Author: Matthew M. Peek, Military Collection Archivist
Albert Edward Cobb was born on March 13, 1895, in Greene County, North Carolina, to Carson C. and Camilion A. Cobb. Albert was one of the youngest of eight children in the Cobb family by 1900. Albert’s father Carson worked as a farmer. When Albert Cobb registered for the draft for World War I in 1917, he was 22 years old and single, working as a farmer in Snow Hill, North Carolina. Cobb was inducted into military service with the rank of private at Snow Hill on May 27, 1918. He served in the 155th Depot Brigade, 80th Division, U.S. Army, through June 19, 1918. After that date, Cobb was transferred to serve in Company E, 321st Infantry, 81st Division (“Wildcat Division”), U.S. Army. Albert Cobb served overseas from July 31, 1918, to June 20, 1919, and was honorably discharged on June 27, 1919.
After returning from service, Albert Cobb married Sue Bell Sutton on November 19, 1919, in Lenoir County, North Carolina. The couple remained living in Lenoir County in the town of Moseley Hall, where by 1920 Albert was working as a farmer. By 1930, Albert and Sue Cobb had moved to the town of Jason in Greene County, N.C., where they were raising their three children while Albert continued working as a farmer. Later, Albert Cobb moved to the town of La Grange in Greene County. Albert E. Cobb died at the age of 69 on September 24, 1964, in Wilson, N.C., and was buried in the Westview Cemetery in Kinston, N.C.
To learn more about Albert Cobb’s WWI service, check out the Albert E. Cobb Papers (WWI 22) held in the WWI Papers of the Military Collection at the State Archives of North Carolina in Raleigh, N.C.
This blog post is part of the State Archives of North Carolina’s World War I Social Media Project, an effort to bring original WWI archival materials to the public through the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ (NCDNCR) various social media platforms, in order to increase access to the items during the WWI centennial celebration by the state of North Carolina.
Between February 2017 and June 2019, the State Archives of North Carolina will be posting blog articles, Facebook posts, and Twitter posts, featuring WWI archival materials which are posted on the exact 100th anniversary of their creation during the war. Blog posts will feature interpretations of the content of WWI documents, photographs, diary entries, posters, and other records, including scans of the original archival materials, held by the State Archives of North Carolina, and will be featured in NCDNCR’s WWI centennial blog.