Re: Daniel Cobia origins
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In reply to:
Re: Daniel Cobia origins
Kathy Nicholson 3/20/04
Well, if you go back two generations from Samuel Walter, you would get to Daniel Cobia, Asst. Rector of St. Phillip's Parish in Charleston, who asserted that the family was originally Huguenot. However, he was several generations removed from the actual immigrants, and so far as I know he had no proof. The information that I have is inconclusive.
The immigrant ancestor for SC is Daniel Cobia, born 18 Dec 1714, died 7 Apr 1794, However, there also is the following Council petition:
"Meeting of Saturday A.M. 14 April 1753
P. 387 The Petition of Nicholas Copia humbly setting forth that the Petitioner came form Germany and shipped himself in one of Captain Steadmans ships . . ."
Interestingly, Nicholas Copia got 400 acres (Council 3 Aug 1756), suggesting he had a big family.
And, in the graveyard of St. John's Lutheran Church in Charleston, against the church wall, there is the grave of a Richard Cobia, died 1821, native of Wurtfleth, Germany. His relationship to the family of Daniel Cobia is unknown (and Daniel’s family attended St. Phil’s C. of E).
Individuals named Fred and Leslie MacDonald have done research on Cobia origins, according to a newsletter article that was emailed to me. However, it has been more than 10 years since their original article and I haven't seen any follow-up anywhere.
"Leslie has spoken with a man at the French Government Tourist Office in New York who was born in the Languedoc-Roussillon area who told her that "CORBIERE" IS PRONOUNCED "COBIA" in the Occitan language.
The first Cobia (spelled "Cobia") we have found anywhere outside France . . . is Claude, who married Susan Erlenwein in 1662 near Landau, Germany. All future records show him as Nicholas (the German equivalent of Claude) Cobia. The reason there are no "Cobia" names in France is, perhaps, becaused it is not spelled "Cobia" but "Corbiere" in official French. . ."
The article makes it sound as if the name Cobia had been found earlier in France – not true, so far as I can tell, unless you just accept on faith that Corbierre is Cobia.
In connection with Claude or Nicholas Cobia of Germany, it is interesting that Daniel Cobia (b. 18 Dec 1714) who founded the Charleston SC Cobia family, named a son Nicholas. The full reference on the marriage of Claude Cobia mentioned by the MacDonalds lists his marriage to Susanna Erlenwein (obviously a German name) on 13 May 1662, Evangelisch, Godramstein, Pfalz, Bayern. This predates the 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, so the Cobias didn’t go to Germany during the major Huguenot emigration from France but earlier. However, after the Revocation Bavaria was to become a popular place for Huguenot immigration, as evidenced by the "französisch-reformierten Kirche" in Daubhausen-Greifenthal between 1685 and 1825.
Given the use of the name Nicholas in naming a son by Daniel Cobia, and the immigration to Charleston from Germany of a Nicholas Cobia, it seems very likely that Claude or Nicholas Cobia of Bavaria was related to Daniel Cobia of South Carolina.
However, we go back to the fact that the Cobia name doesn’t appear in Germany any earlier than Claude/Nicholas. Where did they come from?
There are alternatives to a French Huguenot Corbiere origin. There is an extensive French-Swiss family of Corbieres (see LDS Library holdings). Also, a lot of folks with the name Kobi or Koby are found in the Bern, Switzerland, area, as early as the 1500's, and some of the early Bavarians used the spelling Kobia. The name Nicholas is common in the family in South Carolina, it appears as previously noted in Bavaria, and is VERY common in the Bern Kobi family. The LDS IGI lists the following, with solid christening dates so they are believable:
Niclaus Kobi - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 05 JUL 1607 Muenchenbuchsee, Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Niclaus Kobi - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 05 DEC 1641 Muenchenbuchsee, Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Niclaus Kobi - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 30 AUG 1668 Muenchenbuchsee, Bern, Bern, Switzerland
NIKLAUS KOBI - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Marriage: 02 DEC 1670 Vechigen, Bern, Switzerland
Niclaus Kobi - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 30 NOV 1673 Muenchenbuchsee, Bern, Bern, Switzerland
A substantial Kobi family appears in the Bas-Rhin district of France, but only quite late -- mid-1800's, doubtless Swiss immigrants. Those ever-prolific Swiss. Such a tiny country to produce so many people.
My money is on Bern for the Cobia origins, but I was wondering if anyone had more information than I do. Of course Swiss Kobis could be derived from even earlier Swiss (or French) French-speaking Corbieres. Resolving some of the necessary questions will probably require a) DNA studies or b) research in old German and Swiss records by someone capable of reading very old German and French.
More Replies:
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Re: Daniel Cobia origins
Kathy Nicholson 3/21/04
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Re: Daniel Cobia origins
Lynn Teague 3/22/04
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Re: Daniel Cobia origins