U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cobun, Sanford Lee (b. 1860) --------------------------------------------------------------------- A History of Preston County West Virginia Biographical Department, Supplied by J. R. Cole Kingwood, W. Va., The Journal Publishing Company, 1914 by H. S. Whetsell Pages 669-671, SANFORD LEE COBUN. The Cobun family are of English descent and were among the first to settle in Preston county. James Cobun, son of Jonathan, settled near Dorsey's Knob, building his cabin at a place a little south of Masontown, as early as 1770. In 1790 he patented one thousand acre's in this part of the county, and on these lands their descendants have lived to this present time. The Honorable Sanford Lee Cobun, president of the Bank of Masontown and member of the State Legislature, is a grandson of Isaac and Sarah McMillen Cobun and a son of Benjamin Franklin Cobun, who for a long time was one of the successful merchants of the town. Mr. B. F. Cobun built two houses on the old homestead, one of which about one-half mile east of the village he used for his residence, and is where he died in April, 1898, at the age of sixty-one-and-a-half years. He and his brothers, Isaac B., Simon, James, Lincoln and Meyer, were men of influence in the community and left descendants worthy of the name which they bear, some of them being merchants, others successful farmers. B. F. Cobun was married to Miss Margaret Jane Hartley about six or seven years before the breaking out of the Civil War. She was the youngest child of Edward Hartley. She was born at Masontown, June 29, 1832, and is still living. The children born of this union were: Albert M., who died of typhoid fever when about twenty-five years of age, July, 1881. He was a school teacher and a merchant. (2) Harriett, who married Samuel Field and moved to Galesburg, Illinois, where he died. (3) Homer S., who is a farmer and stock raiser near Reedsville. He married Attie Loar, daughter of Richard Loar. (4) Sanford Lee, of whom mention will again be made. (5) Elmer Ellsworth, a farmer and stock raiser, and the father of one child, Helen Elizabeth. His wife, Aura, was a daughter of Buckner and James Brown. (6) Louie, the wife of Allison Stuck, a farmer living near Masontown. She is the mother of two children. (7) Florence, the wife of Edward Wasson of Fairview, Illinois, and the mother of two children. (8) Willie G., a merchant of Reedsville. He married Clara Freeland. They have one child. (9) Myra, married Sherman Snyder and resides at Keyser, W. Va. They have one child. Mr. Snyder is a conductor on the railroad. (10) Alice, the youngest child of B. F. and Margaret Cobun, died at twenty years of age. Sanford Lee Cobun was born September 11, 1860. He received a free and select school education, and spent the earlier years of his life on the farm and in the store of B. F. Cobun & Son. On the death of his older brother he left school and took his place behind the counter in the store, where he continued for twenty-nine years. Under his management business grew steadily. He first built the company's store. In the year 1907 he purchased the old hotel property, and in 1911 he erected on its site a fine building. It is a three-story brick structure, well adapted for both commercial and hotel purposes. The village post office occupies one room on the ground floor. There are about thirty rooms in all. Mr. Cobun was a charter member of the Bank of Masontown, organized in 1907, and during the following year was made its president, which position he still holds. He was a member of the City Council of Masontown and its mayor until 1910, when he was elected a member of the lower house of the State Legislature. He is also president of the Board of Trade. On September 17, 1885, Mr. Cobun was married to Mattie E. Loar, daughter of Jonathan and Susan Loar of Reedsville, and to this union one daughter, Glenna Lucille, was born. On August 1, 1897, his wife died, and on September 9, 1903, he was married to Rosa E. Roby, daughter of Albert and Luara Louisa Roby of Herring. Mr. and Mrs. Cobun are members and warm supporters of the Methodist Church. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (2nd wife of Sanford Lee Cobun) From Death Certificate, Preston County, WV #13115 FULL-NAME: Rosa E. Robey Cobun BIRTH-DATE: January 2, 1875 BIRTH-PLACE: Monongalia Co. DEATH-DATE: September 22, 1935 DEATH-PLACE: Masontown, W.Va. MARITAL-STATUS: Married (S. L. Cobun) OCCUPATION: Housewife FATHER: Albert Roby (born in Monongalia Co.) MOTHER: Louisa Roby (born in Monongalia Co.) CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Cancer Right breast, cancer of both lungs INFORMANT: L. G. Street (of Masontown, W.Va.) BURIAL: Masontown, W.Va. --------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Preston County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/preston/bios.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------