William Titcomb Cobb was born in Rockland, Maine, on July 23, 1857. He graduated in 1877 from Bowdoin College, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity.^[1] After completing his graduation, he went to study in Germany. He studied at the Leipzig University and the University of Berlin. After his education in Germany, he returned to the United States and studied law at Harvard Law School. In 1880, he was admitted to the bar. He had a successful legal career.

He was nominated for the governorship of Maine by the Republican party in 1904. He won the general election. He was sworn into governor's office on January 4, 1905. He won the re-election in 1906. During his administration, harsher prohibition laws and economic restructuring was endorsed. Railroad growth was promoted. A meat inspection law and a pure food and drug law were advocated.

Cobb left office on January 6, 1909. He died on July 24, 1937, a day after his 80th birthday, in Rockland, Maine.

• Sobel, Robert and John Raimo. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978. Greenwood Press, 1988. ISBN 0-313-28093-2