Namesake

Cobb County is named for Thomas Willis Cobb, born in Lexington, Georgia, who practiced law in Greensboro before he was appointed to fill the seat of Nicholas Ware on December_16, 1824. After his resignation Cobb returned to the Superior Court bench in 1828. Cobb is known for his attack on Andrew Jackson following the First Seminole War (1817-1818) and his vote to censure Jackson, whom many viewed as a military hero. Jackson was unpopular in Cobb County because he was the man selected by the federal government to remove settlers from the area west of the Chattahoochee River (now Cobb County) in 1820.

Early Inhabitants

Woodland Indians inhabited the county before the rise of the Moundbuilders, who controlled the county until about 1500 A.D. Moundbuilders had settlements along the Chattahoochee River and Nickajack Creek before 1000 AD.

The Creek Confederacy (some archeologists believe are descendants of the Moundbuilders) controlled most of western Georgia including present-day Cobb County and had a number of villages along the Chattahoochee River. The biggest Creek village other than those along the Chattahoochee was on Sweetwater Creek, with a large satellite community near present-day Powder Springs.

Moving east from Tugaloo Old Town the Cherokee drove the Creek south after 1765. The land west of the Chattahoochee River in this area developed into a trading area for the Cherokee and Creek tribes.

Cobb County beginnings

Cobb County was originally part of the Original Cherokee County in 1830. This was little more than an illegal attempt to extend the state of Georgia's laws over the Cherokee. At the time a small community of farmhouses at the crossroads of two major roads, the (Old) Sandtown Road and the "old road," also known as one of four Alabama Roads in Georgia. While the creation of Cherokee County in 1830 did draw additional settlers, most of the land within present-day Cobb County was distributed to settlers during the 1832 Land Lottery.

Before the Cherokee Trail of Tears in 1838 many of the Cherokee left eastern Cobb, perhaps of their own free will or forced out by one of the "pony clubs." According to the law created to give away the Cherokee land, these "pony clubs" were a "horde of Thieves," but they were really much more sinister.

Formation

In 1832 Cobb County was formed on the Cherokee Nation because the state of Georgia did not really own the land. While most of the parcels in Cobb was given away in the 1832 Land Lottery, some was placed in the gold lottery.

For the first two years no courthouse existed and court business was conducted in settlers cabins, most notable the cabin of George Power. In 1834 legislation funded a courthouse in newly-formed Marietta, named in honor of T. R. R. Cobb's wife Marie.

Early Growth

Cobb County was lucky to have ferries across the Chattahoochee River and a rudimentary road system when it was created. In 1837 it go another break. Engineer Stephen Harriman Long could not build the Western and Atlantic Railroad from his original choice of location and had to move the Southern Terminus to Hardy Ivy's property in Fulton County. The trestle crossed the Chattahoochee at Bolton, winding about 25 miles in Cobb before entering Cass County (now Bartow County to the north.

Indian Removal

The corrupt Treaty of New Echota was approved by the U. S. Senate on May 18, 1836, and the Cherokee began leaving Cobb County. By 1868 one of the few Cherokee that remained was Old Sope, sometimes called Chief Sope. He live near the creek bearing his name, now protected as the Sope Creek Unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Sope was beloved by the local settlers because he spoke English and befriended the settler's children, teaching them Indian skills and customs. When the U.S. Army came to remove the remaining Cherokee, the settlers told the men to leave Old Sope alone.

Civil War

Cobb held some of the major targets of the Atlanta Campaign including Roswell Mill and Marietta Paper Mill. Both were the largest mill of its type in Georgia. Roswell Mill employed 231 women and 155 men in 1860 according to the U. S. Census. The paper mill (known as a "rag" mill because it produced high quality paper from cotton) employed about 20 people.

The Union Army entered Cobb County from the west on June 1, 1864, heading east along Joe Johnston's line running from Lost Mountain through Pine Mountain and on to the northern end of Kennesaw Mountain. As the Battles for Cobb County progressed, especially following the Battle of Gilgal Church, Johnston's line ran north-south instead of east-west.

On June_22, 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman tried to go around Kennesaw Mountain. Joseph Hooker's XX Corps and John Schofield's Army of the Ohio struck John Bell Hood's Corps south of Kennesaw Mountain near Powder Springs. The Battle of Kolb's Farm was a technical Union victory that forced Sherman to assault Kennesaw Mountain, a battle he hoped to avoid.

Five days later, on June 27, 1864, Sherman attacked the Confederates on a broad front. About 8,000 men struck at various places, but the largest attack in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was the 1,000 man advance on Confederate forces Cheatham's Hill.

After taking Marietta, Sherman continued south, following the Western and Atlantic Railroad to Bolton, where Joe Johnston had one of the strongest defensive lines Sherman had ever seen, the Chattahoochee River Line. Sherman, already stinging from losses at Kennesaw Mountain, chose to cross the Chattahoochee River at Sope Creek and Roswell.

During the two month occupation of Atlanta, Sherman was a frequent visitor to Kennesaw and was there during the Battle of Allatoona Pass. On November 12 Sherman passed through Cobb one more time, picking up the men at Kennesaw Mountain to join him on the March to the Sea.

Reconstruction

County: Cobb County
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