Joseph Beckham Cobb (April 11, 1819 – September 15, 1858) was an American writer and politician.
Joseph Beckham Cobb was born on April 11, 1819, in Oglethorpe County, Georgia;[1] George T. Buckley identifies Cobb's birthplace as near Lexington, Georgia.[2] His father was Thomas W. Cobb.[3] He attended a school in Willington, South Carolina, and the University of Georgia, leaving in 1838 without a degree.[4] He married Almira Clayton on October 5, 1837.[5]
Cobb moved to Mississippi in 1838 and was elected to the Mississippi Legislature in 1841, resigning in 1843.[6] By 1844 he lived in Columbus, Mississippi, where he held a plantation.[7] As of his death in 1858, his $117,000 (~$3.21 million in 2023) estate included 1,500 acres of land and more than 100 enslaved persons.[5]
Cobb published three books: The Creole (1850), a work of historical fiction; Mississippi Scenes (1851), a set of humorous observations about people and culture in Columbus; and Leisure Labors (1858), an essay collection.[8] He published essays in magazines as well.[7] Jay Broadus Hubbell describes Cobb's politics as "typical of the wealthy Whig planters" in that he opposed secession of the South from the United States.[9] In Mississippi Scenes, he wrote about Indigenous people, including Choctaw, and Black enslaved people, in highly derogatory terms.[10]
Cobb died on September 15, 1858.[11]
Publications[edit]
- "Uncle Billy Brown" (1847)[12]
- The Creole; or, Siege of New Orleans (1850)[12]
- Mississippi Scenes; or, Sketches of Southern and Western Life (1851)[8]
- Leisure Labors; or, Miscellanies Historical, Literary, and Political (1858)[8]
Citations[edit]
- ^ Rogers 1969, p. 132.
- ^ Buckley 1938, p. 166.
- ^ Rogers 1969, p. 131.
- ^ Buckley 1938, pp. 166–167.
- ^ a b Buckley 1938, p. 167.
- ^ Rogers 1969, pp. 132–133.
- ^ a b Hubbell 1954, p. 637.
- ^ a b c Wimsatt, Mary Ann; Phillips, Robert L. (1985). "Antebellum Humor". In Rubin Jr., Louis D. (ed.). The History of Southern Literature. Louisiana State University Press. p. 151. ISBN 0-8071-1251-8. OCLC 12049940.
- ^ Hubbell 1954, p. 638.
- ^ Satz, Ronald N. (1986). "The Mississippi Choctaw: From the Removal Treaty to the Federal Agency". In Wells, Samuel J.; Tubby, Roseanne (eds.). After Removal: The Choctaw in Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-1-61703-084-0. OCLC 698116897.
- ^ American Authors and Books (3d ed.). Crown Publishing Group. 1972. p. 125. ISBN 0-517-50139-2. OCLC 523487.
- ^ a b Wright, Lyle H. (1948). American Fiction, 1774–1850: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography. San Marino, California: Huntington Library. p. 62. OCLC 1145800927.
Works cited[edit]
- Buckley, George T. (May 1938). "Joseph B. Cobb: Mississippi Essayist and Critic". American Literature. 10 (2): 166–178. doi:10.2307/2920612. ISSN 0002-9831. JSTOR 2920612.
- Hubbell, Jay Broadus (1954). The South in American Literature, 1607–1900. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-0091-5. OCLC 190791.
- Rogers, Tommy W. (1969). "Joseph B. Cobb: Antebellum Humorist and Critic". Mississippi Quarterly. 22 (2): 131–146. ISSN 0026-637X. JSTOR 26473790.
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