Notes – Cobb

Table of Contents

A Probable History of the Golden Family
of Newberry, South Carolina Since 1761
Updated 2025.07.13

There appear to be two separate Cobb families in the Ninety Six District, later Edgefield District, during the mid-to-late 1700s if some genealogies are taken at face value. I believe that the Jeremiah Cobb line of 1745-1750 is actually the same as the larger Cobb line, being from North Carolina before South Carolina and not Massachusetts.

Per an extensive number of DNA matches, I am descendant from the South Carolina Cobb family on both my maternal and paternal lines.

The individuals below may appear in your DNA matches. 

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TIMELINE

1662 Ambrose Cobbs, 1662–1718, and Frances Elizabeth Pinkett, 1666–1715, are the first of kin American-born Cobbs. The parents of Ambrose are Robert Cobbs, 1626–1682, and Elizabeth Thorpe, 1643–1684, both families from Kent, England. Both Robert Cobbs and Elizabeth Thorpe came to the Williamsburg, Virginia area very young in life by their immigrant parents:

• Ambrose Cobbs, 1603–1656, and Ann White, 1608–1656; and
• there are claimed parents for Elizabeth Thorpe but they settled in New England. It was not uncommon for wealthy New England families to further migrate from there to Virginia. The Middlesex, Virginia area is full of such families. I include the names of the claimed parents in footnotes only as it appears they never left New England.^[1]Parents of Elizabeth Thorpe as claimed in some unsourced genealogies: William Thorpe, 1605–1679, and Mary Elizabeth Spencer, 1618–1660, both immigrated from England to New England, living their … Continue reading

1745 Jeremiah Cobb Sr., 1745–1788, is in some genealogies lived his life in the Ninety Six District, later Edgefield District, South Carolina, after being born 22 Sep 1745 at Middleborough, Plymouth, Massachusetts^[2]Birth of Massachusetts Jeremiah Cobb: Jeremiah Cobb born 22 Sep 1745 to Gershom Cobb and Miriam Thomas; source: North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, pg 125., and passing away 1788 at Edgefield, Edgefield, South Carolina. This is an error that has been included by others in their genealogies. It is the blending of two very separate Jeremiah Cobbs. There was indeed a Jeremiah born in Massachusetts with a well documented family line and ancestry.

Jeremiah Cobb Sr of Edgefield, SC, was already living in the area by 1775 as son Jeremiah Cobb Jr was born that year. Meanwhile, Jeremiah Cobb of Plymouth Massachusetts was serving in the Massachusetts militia in 1777^[3]Jeremiah Cobb of Massachusetts 1777 militia service: Jeremiah Cobb; Rank Private; Military Date 1 Feb 1777; Military Place Massachusetts, USA; Military Unit Seventh Regiment, serving through at least 29 Jul 1780^[4]Jeremiah Cobb of Massachusetts 1780 militia service:  29 Jul 1780; Military Place Massachusetts, USA; State or Army Served Massachusetts; Regiment 7th Regiment;
Rank Private and would die in Massachusetts in 1788. He married Abigail Whitman in 1773^[5]Marriage of Cobb and Whitman in Massachusetts, 1773: Registers of Births, Etc. — Massachusetts East Bridgewater (Town), Registers of Births, Etc. — Massachusetts Bridgewater (Town), … Continue reading at Plymouth, MA. South Carolina’s Jeremiah Cobb married Rebecca “Becky” Gentry, 1755–1820. When South Carolina’s Jeremiah Cobb passed away is unknown.

1807 My known direct grandparentage begins with Elizabeth Cobb, 1807–1880, married to John Goforth Parker, 1798–1859. I use the term ‘known direct grandparentage‘ because DNA indicates that I am kin to the Cobbs on both my maternal and paternal lines. My genealogy has a direct maternal path to Elizabeth Cobb^[6]There are 17 DNA matches as of July 2025 between descendants of Elizabeth Cobb and myself, William Golden, b1956., and the Cobbs and other closely interrelated families lived close to our Newberry Goldens in Union and York, South Carolina. There are 29 DNA matches with Elizabeth’s siblings, children of William Ambrose Cobb, 1765–1833, and Martha Elizabeth Goforth, 1780–1855. As of 2025, I am no longer actively tracking DNA matches for the Cobb family as there are so many of them. There are also numerous upstream grandparent lines that this DNA can represent and which are my grandparents independent of any Cobb connection.

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©2025 William Golden, Norfolk1956@gmail.com // Material may be shared without requesting permission and with appropriate attribution: A Probable History of the Golden Family of Newberry, South Carolina Since 1761, by William Golden