Nathan Cobb

Descendant of Mayflower passengers John Howland and Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland

NATHAN COBB was born in Falmouth, Maine, 3 March 1767, the seventh child of Andrew and Hannah (Green) Cobb. He moved as an infant to Gorham, Maine and spent his early life in that community. While still a resident of Gorham, on 25 June 1789, he purchased from his brother Nicholas a 100-acre lot in the newly formed town of Limington, Maine. That parcel is situated in what is now present-day Limerick, Maine, and positioned at the base of what was known as “Sawyer’s Mountain”. Initially, he built a log house on the site but, as his family grew, replaced it more than once with larger and grander homes.

Nathan Cobb was a farmer his entire life, and was a prominent citizen in Limington, Maine. His brother Andrew Cobb Jr. had a neighboring farm, and the two families were well regarded throughout the area. In his later years, Nathan sold his farm and moved in with his son, Joel Cobb, in the north part of Limington. He died in nearby Cornish, Maine on 29 January 1849 in his 82nd year of age.

Nathan Cobb was married in Limington, 6 May 1792, to MARY SAWYER, b. Wells, Maine, 15 May 1775, daughter of William and Mary (Simpson) Sawyer. Through her mother, Mary (Sawyer) Cobb was a direct descendant of the Cranmer family of 16th century England – her ancestor, Edmund Cranmer, was a younger brother of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Henry VIII. Mary (Sawyer) Cobb died in Limington on 31 August 1844, age 69 years.