Nansemond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Cobb, Augustus H., 1905 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ WEALTHY BANKER BLEW OUT BRAINS IN BANK Augustus H. Cobb, Apparently Happy, Takes Own Life While Clerk Went Out On Errand - Cause Not Known Suffolk, Va., March 10 - (Special.) - Standing at the cashier's window of the Suffolk Banking and Trust company, Augustus H. Cobb, a wealthy banker and mill owner, blew out his brains at 15 minutes to 12 o'clock today. When they found him Mr. Cobb was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, his feet towards the window and street, his legs drawn up, his arms outstretched. Drs. W.W. Murray and E.R. Hart, who were the first on the scene, say that death was instantaneous. The bullet from a .38-call-bre revolver had entered at the lobe of the right ear and penetrated the brain. The gun from which the ball was fired was found on the counter to the right of the window. It was the one which had been kept in the bank for several months. It contained only two shells, one of which was empty. There were blood and a small piece of flesh on the end of the barrel, which evidently was pressed against the head when the trigger was pulled. The only clerk in the office had just stepped out through a rear door. Mr. Cobb arrived a little after 10 o'clock today from Norfolk. Having reached the bank, he spoke pleasantly to the clerk, Bruce Rawles, and lay down in an apartment just behind the one in which the tragedy was enacted. He said he was not feeling well. Young Rawles went out. When he returned Mr. Cobb was seen prostrate in the front office. The floor was bathed in blood. When young Rawles came and saw Mr. Cobb lying as he was. he ran for a doctor. Dr. Hart's office, diagonally across the street, was visited by Bruce. The doctor was out. Then the boy went for Dr. Murray, who was the first on the scene, followed closely by Dr. Hart, who got word subsequently. Mr. Cobb was dead before the first doctor came. He was dead when the bullet was fired. According to what the doctors say, Mr. Cobb was found with his feet nearest the window. His legs were drawn up, his arms spread out. His eyes, glazed- like and expressionless, were looking towards the ceiling. The bullet which ploughed its cruel course through the decedent's brain made an opening about two inches in diameter. There were blood and powder marks about the place which made the wound hard to place at first. Doctors say if the shot had been fired a few feet away only a small round hole would have been left. When the officers had come they said, after viewing the surroundings, that there should not be an inquest. It was not necessary, they affirmed. The public, or some of it. including one of the doctors, claimed that it was a little unusual proceeding. Sheriff Baker and Acting Coroner Holladay were asked why. They said there were no suspicious circumstances connected with the tragedy; that it was plainly a case of suicide, and that it was no use to run the state to the expense of having an inquisition. They removed the body from the bank to the undertaker's shop in a grocery wagon. It was laid upon a stretcher and covered with an oil cloth. Dr. Murray went there and sewed up the place after the blood clots had been washed away. A small bump on top of the skull showed where the bullet had come almost through. Up at the bank building, a part of which had been occupied as a colored boarding house, the landlady, Martha Wells, was asked what she knew. She did not hear the shot. She was fixing dinner. Florence Smith, also colored, who lives in "Boston," had come into the bank to look after a note. She saw Mr. Cobb prostrate and tried to arouse him, not knowing of the circumstances. She was the first to see the body, after the clerk. She did not fix her note. Police Chief Brinkley got there early. He 'phoned for county officials and took the cash, handing it over to a teller with vouchers. He thought there should have been an inquest. Dr. Hart was seen. He was among the first to arrive. He described the wound as already told about. He said he endeavored to prevent anyone from disturbing the body. The corpse was lying in front and a little to the left of the cashier's window. The pistol was on the counter, its barrel clotted with blood and flesh. He inferred there would be an inquisition and expected that a doctor would formally examine the wound. Dr. Murray, the first to come, corroborated what Dr. Hart said. Dr. Murray also went to the undertaker's and sewed up the wound. Dr. Murray had been treating Mr. Cobb for nervousness and insomnia. Some of his medicine was found in the dead man's pockets. The deceased had intimated that nervous matter was troubling him, and that death would not be much worse than living in his fix. The most pathetic feature of the affair was when W.E. [sic; E.W.] Cobb, the dead man's brother, arrived. He talked to his dead brother as though he were alive, having not yet realized the tragic end. "Why did you do this, Gus?" he wailed. "You know there was no reason for you to take this route." The frenzied brother, who was almost more than a brother, stood above the dead form and talked with pathos. The few spectators uncovered and shed tears. It was a sad and tragic scene. Wallace Norfleet, a transfer man, came up from Norfolk this morning on the 10 o'clock Seaboard train. He saw Mr. Cobb, who spent last night in Norfolk. Mr. Cobb seemed despondent and would not talk to him as usual. The deceased was of a sunny and happy disposition and was regarded as one of the last men who would seek to destroy himself. He always seemed jovial and happy. There was no financial reason why Gus Cobb should have ended his life. Though he had suffered losses by a defaulting bookkeeper at the mills and had lost by an absconding cashier, the losses in the aggregate only reached a few thousand, and did not impair the finances of the concerns. A business man tonight, who had just talked with the surviving partner, said he would rate the Cobb Bros. at $100,000 right now. The deceased is supposed to have had an income of at least $8,000 a year. Again, there was no domestic reason for suicide. The home relations were most happy. The deceased leaves a widow and five children. His brother, who is unmarried, lived with the family and there never was any discord. It was regarded as a model family. This leaves only bad health as a cause. Mr. Cobb always had enjoyed good health until recently, and then his troubles were only those of the nerves. Mr. Cobb's life was insured for at least $10,000, perhaps more. The Cobb Bros. came here about fifteen years ago. They were natives of Brunswick [sic*], Me. They started knitting mills in a small way and made money steadily and fast. One fire came, but that did not stop their progress for long. The alleged defaulting bookkeeper at the mills and the alleged absconding cashier at the bank are both colored. The losses in both cases, if any, were not enough to bring about self-destruction. Doctors think that Mr. Cobb got despondent over something and that despondence brought on nervous disorder, and perhaps a temporary mental aberration. The deceased leaves a widow and five children. The oldest is about 16, the youngest 6. They live on Bank street, near Holladay. The deceased was about 45 years old. Asked tonight if he desired to make a statement, W.E. Cobb, the surviving brother, said he preferred not to say anything. Attorney Lee Britt, who has been counsel for the Cobb Bros. ever since they were south, said the losses did not embarrass them financially. He was under the impression that an inquisition should have been held. ****************************************************************************** TO BURY BANKER IN SUFFOLK Remains of Augustus Cobb, Who Ended Life With Bullet, Will Be Interred At Home. Suffolk, Va., March 11 - (Special.) - Despite the fact that Brunswick, Me., was the place of his nativity, the body of the late Augustus H. Cobb, the banker who yesterday ended his own life with a bullet, will be laid to rest among those who sleep beneath the sod of Cedar Hill cemetery, in Suffolk. The family of the deceased has practically been reared in Suffolk and this looks more like home to them than Maine. The funeral of the deceased will take place Monday from the residence, on Bank street, and will be conducted by Dr. Staley. The delay in burial was to await the coming of northern relatives. These will be pall-bearers: T.M. Lilliston, Charles Keller, D.N. Farnell, E.K. Channell, A.A. Riddick, John C. Holladay, C.H. Skinner and W.H. Jones, Jr. The relatives from Maine and Pennsylvania will have arrived by Monday. Augustus H. COBB, banker & knitting-mill owner, b. 23 Jan 1860, Bath*, ME, suicide 10 Mar 1905, at office, Suffolk, interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery (Block A, Lot 37*), Suffolk, 13 Mar 1905, "Virginian-Pilot" (Norfolk, VA), Vol. 24, No. 60, Sat., Mar. 11, 1905, p. 6; "Virginian-Pilot" (Norfolk, VA), Vol. 24, No. 61, Sun., Mar. 12, 1905, p. 10 The articles were reprinted in the "Norfolk Journal of Commerce and Twice-a-Week Virginian-Pilot," Vol. 3, No. 125, Tues., Mar. 14, 1905, p. 3. *Additional information: Cedar Hill list, an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/cedar_d.txt Photos of her gravestone - added by Jake Dog - are posted with Find a Grave Memorial #108627507. Birthplace from the birth record of his daughter Marion, b. 31 Jul 1896 in Brunswick, ME. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/c100a18o.txt