Cobb Bros. event flyer

The Cobb Brothers in Athens

Milton Leathers and Sam Thomas

T.R.R. Cobb House • 175 Hill Street • Athens, Georgia

Sponsored by Athens-Clarke County Library • 706 613 3650 x343

Wednesday, June 27, 6:00 pm

Come to the T.R.R. Cobb House on Wednesday, June 27 at 6:00 pm for a walking tour of one of Athens’ most distinctive homes, with talks by curator Sam Thomas and Cobb descendant Milton Leathers.

Thomas and Howell Cobb, sons of Athens settlers John and Sarah Cobb, were among the most illustrious citizens Athens produced in the Civil War era. Thomas was a stoic, aloof and religious man, who was a co-founder of the University of Georgia School of Law, and distinguished himself as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. He married Marion Lumpkin, daughter of Joseph Henry Lumpkin, first Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, who gave them the house as a wedding gift.

His older brother Howell was a gregarious man, who loved life and spending time with his friends and family. He was Governor of Georgia, and served as US Secretary of the Treasury and Speaker of the House of Representatives. He and his brother were both ardent secessionists, and Howell was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

Despite their differences, the brothers maintained a great affection for one another. This program will tell the story of Thomas and Howell Cobb and their relationship with Athens, and the “Pink Lady” house.

Milton Leathers is a seventh-generation Athenian, and is the great-great-grandson of Howell Cobb. Milton and his wife Kammy raised their four children in the Hill Street home built by Howell Cobb. Milton has been a Russian translator in the US Army; a high school teacher on Oahu; President of LM Leathers & Sons and Erwin & Co, Inc; and an English Teacher in China. He is past President of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation and a former board member of the Athens Historical Society. Milton loves to entertain with stories of his hometown and its denizens, many learned from his grandmother, Camilla McWhorter Erwin.

Sam Thomas has been Curator of the TRR Cobb House for the Watson-Brown Foundation since 2006, and before that he was the Curator for the Culture and Heritage Museums in York County, South Carolina for fifteen years. He has been the Vice-President of the South Carolina Historical Association; Vice-Chairman of the Confederation of South Carolina, Local Historical Societies; Executive Board member of the Scotch-Irish Society of the USA; and the newly-elected President of the Athens Historical Society. Sam served as a technical advisor on the film The Patriot, and is the author of many scholarly articles and books, including “The Legion’s Fighting Bulldog” with Coach Vince Dooley. Both Sam and Milton contributed to the massive volume, “The Tangible Past in Athens Georgia.”

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