By Mary Beth Marino

Confederate hero T. R. R. Cobb has contributed historically and evangelistically to the South.

He was a prominent attorney and served as Brigadier General in the Civil War.

He was also the principal drafter of the Confederate Constitution and was founder of the University Law School; the Athens Y.M.C.A. and the Lucy Cobb Institute--named after his oldest daughter. He was married to Marion Lumpkin, daughter of Joseph Henry Lumpkin, the first chief justice of Georgia’s Supreme Court.

While Cobb’s contribution to the growth of the South is undoubtedly significant, his personal judgements sometimes caused his fellow constituents to disagree with him on issues such as his approach to education reform in the South, and his religious viewpoints.

The book, “Thomas R. R. Cobb, The Making Of A Southern Nationalist,” (McCash), said that it was Cobb who implemented the reading of the Bible in district schools.

Thomas Cobb’s strongest convictions were displayed when he made the statement, “God is our refuge, a very present help in trouble,” paraphrasing the 46th Psalm. “He has never yet deserted the righteous cause. He never will... I can go to the canon’s mouth with that Psalm on my lips.”

Until the day of his death, at the battle of Fredericksburg, Cobb clung to that conviction, the book emphasized.

The book also suggests that Cobb’s evangelizing became part of what made him an historic figure and hero. He frequently had very important meetings with men of political stature, but rarely failed to use some of that meeting time to evangelize. He was said to have deepened his faith to help him over the loss of his eldest daughter, Lucy. Apparently, Lucy died at the age of 13 of fever, and it was only his faith that helped Thomas Cobb through the tragic loss of this favorite daughter.

T. R. R. Cobb-historic figure, education reformer and evangelist-was a man who displayed his religious convictions and made sure they superseded all other priorities in his life.

It would seem impossible that Thomas R. R. Cobb would be very pleased to know that his home and land have been used for the very things he lived and died for - education and religion.