John Nathan Cobb (February 20, 1868 – January 13, 1930) was an American author, naturalist, conservationist, canneryman, and educator. He attained a high position in academia without the benefit of a college education. In a career that began as a printer's aide for a newspaper, he worked as a stenographer and clerk, a newspaper reporter, a field agent for the U.S. Fish Commission (USFC) and its successor the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, as an editor for a commercial fishing trade magazine of the Pacific Northwest, and as a supervisor for companies in the commercial fishing industry. He took photographs during his extensive travels documenting scenes and people. In 1919, Cobb was appointed the founding director of the College of Fisheries at the University of Washington (UW), the first such college established in the United States.
Early life and education
John Nathan Cobb was born in Oxford, New Jersey, on February 20, 1868, the son of Samuel Spencer Cobb (1842‒1921), a railroad engineer, and Louise Catherine Richard (1845?‒1918), a native of Belfort, France. He was one of at least twelve children in the family. He attended public schools and discontinued his education at an early age to go to work.
Early career
His family moved in the 1880s to Pennsylvania and records indicate that in 1884, at the age of 16 years, he was working for a Pennsylvania newspaper, the Carbondale Reader. He rose to become an editor of that periodical. For the next 15 years or so, Cobb worked, apparently as a stenographer and typist, in a variety of positions for a railroad company, a law firm, a supply and machinery enterprise, and a brick manufacturing company. In 1898, he married Harriet Collin Bidwell (1869‒1941), a cousin, with whom he had a daughter, Genevieve Catherine Cobb (1900‒1977) who graduated in zoology from the University of Washington and, after receiving a degree in librarianship at the UW, became a librarian at Princeton University and remained there until her retirement. In 1895, Cobb successfully passed a civil service examination for the U.S. Government, qualifying him for a position as stenographer and typist at a salary of $720 per year. He accepted a position in Washington, D.C., on 1 July 1895 with the U.S. Fish Commission, where he was appointed clerk in the Division of Statistics. He was promoted to "Field Agent" on February 11, 1896, at a salary of $1,000 per annum and was responsible for collecting commercial fishery statistics. Thus, Cobb began a career in fisheries that was to last until his death 35 years later and one that led to his recognition as an "expert" in fisheries statistics.
Cobb's position with the Fish Commission demanded considerable travel, as he was required to proceed throughout the eastern seaboard to collect statistics on the commercial catch of fish and shell fish. For example, from 1896 to 1897 Cobb visited Jacksonville, Florida; Havre de Grace, Maryland; Key West, Florida; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Key West again; and Cape Vincent, New York. After most of these trips he returned to the USFC headquarters in Washington, D.C. This pattern of frequent travel continued through 1900. Cobb's first publication for the Fish Commission, on the fisheries of Lake Ontario, was issued in 1898.
Alaska
In 1904, Cobb began to lobby the Bureau of Fisheries for a position in Alaska as a Field Agent in that territory. Cobb obtained the desired position in February 1905 and his appointment as "Assistant Agent" paid $200 per month. Still based in Washington, D.C., Cobb traveled to Alaska each summer to observe the commercial salmon fisheries and to collect catch statistics. He was apparently a conscientious worker and was known for his aggressive enforcement of fishery regulations.
Cobb wrote books and reports about fisheries. These included annual reports from 1905 to 1910 on the fisheries of Alaska and a book on Alaska salmon. He produced about 18 scientific publications and books during his tenure with the Fish Commission from 1895 to 1911.
Private sector By early 1911, Cobb was eager for a transfer from Washington, D.C., to the west coast. In March of that year he wrote to George Mead Bowers (1863‒1925), Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, asking to be transferred to Seattle. His request was denied, so Cobb turned to the private sector for employment. On March 5, 1912, Cobb wrote again to Commissioner Bowers, this time tendering his resignation. Cobb thus left the employ of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries to pursue greener paths. He never worked for the Bureau again, but he was always interested in returning if an attractive position became available.
Into the commercial world
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