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Osro Cobb (May 28, 1904 – January 18, 1996) was a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
who worked to establish a
two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...
in the
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
. In 1926, he was elected to the
Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...
from Montgomery County and served as the only Republican member in the chamber for two two-year terms. He was the United States attorney for the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas (in case citations, E.D. Ark.) is a federal court in the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeal ...
during the
Little Rock Crisis Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
of 1957–1958. He served a year on the
Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction o ...
in 1966 as a temporary appointee of Democratic
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Orval Faubus Orval Eugene Faubus ( ; January 7, 1910 – December 14, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 36th Governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967, as a member of the Democratic Party. In 1957, he refused to comply with a unanimous ...
.


Background

Cobb was born near
Hatton Hatton may refer to: Places Canada * Hatton, Saskatchewan England * Hatton, Cheshire West and Chester, a former civil parish * Hatton, Derbyshire * Hatton, Lincolnshire * Hatton, London, in the London Borough of Hounslow * Hatton, Shropshire, a ...
in
Polk County, Arkansas Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,662. The county seat is Mena. Polk County is Arkansas's 48th county, formed on November 30, 1844; it was named for James K. Polk, 11th P ...
, to the lumberman Philander Cobb (born 1869), who in 1916 was an active supporter of the Republican nominee,
Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
, who narrowly lost the election to
US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
. Cobb's mother was the former Ida Sublette, a songwriter, playwright, poet, and the author of four books. In his memoirs, Cobb recalls that his mother "always made me feel that I was destined to do great things and make a meaningful contribution to my state and country of which she would be proud. She instilled in me the belief that by doing my very best, almost any objective I might seek would be within my grasp. She was right." Reared mostly in Caddo Gap in Montgomery County, Arkansas, Cobb as a child often accompanied his father to work and hence developed an interest in the family business and later in the law.


College years

Because Cobb graduated from high school at the age of sixteen, he enrolled in 1920 at
Henderson State University Henderson State University (HSU) is a public university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Founded in 1890 as Arkadelphia Methodist College, it is Arkansas's only member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Henderson has an undergraduate enrol ...
in
Arkadelphia Arkadelphia is a city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,714. The city is the county seat of Clark County. It is situated at the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains. Two universities, Henderso ...
, formerly known as Arkadelphia Methodist College or as Henderson Brown College. Cobb refers to Henderson as "a small
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
college ideally suited to my needs. It took only a short time for me to establish my identity and to make numerous friends among my fellow students and with faculty members." He lettered in
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
and was a member of the debate team and reports that he was falsely accused of
plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
by an English professor regarding an article he wrote about moonshiners in Montgomery County. At Henderson, Cobb became an advocate of two-party competition as a potential solution to Arkansas' lagging national standing both politically and economically. He graduated from Henderson in 1925 with two bachelor's degrees. Cobb reports having read:
the comparative annual ratings of the various states in education ndper capita income ... and noted to my dismay that Arkansas and
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
always seemed to be the last two states. I also observed that most of the outstanding graduates of our colleges were leaving Arkansas for greater opportunities; Arkansas was at a standstill. It became my obsession to help Arkansas throw off its shackles.
The major factors contributing to the state's problems were:
(1) Arkansas manufacturers had to pay three times the rates to ship their goods east as eastern merchants had to pay to send the same goods west to Arkansas.
(2) In those days, Arkansas was a rock-ribbed, solid, yellow-dog Democrat state. ... political machines were spawned in various counties and they corrupted the elections by any means deemed necessary. .... The Republican Party had to be convinced that it must really work in Arkansas and across the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
to help establish a viable, competitive two-party system. There was no chance for Arkansas to move forward until it could become a doubtful state in presidential elections.
Cobb left Henderson for a year when the family lumber mill at Caddo Gap burned—a $100,000 loss. In the summer of 1924, he went to Union County in south Arkansas to work in the oil boom in an office at Norphlet near Smackover. He recalls a bizarre murder case there. A barber in Norphlet offered Cobb some cake that the man's wife had mailed to him from
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. The cake was, however, saturated with poison, and the barber quickly died of eating it. On an errand, Cobb delayed eating the cake and later reflected that he "felt the Lord had intervened to take care of me. In fact, I have been spared on several occasions, and I feel there has been a Divine Protector looking after me." Cobb applied for a
Rhodes scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
, but the 1925 appointment went to
J. William Fulbright James William Fulbright (April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was an American politician, academic, and statesman who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1945 until his resignation in 1974. , Fulbright is the longest serving chair ...
, a student at the
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
, who later became the UA president and a long-term
US senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
. Cobb organized a Republican club at Henderson, having received encouragement from some faculty members. He became acquainted with Harmon L. Remmel of Little Rock, the Republican national committeeman during much of the 1920s and arranged to have his older friend Remmel deliver the 1925
commencement address A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the world. The commencement ...
at Henderson.


Political career

While serving in the Arkansas House, Cobb began studying for an
LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degree at what is now the
William H. Bowen School of Law The UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law is a public law school, part of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock). The school is both American Bar Association (ABA) accredited and a member of the Association of American ...
at the
University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock) is a public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the institution became a private four-year ...
. In 1929, Cobb was admitted to practice law before the Arkansas Supreme Court. Several senior partners in the law firm where he was employed, Campbell, Mallory, and Throgmorton in the capital city of
Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...
, were Republicans. Through these contacts, Cobb became the assistant US attorney under Wallace Townsend and wqorked alongside Drew Bowers. He also practiced law privately at the same time, a practice that was then permitted and not considered a conflict of interest. As the only Republican in the Arkansas House, Cobb was invited to meet with US President
Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
in what turned out to have been a failed effort to persuade Coolidge to sign into law a bill to create a national park in the
Ouachita National Forest The Ouachita National Forest is a vast congressionally-designated United States National Forest, National Forest that lies in the western portion of Arkansas and portions of extreme-eastern Oklahoma, USA. History The Ouachita National Forest is t ...
. The state, however, already had the health resort,
Hot Springs National Park Hot Springs National Park is an American national park in central Garland County, Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Hot Springs, the county seat. Hot Springs Reservation was initially created by an act of the United States Congress on April 20, 18 ...
. Cobb met with Coolidge for more than an hour and found him not silent at all but talkative; it turned out that the president had wished that day to delay another appointment and used Cobb to fill in missing time. Coolidge also pocket-vetoed the national park bill, which had the support of Democratic US Senator Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas, his party's 1928 vice-presidential candidate on the
Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...
ticket. In 1932, Cobb became chairman of the
Arkansas Republican Party The Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA), headquartered at 1201 West 6th Street in downtown Little Rock, is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Arkansas. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all four of Arkansas' U.S ...
, a position that he retained for twenty-three years until 1955, when he was succeeded by Ben C. Henley of
Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
, Arkansas. In 1936, Cobb waged an active campaign for governor of Arkansas as a Republican against Democrat
Carl Edward Bailey Carl Edward Bailey (October 8, 1894 – October 23, 1948) was the 31st governor of Arkansas from 1937 to 1941. Early life Bailey was born in Bernie in Stoddard County in southeastern Missouri. He attended public schools and graduated high sch ...
. Cobb stressed that he had been born in Arkansas, whereas the
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
-born Bailey was a "northern man", a tactic which went nowhere. Bailey received 156,852 votes (85.4 percent) to Cobb's 26,875 ballots (14.6 percent). Cobb recalled that after the election:
many persons called and visited and complained that they thought a substantial number of votes for me had not been counted. This probably did happen, though to what extent no one can be sure. It also hurt the presidential campaign of my friend,
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Alf M. Landon of
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. This reinforced my conviction that it was absolutely necessary for the rights of the minority party to be protected in elections through the appointment of precinct judges and clerks.
In the late 1930s, Cobb formed the Cobb, Cazort, and Holt law firm in Little Rock, which was dissolved at the start of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In 1942, Cobb joined the
United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...
, the forerunner of the
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
at the rank of
first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...
. He was promoted to
lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
and was a judge advocate at Berry Field in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, and thereafter at
Rosecrans Field Rosecrans Air National Guard Base or Rosecrans ANGB, is located on a portion of the Rosecrans Memorial Airport , Saint Joseph, Missouri, USA. It is the home of the 139th Airlift Wing, Missouri Air National Guard and the Advanced Airlift Tactics T ...
in
St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...
. At
Wright-Patterson Field Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wri ...
in
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...
, he worked on contracts to procure aircraft parts for the Army Air Corps. In 1946, he was discharged from the military and joined John E. Coates in the opening of a law firm in the Pyramid Life Building in Little Rock. Cobb represented timber companies and worked to organize the
interest group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...
, the Arkansas Wood Products Association, forerunner of the Arkansas Forestry Association. He also became involved in the Smackover oil field in Union County. In 1948, with the assistance of
Sid McMath Sidney Sanders McMath (June 14, 1912October 4, 2003) was a U.S. marine, attorney and the 34th governor of Arkansas from 1949 to 1953. In defiance of his state's political establishment, he championed rapid rural electrification, massive highway ...
, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Cobb helped to pass Initiated Act 3, which guarantees that a member of the minority party be in place at each precinct in Arkansas. The act prevented Democrats from ignoring votes cast by Republicans in heavily Democrat precincts.


US attorney

In 1952, Cobb was challenged for the chairmanship at the state convention by Vern Tindall of
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
but again prevailed. As a delegate to the 1952 Republican National Convention in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, Cobb and the Arkansas delegation voted for US Senator
Robert A. Taft Robert Alphonso Taft Sr. (September 8, 1889 – July 31, 1953) was an American politician, lawyer, and scion of the Republican Party's Taft family. Taft represented Ohio in the United States Senate, briefly served as Senate Majority Leade ...
of
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
but quickly joined with the majority to endorse
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
. Invited to meet with Eisenhower after the nomination, Cobb advised him not to concede a single southern state to the Democratic nominee, later
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Adlai Stevenson II Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (; February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician and diplomat who was twice the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. He was the grandson of Adlai Stevenson I, the 23rd vice president of ...
of
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. Cobb writes in his memoirs that Eisenhower "did not need to be sold on campaigning in the South because he already was convinced that it would be successful." In 1954, Eisenhower appointed Cobb as US attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, a highly-visible position during the
desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...
of Central High School. In the fall of 1957, Cobb was in communication with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
, the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
, and the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
regarding late developments. With
United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
Herbert Brownell Jr. Herbert Brownell Jr. (February 20, 1904 – May 1, 1996) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. From 1953 to 1957, he served as United States Attorney General in the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Early life Brow ...
, Cobb represented in federal court the US government's case against Governor Faubus, who attempted without success to thwart desegregation. Cobb reached the conclusion that Faubus had exaggerated the likelihood that segregationists would engage in violence in a vain bid to block desegregation. In his memoirs, Cobb describes his relationship with Herbert Brownell:
...Brownell had stuck by his guns for the hard line on the integration dispute. His advice had been followed. The government was committed with no easy way to extricate itself. Many people on both sides of the controversy were becoming increasingly unhappy. I am inclined to believe that while Mr. Brownell was genuinely pleased with the policy, he was grievously disappointed that it had not achieved better results. The impass with Governor Orval Faubus may have contributed substantially to rownell'sdecision to retire....


Cobb, Faubus, and Rockefeller

Late in 1965, Faubus asked Cobb to fill a vacancy on the Arkansas Supreme Court after Justice Sam Robinson retired. On January 11, 1966, Cobb took the position and served for the remainder of the year. Politically, Cobb's Republican activities paralleled the career of Wallace Townsend, an
Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
native who served as Arkansas's
Republican national committeeman The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...
from 1928 to 1961. In 1964, Cobb refused to support Republican
Winthrop Rockefeller Winthrop Rockefeller (May 1, 1912 – February 22, 1973) was an American politician and philanthropist. Rockefeller was the fourth son and fifth child of American financer John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. He is one of the g ...
for governor and instead endorsed Faubus who won his sixth and final two-year term. At the time, Cobb said that Rockefeller, a businessman originally from
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, had ignored the traditional
GOP The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP ("Grand Old Party"), is one of the Two-party system, two Major party, major contemporary political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by Abolitionism in the United Stat ...
base in Arkansas. In his memoirs, Cobb reported, ""A stranger passing through Arkansas at this time and seeing Mr. Rockefeller's advertising on billboards would not know whether Mr. Rockefeller belonged to any political party. Certainly the fact that he is the Republican nominee has not been included. The evidence simply is unanswerable that Mr. Rockefeller is working for his own personal interest to the exclusion of all other considerations, which leaves the Republican Party in Arkansas hanging precariously at the whims of one individual." However, in 1966, Cobb endorsed Rockefeller as Faubus' successor. Rockefeller defeated the Democrat
James D. Johnson James Douglas Johnson (August 20, 1924 – February 13, 2010), known as "Justice Jim" Johnson, was an Arkansas legislator and jurist known for outspoken support of racial segregation during the mid-20th century. He served as an associate justi ...
of Conway, a former member of the
Arkansas State Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...
and the Arkansas Supreme Court who had been aligned with the segregationists in the Little Rock Crisis. Cobb writes of the changed scenario in his memoirs, "Arkansas Republicans were eager to work with Winthrop Rockefeller on another race for governor if he could be led to run as a true Republican to help build the party in the state. I liked him personally. He showed me many courtesies, and I still thought espite feelings in 1964that he would make a good governor and could be elected on the Republican ticket.... He had learned a lesson. And he won his next two races for governor.... His service contributed greatly to the enormous benefits of two-party government in Arkansas."


Personal life

From the late 1960s until his retirement, Cobb focused on his petroleum and timber interests. In 1938, Cobb married the oil heiress Audrey Umsted, whom he had met while he played
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
. Her father, Sydney Albert Umsted, had in 1924 drilled the Discovery oil well in the Smackover field but was subsequently fatally injured in a train accident in Mississippi and had died in a hospital in
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. The Cobbs adopted one son, John Cobb. Audrey Cobb died in 1976; the next year he married his neighbor, Martha Jane Rebsamen, the widow of Raymond Rebsamen, a prominent Little Rock industrialist and philanthropist. Shortly before the second marriage, two armed robbers wearing masks broke into Martha Jane's home and locked her, Cobb, and her housekeeper in a closet. The intruders left with Cobb's Cadillac but called police to tell them of the three people trapped in the closet.Cobb, p. 159. In 1989 and 1990, with assistance from the journalist-editor Carol M. Griffee (1937-2011), then of Little Rock, Cobb published two editions of his autobiography entitled ''Osro Cobb of Arkansas: Memoirs of Historical Significance''. Cobb died in Little Rock at the age of ninety-one. His papers are located in Special Collections of the Torreyson Library at the
University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only n ...
in Conway.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobb, Osro 1904 births 1996 deaths Arkansas Republican state chairmen Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Arkansas People from Polk County, Arkansas People from Montgomery County, Arkansas Henderson State University alumni William H. Bowen School of Law alumni Lawyers from Little Rock, Arkansas Arkansas lawyers United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II Writers from Little Rock, Arkansas Businesspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American judges American United Methodists Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas Military personnel from Little Rock, Arkansas 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century Methodists