate of the Barkers and Thomas Harding, and the length of their association with Ambrose Cobbs, is unknown.

The Virginia Colony had only been established in 1607, when our Cobbs first came to America. Jamestown, though the center of commerce, government, and protection from indians, was nonetheless a very unhealthful place, being situated on a low, swampy, mosquito infested island. Sweltering heat, disease, starvation, the lack of potable water, and occasional indian attack took a heavy toll on all new arrivals. In fact, ample records exist that indicate it was the annoyance of having to constantly 'swat' Mosquitoes that motivated the establishment of Williamsburg several miles inland. But it was most likely here that Ambrose situated his family in temporary quarters, while he no doubt began an immediate exploration of the area for the land he would claim as a Headright.

This researcher has noted that Ambrose did not exercise his headright for a period of several years after his arrival in Virginia, and cannot help but wonder as to the state of the family's finances. Certainly, while they were persons of respectability in England, they were not of the upper class. Were their resources sufficient to sustain them for that long period in Virginia, from the time they arrived until they had established their home and made their first crop?

On July 25, 1639, Ambrose patented 350 acres on the Appomattox River, near its confluence with Swift's Creek, about nine miles from present Petersburg, about fifty miles upriver from Jamestown, and adjacent to properties owned by Abraham Wood and John Baugh. And referring to the above paragraph, what did he do first...start construction on a house for his family, or start preparing the land for the first planting? It was already mid-summer; rather late in the season to be breaking previously untilled soil to start a crop. Conditions were primitive to say the least. The location was isolated and the situation with the indians was always tenuous. Ann could have been but little help, her hands full with four children under the age of twelve (see next paragraph).

Thomas COBBS, the sixth and last child born to Ambrose and Ann, was born in 1637 in Charles River County, Virginia (In 1643, the county name was changed to York.) He was the first documented native born American in this family line. He lived his entire life in York County, Virginia, and died there in 1702. He never married and died without issue. His Will was probated 24 February 1702... "To cousin William Cobbs, my house and lot where I now live", and if he died then the same to go to Thomas Cobbs; "to Isaac Sart a black mare running now at Powhatan; two sows to Alice Newman; to Robert Cobbs, son of Ambrose Cobbs; all the remaining part of my estate to cousins Ambrose Cobbs, Robert Cobbs, Otho Cobbs, and Robert Kerle (related through the Thorpe-Cobb family connection), to be equally divided between them." (It is common to also find him and the Kerle family credited as descendants of Joseph Cobb of Isle of Wight County.)

Cobbs Hall

No doubt, the first home Ambrose built was a temporary structure, intended just to get a roof over their heads. With the passage of time, to provide additional "creature comfort", he may have added onto this dwelling, or started over again with a permanent house nearby. Whatever the case, one thing does seem logical; that it was of an architecture one would expect to find in England...thatch roofs covering outer walls whose supporting inner beams are exposed. It was the style that was known by those early colonists. And certainly, with conditions being as harsh as they were, one was hardly ever of a mind to experiment.
By the time of the American Revolution (almost a century and a half later), a great plantation mansion was standing on the land Ambrose Cobbs had claimed as his Headright in 1639. A painting of it now hangs in the Library of the University of Virginia. Also, even during his lifetime, the entire locale had become known as 'Cobbs' or 'Cobbs Hall', a name that was used to identify the entire surrounding area until well after the Civil War. Although Ambrose is popularly credited with being the hand that built this mansion, a basic examination of facts and circumstances indicates this is unlikely.

The reasons for this position are (1) Ambrose lived only another seventeen years after obtaining title to the land, and apparently died a widower. (2) His heirs did not continue to live there, and (3) the mansion seen in the popular painting is clearly of southern antebellum architecture, a style that did not take root until into the 18th century, long after Ambrose's death and the property had passed out of Cobb family possession. And, the reader must forgive this redundancy, but the issue of family finances also again enters the picture. By the time the first crop was in, the Cobbs had been in Virginia at least five years. It would hardly seem unreasonable to assume that by then the family purse was near empty, if indeed it wasn't already and they were living on credit or barter. Certainly, Ambrose was mainly occupied with the clearing and cultivation of the land; and with the planting and harvesting of the corn, rice, and tobacco that he produced. And this alone, was more than a full-time job. As long as the dwelling they did occupy held up, it seems most likely that the construction of an extravagant mansion would have been the last priority. As mentioned earlier, Ambrose may have simply added onto the original temporary dwelling, or he may have begun construction of a new house nearby. But the essential point being made is that the project probably proceded in phases (as time and money permitted), as did many of the early colonial plantations...and that the mansion in the painting was only barely begun in Ambrose's lifetime, if he had anything to do with it at all.

Immediately after Ambrose died (no later than January 1656), his son Robert, acting as administrator of the estate, sold the property to one Michael Masters, who then sold it to John and Thomas Burton, in that same year. In 1704, a son of Thomas Burton sold "Cobbs" to John Bolling, and though the plantation and entire area continued to be known as "Cobbs", the property remained in Bolling family possession for over a hundred years. Bolling was the son of Colonel Robert Bolling and his wife Jane Rolfe, daughter of Thomas Rolfe and granddaughter of Pocahontas. A more thorough study of the Bolling family than what is done here gives rise to the belief that it was probably that family that built the mansion in the painting. During the Revolution, the property was raided by the British and the crops and outbuildings burned, but the house was left untouched. However, during the Civil War, the entire property was overrun and burned to the ground by Federal trooops, in 1864.

Speaking of Pocahontas! From time to time someone will come forward with the claim that "so and so" Cobb was directly descended from Pocahontas. It is true that a Pocahontas descendancy organization will accept into membership descendants of Ambrose Cobbs (for reasons of geography more than for bloodline). And it is true that the Bollings and the Cobbs eventually intermarried. But you can see for yourself that such claims of direct descendancy are pretty thin.

The land settled by Ambrose and Ann Cobbs is now partially occupied by "Point of Rocks Park", a 188-acre athletic complex operated by Chesterfield County (Chesterfield was created from Henrico in 1749.). The park is located on Enon Church Road, about 1.5 miles south of Interstate Highway 295. An archealogical survey was done of the property prior to development, and those plats and maps are available in the Virginia State Archives. A historical marker identifies the park as being the original location of the first Cobbs family home in America. Ambrose and Ann were most likely buried in the small cemetery that is located at the extreme northeast corner of the tract. In 1864, invading Union troops destroyed all the headstones, except that of Wyndham Robertson, a Bolling descendant and one-time governor of Virginia, and the (debated) only great grandson of Pocahontas. The cemetery is not accessible directly from the park. It can only be reached by a public street that runs parallel to the northern park boundary. It is located in a cul de sac and is surrounded by a rock wall approximately four feet in height.