James Cochran Dobbin (1814-1857) of Fayetteville, NC, was the son of John Moore Dobbin and Anness Cochran. Educated at Colin McIver's academy in Fayetteville and at the Bingham School in Hillsborough, NC, he entered the University in 1828 at the age of fourteen. He joined the Philanthropic Society and graduated fourth in his class of thirty-six students in 1832. Admitted to the bar in 1835, he began a law practice in Fayetteville. In 1838 he married Louisa Holmes, who died in 1848; they had three children. Dobbin was a member of the NC House of Commons (1848-53) and the University's board of trustees (1848-57). In 1852 he led North Carolina's delegation to the Democratic National Convention, where he nominated Franklin Pierce as the party's presidential candidate. President Pierce appointed Dobbin secretary of the navy (1853-57). Dobbin died a few months after returning home to Fayetteville (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography 2:82-83).