OSBORN BRADLEE COBB
Osborn
Bradlee Cobb, who was a lad of ten years when he came to Iowa
with his father’s family, was reared at home and educated in
the public schools. He
remained at home and assisted in the cultivation of the farm
until he had attained his majority. The day after he was twenty-one he left
the parental roof and went to working for wages. The next winter he
attended school and in the spring he began farming for himself
as a renter. By
the practice of diligence and thrift during the succeeding two
years, teaching school in the winter and farming in the
summer, he managed to save enough to enable him to purchase
eighty acres of land, which formed the nucleus of his present
valuable farm. He
worked tirelessly, early and late, and as the years passed
added to the value of his place by the introduction of various
improvements, and as his circumstances permitted increased his
acreage. His
land, which has a natural drainage, is all under cultivation
and through careful tilling and intelligent rotation of crops
has been brought into a high state of productivity. His principal crops
are hay and such cereals as can be used in the feeding of
stock, as in connection with his diversified farming he is
raising horses, cattle and hogs and does some feeding for the
market. His
horses, of which he has twenty head, are Percherons, while his
hogs are thoroughbred Chester Whites. His cattle are
high-grade Durhams, a bull and several of the cows in his herd
being registered. The
entire place is fenced with barbed and woven wire and it is
equipped with everything needed by the agriculturist,
including many modern conveniences and labor-saving appliances
not found on the average farm.
All of the buildings now in use on the place have been
erected during the ownership of Mr. Cobb. His residence, an
attractive two-story and basement structure, contains nine
rooms with ample closets and pantries. Practical in design
and convenient in arrangement, it is well adapted to meet all
the needs of the family.
It was erected in 1901 and is thoroughly modern in
every respect, being provided with a lighting system and
furnace heat. At
a convenient distance from the house are located the barns,
one of which is thirty-six by forty-six feet and the other
forty by forty-eight feet, and the various sheds and
outbuildings necessary for the protection of stock and grain. The water supply
for all purposes is provided by bored wells and a spring in
the pasture. Everything
about the place manifests competent supervision from the
appearance of the fields to the condition of the stock and the
well repaired buildings.
Although his duties as cashier occupy the greater part
of his time, Mr. Cobb directs and plans the work of the farm,
in the operation of which he is assisted by his sons.
On
the 2d of September, 1886, Mr. Cobb was married to Miss Myrta
Kilbourn, a daughter of John and Amy (Loomis) Kilbourn,
natives of Connecticut.
They came west in early life, settling in Portage
county, Ohio. There
the grandfather took up some land as did also her father. The parents passed
the remainder of their lives on the old homestead, which is
now in the possession of Charles Kilbourn, their son. Mrs. Cobb was born
on the 30th of March, 1861, and is the second in
order of birth in a family of three. Six children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. O. B. Cobb, as follows:
Itasca, who died at the age of eight months; Arlo B.,
who was born on the 5th of January, 1889, and was
graduated from the Allerton high school with the class of
1909, following which he took a course in the Capital City
Commercial College at Des Moines; Olra A., who was born on the
4th of November, 1891, and was graduated from the
Allerton high school with the class of 1913; Rola R., whose
birth occurred on November 25, 1893, a high school student;
Lora M., who was born on the 6th of July, 1897,
also attending high school; and Laro F., whose natal day was
the 13th of September, 1901, in grammar school.
In
matters of citizenship Mr. Cobb is public-spirited, taking an
active interest in all movements affecting the general welfare
or progress of the community.
He is one of the active members of the Wayne County
Farmers’ Institute, and was president of this organization for
two years, while for several years he was president of the
Allerton Chautauqua Association. His political support he gives to the
republican party and cast his first vote for President
Garfield. He has
served with efficiency in various local offices, having been
trustee or clerk of Warren township for sixteen years, while
for four he was a member of the school board. Mr. Cobb is a man
of good judgment and keen discernment in matters of business
and has met with more than average success in the development
of his interests. He
holds stock in various local enterprises and is numbered among
the representative citizens of the town. Progressive in his
ideas, trustworthy in his business methods and honorable and
upright in his private life, Mr. Cobb is accorded the
confidence and esteem of a large circle of acquaintances and
is considered by those who know him a worthy representative of
one of the county’s honored pioneer families.