Cobbs, Nicholas Hamner

(Feb. 5, 1796-Jan. 11, 1861). Bishop and evangelist. He was born in Bedford County, Virginia. He was raised a Presbyterian and educated privately. He was subsequently confirmed an Episcopalian and ordained a deacon on the same day, May 23, 1824. Cobbs was ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1825. He served for several years as a schoolteacher and missionary in southwestern Virginia. He later held positions as the Episcopal chaplain at the University of Virginia (1837-1839); as rector of St. Paul's Church, Petersburg, Virginia (1839-1843); and as rector of St. Paul's Church, Cincinnati, Ohio (1843-1844). He was consecrated Bishop of Alabama on Oct. 20, 1844. Cobbs was a determined evangelist who helped to guide the new Diocese of Alabama into a period of tremendous growth in the mid-nineteenth century. He died in Montgomery on the day of his state's secession from the Union on the eve of the Civil War.