While many today do not know the name Randal Cobb, there were few in the 19th Century who could go very far and not see his name or influence somewhere. Despite being the era's top scientist and philanthropist very little is know about the man and his personal or family life.
The main obstruction to learning about Randal Cobb is the confusion contemporary sources had in writing about him. Randal Cobb is believed to have been born in the year 1815 despite this, many newspapers in the 1870s have pictures of a young man that they identify as Cobb, despite the fact that he would have had to be in his 60s. Most of these gaffs are attributed to poor fact checking and confusing paper work, as Randal Cobb had a son and grandson also named Randal Cobb according to federal records.
Because of these confusions it is difficult to attribute the credit of the numerous projects the family completed to the correct Cobb.
Achievements include:
Completion of the Grand Opera Hall
Finance of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Authorship of "Examinations of Simultaneous Physical Probabilities and Other Queer Notions"
Identification of the element Promethium in 1840
Due to the family's extreme private nature, no record of death exists for any member of the family. Though logic states that Randal Cobb I died in the 1880s at the latest, and Randal Cobb II most likely dying in 1920. In 1932, concerned about the residents health and safety, police and firefighters forced their way into the Cobb family estate. No trace of anyone was found and Randal Cobb III was listed as a missing persons case, which still remains open. The mansion was completely empty and nothing of interest found, though journalists of less respected newspapers of the day reported that in the basement large amounts of equipment were found next to a table containing the bodies of cicadas and mummified human remains. Along with a journal with a single entry that read: "I did it."
The main obstruction to learning about Randal Cobb is the confusion contemporary sources had in writing about him. Randal Cobb is believed to have been born in the year 1815 despite this, many newspapers in the 1870s have pictures of a young man that they identify as Cobb, despite the fact that he would have had to be in his 60s. Most of these gaffs are attributed to poor fact checking and confusing paper work, as Randal Cobb had a son and grandson also named Randal Cobb according to federal records.
Because of these confusions it is difficult to attribute the credit of the numerous projects the family completed to the correct Cobb.
Achievements include:
Completion of the Grand Opera Hall
Finance of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Authorship of "Examinations of Simultaneous Physical Probabilities and Other Queer Notions"
Identification of the element Promethium in 1840
Due to the family's extreme private nature, no record of death exists for any member of the family. Though logic states that Randal Cobb I died in the 1880s at the latest, and Randal Cobb II most likely dying in 1920. In 1932, concerned about the residents health and safety, police and firefighters forced their way into the Cobb family estate. No trace of anyone was found and Randal Cobb III was listed as a missing persons case, which still remains open. The mansion was completely empty and nothing of interest found, though journalists of less respected newspapers of the day reported that in the basement large amounts of equipment were found next to a table containing the bodies of cicadas and mummified human remains. Along with a journal with a single entry that read: "I did it."