In searching for my third museum, I found a beautiful Greek Revival home in historic downtown Athens called the T.R.R Cobb House. This house has a very interesting story behind it, along with the man who lived in it.
Now to start out with, T.R.R and his brother Howell Cobb were ardent Unionists, and actually campaigned against those who were against the Union of the North and the South. But in the years to come when Abraham Lincoln became president, both the Cobb brothers renounced their Unionist beliefs. But why would they do that? The answer to this question has brought controversy to this historic figure, as well as to the house itself: T.R.R Cobb was one of Georgia's most outspoken advocates to slavery.
He wasn't just an advocate for slavery, but he is the man who produced the only legal defense of slavery produced by a southerner in history! It was put into a massive volume in 1858 titled, An Inquiry in the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America.
In speaking with our guide on the tour, who was a great help, she explained that there are records that show that the family did treat their slaves well. When they were sick they called for a doctor, they were given new clothes once a year, and they even tried to keep families together. But there is no way that we could know if they treated them well because they cared for them, or if they only saw them as property. Around this time slaves were running away to the North, and no slave owner wanted their slaves to run away. We may never know how the Cobb's felt about them.
So with that new piece of information, it makes more sense as to why both the Cobb brothers pulled away from their Unionist views and became Secessionists. After Georgia seceded from the Union in 1861, T.R.R Cobb served on the committee that drafted the Confederate constitution; the original document is said to be written in his handwriting, which I thought was really cool. :)
In 1861 he formed his own regiment known as the Georgia Legion, or Cobb's Legion. He led this regiment into battles such as Seven Days, Second Manassas, and Antietam. He was promoted to general, but died in the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia in December 1862.
As I said before it's not just the man who lived in the house that is interesting, but the story of the house itself that is very intriguing.
The house was given as a wedding present by his father-in-law, Joseph Henry Lumpkin, when Cobb married his daughter Marion. After Cobb's death, Marion continued to live in the house until 1873. After it was sold, the home served many different functions, including a rental home, a fraternity house, a boarding house and even a Catholic church rectory. In 1985 the house was saved from being demolished by being moved to Stone Mountain. (A fun fact to know is that this house was actually sold for only $1, but it cost over $50,000 for it to be moved. Use this information at your leisure) :)For 20 years the T.R.R Cobb house sat at Stone Mountain, never being restored. But in 2005, the house was actually brought back to Athens, a few blocks from it's original location off of Prince Avenue. This move brought mixed feelings from some of the local residents, since it was a home that recognized a man who was a pro-slavery advocate. But the home is now back in Athens, and was fully restored in 2007.
It's an absolutely beautiful home, and as you walk through the rooms and see some of the furniture that was from the original house, you feel like you have walked back in time. I almost felt like at any moment I would see a woman in period dress walk around the corner and ask if I needed anything.
Now before I planned my visit I found out that the Cobb family was buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery, which was about five minutes or so from the home. You may find this weird...but I really like cemeteries. They have always intrigued me, and I mean if you want to talk about history a cemetery is chock full of it! How many stories are behind those tombstones?? So...long story short, we (as in my brother, our friend Johnny and myself) all piled into my car and took off to go on a treasure hunt to find the Cobb family. We had learned that our guide was not sure where they were actually buried, and we couldn't find anything to help us out on the internet either.
The cemetery itself is HUGE! When we pulled in my first thought was, "Yeah...we could be here for a while." The land for the cemetery was purchased in 1855 and established in 1856 and it is still an active cemetery. 17 acres. A whole lot of graves. Oh joy.Thankfully after only just a little over 45 minutes we find the family plot! We also found the lot that his brother, Howell Cobb, was buried along with his family. And if you would like to go visit the Cobb family plot, I will give you a hint. It's by the bridge in the cemetery. That's all you get! ;)
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So what do you do after a rousing day of grave-hunting??? You go buy burgers of course! But...not just any burgers. I give you Grindhouse Killer Burgers in Athens, and only five minutes from the T.R.R. Cobb house.
The burgers...well...they were just amazing. You have the option of either ordering a burger that is already pre-made or you can make your own. I decided to create my own masterpiece, which included a beef patty (which is sirloin and brisket...mmmm brisket), pepper-jack cheese, lettuce, their house sauce, and sauteed mushrooms. I topped it all off with sweet potato fries and a coke and it was good eating. And of course you can't leave without trying one of their hand spun shakes. I got the peach shake, which was delicious!
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So there you have it! An awesome day of history spent with awesome friends and great food. I've said this before and I will say it again: What more could you ask for?
Thank you all for reading this history lesson, and on to the next!
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| Yep...it's a trend. |
References:
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/thomas-r-r-cobb-1823-1862
http://www.trrcobbhouse.org/
http://www.oconeehillcemetery.com/index.php
http://www.grindhouseburgers.com/
The T.R.R. Cobb House
175 Hill Street
Athens, Georgia 30601
Grindhouse Killer Burgers
1553 Lumpkin St.
Athens, Georgia 30605
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