_Ambrose COBBS _____________+
| (1662 - 1718) m 1687
_Robert COBBS _______|
| (1687 - 1769) m 1724|
| |_Frances Elizabeth PINKETT _+
| (1666 - 1718) m 1687
_Ambrose COBB _______|
| (1729 - 1797) |
| | ____________________________
| | |
| |_Crosia FRITH _______|
| (1691 - 1768) m 1724|
| |____________________________
|
|
|--Vintner COBB
| (1749 - 1805)
| ____________________________
| |
| _____________________|
| | |
| | |____________________________
| |
|_Sarah HOWELL _______|
(1734 - 1815) |
| ____________________________
| |
|_____________________|
|
|____________________________
[N770]
Vintner Cobb has been the subject of some controversy. Was he or wasn't he a son of the Ambrose Cobb who died in Lincoln County, North Carolina, about 1798? The answer is that it depends on what the individual researcher is willing to accept as definitive documentation.
If this researcher did not believe he was a son of Ambrose Cobb, Vintner would not be found in this database. But I must also confess that (1) in all honesty I must maintain that currently available documentation is NOT sufficient to state with finality that it is aproven fact. (2) Therefore, my reasons for believing it go beyond a strict compliance to genealogical standards.
The only evidence offered thus far to establish a father-son relationship between Ambrose and Vintner is circumstantial and incomplete. It is limited to two Kentucky records dated 1815 and1818, respectively. These records are popularly called 'Court Orders' but are really nothing of the kind. It is the failure to understand the nature and meaning of these documents that lies at the root of the controversy. See the following for one example.
Clay County, Kentucky: 12 Sep 1818, Book A, pp 221: Power of Attorney.
"Ambrose Cobb, Sally Payne, John Cobb, William Cobb, Jenne Arnold, Polly Finn (Fain), Robert Cobb, Thomas Cobb, Ralph Cobb, heirs of Vintner Cobb (deceased), appoints William Miller of Knox County, Kentucky as attorney to collect all the monies due them in North Carolina, or coming to their father Ventner Cobb (deceased), from the estate of their grandfather, Ambrose Cobb."
Both documents are POWERS OF ATTORNEY. These very words are clearly visible on each. By definition, Power of Attorney means simply that Party #1 gave Party #2 the legal authority to represent them in a certain specific matter --- period --- no more, no less.
In both instances, the heirs of Vintner Cobb gave their power of attorney to a lawyer (William Miller) for the purpose of doing two things:
(1) To demand the payment of any inheritence due them from the estate of Ambrose Cobb. In order to do this, the attorney had to ---
(2) Present and prove to the proper authority in Lincoln County their claim of descendancy from Ambrose Cobb, through Vintner Cobb who they claimed was Ambrose's son.
Just because those folks claimed Vintner was the son of Ambrose did not (and does not) make it a fact --- legally, genealogically, or anyother way! The claim was (and still is) subject to scrutiny and validation.
Those two PA's represented the BEGINNING of a formal legal process. The records giving the FINAL OUTCOME of that process are the ones needed to settle the Vintner-Ambrose relationship question once and for all. Those records would reveal whether the claim of descendancy was recognized as legitimate, and whether the demand for payment was met. Those records cannot be found.
The estate records for Ambrose Cobb are now in the North Carolina State Archives. They are horribly incomplete. Indeed, considering it took twenty years to settle the estate; if that archives folder was three times its current size, it would still leave a thousand unanswered questions! Further, the Court records for Lincoln County from that time frame are also missing. In fact --- there is not one single piece of paper anywhere that indicates the Kentucky lawyer ever so much as contacted anyone in North Carolina, to get the ball rolling!
And that is where it stands.
One final point: It has been speculated that Vintner Cobb was not listed in "The Cobbs of Tennessee" (Ruralist Press, Atlanta, 1968) for the reason that no research was done of Kentucky records to seek additional Ambrose Cobb heirs. I disagree.
This book was published by Cully Alton Cobb, the owner of Ruralist Press. He was a wealthy man by any measure and retained the services of PROFESSIONAL genealogists on both sides of the Atlantic to do the research. Professionals have specialized training and advanced research skills, and adhere to a higher standard of proof than do amateur hobbyists. It is my opinion that Vintner was more probably deliberately omitted from the work for the reasons I have attempted to explain here.
Simply stated, those Kentucky Powers of Attorney --- ALONE --- with no additional supporting evidence --- prove absolutely nothing more than that someone hired a lawyer. And to repeat, there is no evidence anywhere that indicates the lawyer ever even began to perform.
This being the case, the most we can say is that Vintner was "probably" a son of Ambrose Cobb --- but it is NOT PROVEN.
[N771]
Vintner died intestate, but the settlement of his property is found in Jessamine County, Kentucky, records (Order Book A, pg 178, dated June 1805 and Will Book B, dated August 1805). In these his children are listed as Ambrose, John, Penny, Polly, William, Robert, Thomas, and Ralph. It is not clear why Sally Payne was not listed; perhaps she had either already received her share, or was deceased.
Four of these children were underage. Jenny chose Ambrose Cobb for her guardian. Polly made choice of John Cobb for her guardian. Thomas and Ralph were listed as infants and were bound to James Overstreet to learn the trade of carpenters and house joiners until they reached the age of 21 years. These two children were again bound to John Walters as guardian. He released Thomas Cobb in 1808 from his apprenticeship. James Overstreet and John Walters had moved from Halifax Co,. Va. to Ky with Ventner.