On February 20, 1920, the West Weekly News and Times (West, Texas) announced the recent passing of local schoolteacher, Professor Clay Cobb. Ten days prior to his death, Cobb had been afflicted with the flu, which developed into pneumonia. According to the paper, Cobb “was not a vigorous man, and could not withstand the ravages of the disease.”
Born in Robertson County on April 3, 1858 (or 1856 according to his gravestone, Cobb must have been at least a little vigorous, as he was survived by a wife sixteen years his junior, and five kids. Cobb had started in the family business of farming before undertaking his studies to become a teacher. He was in his 33rd year of teaching when he was struck ill. His current school was the Closner Schoolhouse, which appears to have closed shortly after his death. He previously taught in Gholson, Independence and Chalk Bluff, among others.
As a younger man, Cobb had a brush with notoriety in 1886, when he was courting a certain young lady in Waco. On one of his visits to the town, he was introduced to another lady, a Mrs. F.A. Culpepper, who was represented to be an estimable lady and quite a catch. Cobb fell madly in love with her, and despite having only met at 9 a.m., they were married at 11 p.m. that evening. It was only after they conveyed themselves to a honeymoon site that Mrs. Culpepper confessed to Cobb that she had a husband still living and they had never divorced. Shamed at his foolishness, Cobb fled to Fort Worth, before returning to West and retained a lawyer to dissolve the bigamous union. Cobb, himself, was held innocent in the affair, as the papers testified he was gentleman with a spotless reputation for truth and sobriety.
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Closner School Photo (1912)
(courtesy History of West Museum)
