J.B. Cobb Leaves 3,800 Acres in Guilford to Daughter, April 28, 1923

J.B. Cobb Leaves 3,800 Acres in Guilford to Daughter. . . It is Estimated Mr. Cobb Left an Estate Worth Approximately $50 Million

Greensboro News

The will of John Blackwell Cobb, who was found dead on a tram at the Pennsylvania station New York, April 9, has been admitted to probate at Stamford, Conn., according to a special dispatch appearing in the New York Tribune of April 26. The will disposes of an estate which has been estimated at $50 million.

The dispatch says, in part:

“The testator’s widow has the same use of his estate here and his late home at 2 West Seventy-Fourth Street, New York, as long as she lives, and an annual income of $25,000. After her death the real property is to be divided between Mr. Cobb’s daughters, Mrs. Mary Howard Gilmour and Mrs. Lucy Cobb Hill. The trust fund yielding the $25,000 income is to be divided at Mrs. Cobb’s death among George W. Hill, a grandson, who is to get $250,000 or less; the University of Virginia, which is to get $140,000, and Mrs. Gilmour and Mrs. Hill, who are to share equally in the remainder.

A 3,800-acre estate in North Carolina is given to Mrs. Gilmour and Mrs. Hill. Each of them is to receive one-third of the residue, the remaining third to constitute a trust fund.”

Mr. Cobb was well known in Greensboro and throughout this section of the south, and he has many relatives living in this locality. H.W. Cobb Jr. of this city, is a nephew and Mrs. James W.B. Reid and Mrs. Alice Vanstory, both of Greensboro, are nieces. Mrs. Lynn B. Williamson of Graham is another niece, and a brother, J.S. Cobh, and a sister, Mrs. Mrs. B.C. Glass, reside in Durham. Another brother, H.W. Cobb, formerly lived in Greensboro.

The North Carolina “estate,” to which reference is made in the dispatch from Stamford, Conn., is one of the finest agricultural properties in Guilford county. It is situated on the Greensboro-High Point highway. A handsome hunting lodge and other buildings are located on the property. During recent years Mr. Cobb frequently visited his estate in Guilford, and he often spent several weeks at the hunting lodge.

The man who amassed this great fortune was born in Caswell county and spent his early youth there. He went to Danville, Va., and engaged in the tobacco business, later going to New York. At various times during his business career, he was associated with some of the greatest tobacco concerns in America.

From page 5 of The Concord Daily Tribune, Saturday, April 28, 1923