San Joaquin County
Biographies
FRANK DYCKMAN COBB
FRANK DYCKMAN COBB, resident
partner of the dry-goods house of Hale & Co., of Stockton, was born in
Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 1, 1849, a son of Samuel P. and Prudence (Dyckman) Cobb. The father, born in Springfield, Vermont,
September 10, 1811, received a fair education for the times, and at eighteen
entered the employ of Francis Kidder, who built and conducted a cotton factory
in that section. A few years later he married a daughter of Mr. Kidder, but she
died after thirteen months of wedded life, leaving no issue. In 1838 Mr. Cobb
moved to Michigan and settled in Schoolcraft, where he conducted a general
store and bought grain. He became the owner of 200 acres near the village, and
was married in Schoolcraft, about 1840. In 1844 he moved to Kalamazoo,
Michigan, where he continued in mercantile business, with a partner, under the
style of Cobb & Fisher, being interested in a general store, a grist-mill
and a distillery. In 1845 his wife died in Kalamazoo, leaving two children: Libbie and Mattie, the former dying in girlhood, the latter
living in 1890, the wife of George Hannah, a
capitalist of San Diego, California. Mr. Cobb was married for the third time,
June 27, 1848, to the mother of our subject at her home in Schoolcraft. He died
in Kalamazoo, November 26, 1852, of typhoid fever. Grandfather Moses Cobb, M.
D., a native of some section of New England, died there also in October, 1849,
in his sixty-sixth year. Four of his sons: Moses R., of Schoolcraft, Stephen,
Thomas and Charles, of Kalamazoo, are living in 1890. The mother of the subject
of this sketch nee Prudence Dyckman, was born
in the town of Clay, Onondaga County, New York, October 9, 1828, now Mrs.
Marshall Hale, of San Jose, California. Grandfather Evert
B. Dyckman was born in Greenbush, New York, September
25, 1799, a son of William and Maria (Smith) Dyckman.
In 1802 the family moved into an almost unbroken wilderness near Liverpool, New
York. In his youth Evert B., went to work for John N.
Smith, a brother-in-law, engaged largely in manufacturing business. In 1817,
the family moved into the town of Clay, in Onondaga County, where E. B. bought
100 acres, on the Seneca river and built a home for
himself and his parents. The father, born of Knickerbocker
parentage, near Tubley Hook, now Inwood,
New York, had been a soldier of the Revolution, and was married in 1784 to
Maria Smith, of Jersey, near the Hudson. In three years Evert
B. paid for his land, and on March 17, 1825, was married to Miss Harriet
Hinckley, of Liverpool, New York. He then carried on a general store in Clay
Corners until 1827, and buying more land farmed more extensively, giving some
attention to stock-breeding. The Oswego canal being laid out through his land,
he engaged in its construction, established a boat-yard and copper-shop,
besides running his store. In 1836 the tide of emigration setting westward, he
made a trip into southern Michigan and bought 1,000 acres in Van Buren County.
Mrs. Dyckman died during his absence, leaving seven
children, of whom four are living in 1890. In 1838, winding up his old
business, he moved to Paw Paw, Michigan, with his
aged parents, his children and two nephews and nieces. He was again married,
October 16, 1839, to Mrs. Almira (Hobbs) Van Vranken, who died September 17, 1840. He was elected clerk
of Antwerp Township in 1840, and associate judge of Van Buren County, in 1841.
He was married September 19, 1841, to Mrs. Amelia (La Grave) Daniels of
Schoolcraft, Michigan, and moved to that city in 1842, where Mrs. Dyckman died April 14, 1843, leaving one daughter by their
marriage, who is living in 1890. Again companionless,
Mr. Dyckman was married November 25, 1844, to Mrs.
Eliza (Woodhouse) Crossman, of Dexter, Michigan. In 1853 Mr. Dyckman purchased 600 acres at South Haven, which included
what is now the chief part of the village. He there erected a steam saw-mill, a
store and several houses, besides improving the river and building a pier.
Before his removal from Paw Paw he had there also
erected a steam saw-mill, a store and the Dyckman
House. In Schoolcraft he became engaged in several important enterprises
besides running a bank, with his son-in-law, M. R. Cobb. He was active in
promoting railroads and other public improvements, and was elected to several
offices of trust and honor. He was a member of the Legislature, taking an
active part in the removal of the capital to Lansing. Having accumulated a
fortune in legitimate business, he lived to realize his long-cherished desire
of being the administrator of his own estate, and divided his property among
his heirs, besides leaving them conjointly the heritage of a good name. He was
universally respected as a man and citizen in whom good fortune had not dimmed
the love of kindred or of humanity. Strong and energetic without coarseness or
arrogance, and considerate without weakness in all the relations of life, he
died October 14, 1880, leaving a widow, four daughters and one son, his only
child by his last wife - Mr. Clovis C. Dyckman, of
Schoolcraft, Michigan, having died June 11, 1879.
F. D. Cobb, the subject of this
sketch, was educated in the public schools and afterward for two years in
Hillsdale College. At the age of nineteen he entered the bank of his
grandfather, E. B. Dyckman, and of his uncle, M. R.
Cobb, in Schoolcraft, and after nine months became partner with his stepfather,
Marshall Hale, in a general store, under the style of Hale & Cobb. About
1872 he bought out Mr. Hale’s interest and formed a partnership with W. B.
Cobb, a son of J. T. Cobb. They were also interested with J. T. Cobb in the
manufacture of barrel staves and headings, and producing material for over
2,000 barrels a day, the subject of this sketch giving his chief attention to
running the store. The factory being destroyed by fire some three years later,
Mr. F. D. Cobb received the store as his share in the ensuing settlement of the
combined interests. He then formed a partnership with a brother-in-law, O. H.
Barnhart, under the style of Barnhart & Cobb, carrying on also a
lumber-yard and a farm of 200 acres which they owned adjoining the town. Mr.
Cobb was village treasurer one year, and then declined a second term. In 1877
he sold out his interests in Schoolcraft and came to San Jose in this State,
whither he had been preceded by his stepfather and mother with their six
children in 1875. In 1879 he became a partner with Mr. Hale of that city under
the style of O. A. Hale & Co., and is now interested in the five stores
known collectively as Hale’s California stores, and locally as Hale Brothers
& Co. in Sacramento and Petaluma; A. O. Hale & Co., in San Jose; and
Hale & Co. in Salinas and Stockton. In 1883 Mr. Cobb became manager of the
Sacramento House, and in 1885 of the business in this city, where he has since
resided.
Mr. F. D. Cobb was married in
Schoolcraft, Michigan, April 26, 1870, to Miss Hattie Myers, born in Kalamazoo
County, Michigan, March 4, 1851, a daughter of Henry B. and Helen (Randall)
Myers. The mother died that year, but the father, born in 1810, is still living
in Schoolcraft, in 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb have two children: Boyd Samuel, born
in Schoolcraft, December 8, 1871, and educated on this coast, spending two
years in the University of the Pacific, has shown special talent as an
elocutionist, but, seeming indifferent to a further prosecution of a collegiate
course, occupies himself in the store of Hale & Co. in this city. Their
other child, Carrie P., was born in Sacramento, September 19, 1883.
Mr. Cobb is a membership of
San Joaquin Lodge, No. 19, F. & A. M.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 479-481. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Genealogy Databases