Nov. 1, 1864
William Robert Winfield Cobb (1807-1864) served in the Alabama House of Representatives (1845-47) and U.S. House of Representatives (1847-61) and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives but never served. The progressive Democrat from Madison County worked in his last years to keep Alabama in the Union and strike a compromise to avert the Civil War. Newspapers printed rumors of disloyalty on Cobb’s part and when he failed to report to the Confederate Congress, the House created an investigative committee. While putting up a fence on Nov. 1, 1864, he dropped his pistol, which fired and mortally wounded Cobb. Unaware of his death, the Confederates voted 75-0 to expel him.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
For more on Alabama’s bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.