2cobbs.com serves several purposes. First, it is a place where you can learn more about some of the people who share the last name Cobb. You can read about Cobb history, look into Cobb genealogy, even order books by and about Cobbs. Second, the site offers access to two Cobbs, Stephen and Chey, as well as a platform for their interests. Because Stephen and Chey are heavily involved with computer security and data privacy, the site provides a lot information on those topics. In fact, 2cobbs.com started out as, and probably will remain, a multipurpose web site. The site most likely will continue to evolve over the years (2cobbs first appeared on the web in 1996).

A. Although there is now some paid advertising on the site, the site is basically noncommercial, born of the Internet spirit of sharing information and expanding access to information. However, this spirit has never meant that people are free to appropriate the work of others. Unless stated otherwise on our web pages, or provided for under the provisions of international copyright law, you are not free to copy text or images from these pages. However, you are free to ask us for permission to use material that we have developed, and we try to be generous in spirit. And if you find any material on our site that you believe to be unfairly appropriated by us, let us know, via email to webbloke at cobb.com, and we will do our best to address your concerns.

B. By creating a place to learn more about people who share the last name Cobb we are not claiming that Cobbs are inherently more special that Smiths or Smolenskis, or any other grouping of human beings. To do so would not only be foolish, it would be a form of discrimination, and quite frankly, we can't stand discrimination. The specialness of any person comes from that person, not from their parents. While I owe a great deal to my parents, both of whom I love and admire, I cannot demand you respect me as a person because of who my parents or grandparents were. This is not some fuzzy iteration of political correctness. You only have to look at the evening news to see examples of people hating and killing other people because of who their parents were. If that is wrong, and we most certainly think it is, then it is also wrong to exult people because of their lineage.

Historical Notes:
We are interested in people who share the last name Cobb because it gives us a handle on history, a perspective on the past, to which we are linked, directly or indirectly. A personal connection with the history of certain places, events or times, illuminates them in ways we might otherwise miss or ignore. When we find something in the past that is inspiring, such as an act of bravery or daring, to which we have a connection through family, it becomes all the more inspiring. Hopefully it helps us lead better lives. But equally helpful is knowledge of the misdeeds of our less celebrated ancestors, or the stories of those who, though admired in their time, acted upon beliefs we ourselves do not share. Not only can we learn how to avoid repeating their mistakes, but also, our shame at their misdeeds may serve to reign in any tendency towards excessive pride at the positive accomplishments of our more illustrious, and more worthy forebears.

The more we study the history of Cobbs in North America, the clearer it is that most are related, in some way or other, to the same Cobbs of Kent. Although not evident from the family tree displayed on this site, many Cobbs left England for America early in the seventeenth century. Tragically, a number of them indulged in, and doubtless prospered from, the abhorrent practice of owning slaves (accounting, by implication, for the frequency of Cobb as an African American surname).

We sincerely hope by now everyone knows that slavery is utterly and completely wrong. However, it should be remembered that there have always been people who thought slavery to be wrong, and said so, loudly and clearly. For too long they were ignored. The British took too long to outlaw slavery, but it is to their credit that they finally did so in the early 1800s. Sadly, it took a lot longer for some slave-owning Americans to see the light. We believe that those who fought to preserve slavery were wrong and we see no reason to memorialize or honor their fight, even though some of them were Cobbs.