David Cobb (Massachusetts politician)

David Cobb (September 14, 1748 – April 17, 1830) was a Massachusetts physician, military officer, jurist, and politician who served as a U.S. Congressman for Massachusetts's at-large congressional seat.

Biography
Born in Attleborough in the Province of Massachusetts Bay on September 14, 1748, Cobb graduated from Harvard College in 1766. He studied medicine in Boston and afterward practiced in Taunton. He was a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in 1775; lieutenant colonel of Jackson's regiment in 1777 and 1778, serving in Rhode Island and New Jersey; was aide-de-camp on the staff of General George Washington; appointed major general of militia in 1786 and rendered conspicuous service during Shays' Rebellion. He was a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1780. Cobb was also admitted as an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati in the state of Massachusetts at the conclusion of the war.

Massachusetts government
He served as a judge of the Bristol County Court of Common Pleas 1784–1796, and as a member of the State House of Representatives 1789–1793, and the Massachusetts Senate, and served as Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and President of the Massachusetts Senate.

Congress
Cobb was elected to the Third United States Congress (March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795). He is the only person elected to the U.S. House via Massachusetts's at-large congressional seat.

Maine
Cobb moved to Gouldsboro in the District of Maine in 1796 and engaged in agricultural pursuits; elected to the Massachusetts Senate from the eastern District of Maine in 1802 and served as president; elected to the Massachusetts Governor's Council in 1808; Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1809; member of the board of military defense in 1812; chief justice of the Hancock County (Maine) court of common pleas; returned in 1817 to Taunton, where he died on April 17, 1830. His remains were interred in Plain Cemetery.

Cobb was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814.

Legacy
In 1976, David Cobb was honored by being on a postage stamp for the United States Postal Service.