Background
Andrew Jackson Cobb was born on April 12, 1857 at Athens, Georgia, United States. His father, Howell Cobb, was a member of the cabinet of President Buchanan. His mother, Mary Ann Lamar, was a cultured member of a distinguished family.
Andrew Jackson Cobb was born on April 12, 1857 at Athens, Georgia, United States. His father, Howell Cobb, was a member of the cabinet of President Buchanan. His mother, Mary Ann Lamar, was a cultured member of a distinguished family.
In his youth Andrew acquired a taste for study and graduated from the University of Georgia with honors (Phi Beta Kappa) at nineteen. Within the following year he completed the law course of the same institution.
About 1876 Cobb began the practise of law in Athens. At twenty-seven he became a professor of law at the University of Georgia where he remained until 1893, when he moved to Atlanta to practise law and also to become dean of the Atlanta Law School. At thirty-nine he was made an associate justice of the supreme court of Georgia, and almost at once became conspicuous for the lucidity of his opinions. He was especially capable in clarifying adjective law and did much to simplify and systematize the rules of pleading and practise. His decisions have been cited and followed more often, within a similar period of time, than those of any other Georgia jurist. Outside of his state he is perhaps best known for his opinion in the case of Pavesich vs. New Eng. Life Insurance Company, which established for the first time in America the principle that an individual has “a right of privacy” for the invasion of which he may recover damages without proof of any special loss.
After serving twelve years upon the supreme bench Cobb returned to Athens and resumed the practise of law. In 1917, however, he again accepted judicial appointment, this time as judge of the superior courts for the western circuit of Georgia. His judicial temperament, ripe experience, and great learning were ideal qualities for a trial judge, and he served with distinction, but the western circuit then was the most populous in the state and the task proved too great a burden for his waning strength, so he resigned in January 1921 and resumed his work as a teacher of law at his alma mater.
Cobb did much to simplify and systematize the rules of pleading and practise. His decisions have been cited and followed more often, within a similar period of time, than those of any other Georgia jurist. Outside of his state he was best known for his opinion in the case of Pavesich vs. New Eng. Life Insurance Company, which established for the first time in America the principle that an individual has “a right of privacy” for the invasion of which he may recover damages without proof of any special loss. It is perhaps not too much to say that his words carried more weight with the people during the critical years 1917 and 1918 than those of any other person in Georgia.
During the World War, when opposition appeared in Georgia to the selective service act and other administrative measures, he vigorously denounced all who opposed the policies of President Wilson and contributed no little to the defeat of a Georgia senator who had allied himself with the “ir- reconcilables” in the Senate.
Cobb was a slender man of medium height and with classical features. His manners were gentle, his nature tranquil, but at times he could become aroused to impetuous action.
On March 3, 1880, Cobb was married to Stark Campbell, a daughter of Colonel Jesse Campbell of Griffin, Georgia. She died in 1901.
