OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 251 



ONE OF GOD'S GENTLEMEN 



97. Among the busy men of industry who grounded their suc- 

 cesses in the soil was Emery Cobb, one of the formative spirits of 

 the Western Union Telegraph Co. Mr. Cobb was born in Dryden, 

 N. Y., August 20, 1831. At eleven years of age his father died, 

 but under his maternal grandfather, Lemi Bradley, he secured 

 the best of common school educations and was financed for a 

 course in telegraphy at Ithaca, N. Y. After a few assignments, 

 in which he was exceptionally successful, he was made manager 

 of his company, the old Erie & Western. In 1852 he proceeded 

 by water from Cleveland to Chicago and was one of the few 

 survivors to float ashore when the boat burned. This laid the 

 foundation for a delicacy under indoor life that ultimately forced 

 his retirement. In 1853 un4er Mr. Cobb's control five separate 

 telegraph companies were merged under his management, and in 

 1856 these were absorbed by the Western Union, Mr. Cobb being 

 made western superintendent at Chicago. He established the 

 transmittal of money by telegraph and during the Civil War was 

 in charge of the transmission of the War Department orders and 

 reports that were sent by wire. He was entrusted with the service 

 code, and was a valued friend and aide to President Lincoln. 

 Failing health forced him to seek release from his arduous duties 

 after the Civil War, but so desirous was the company of retaining 

 his services that they sent him abroad for a year in the hope of 

 restoring him. The attempt was unsuccessful, however, and he 

 retired to his farm in Kankakee, purchased in 1861. 



Here his improvement was gradual. He was made president 

 of the First National Bank, and in 1867, Governor Oglesby ap- 

 pointed him a member of the Board of Trustees of the University 

 of Illinois. In 1873, the board was reduced from a membership 

 of twenty-eight to nine, and Mr. Cobb was made chairman of the 

 finance committee, a position held twenty-six years. 



