General Daniel Cockerill
General Daniel Cockerill was born in Loudon County, Virginia, in 1792. He resided there until 1837, when he removed to near Mt. Leigh, in Adams County, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his life. In 1713, John Cockerill, of Westmoreland County, Virginia, purchased two hundred acres of land, for which he gave sixty-five hundred pounds of tobacco. At that time he owned other lands in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Thomas Cockerill, his son, removed to Loudon County, Virginia, in 1739. His will was recorded in 1777, and discloses the fact that he had a large family of sons and daughters. One of his sons, Sanford Cockerill, was the father of Daniel Cockerill, our subject.
Daniel Cockerill was in the War of 181 2, and was a Sergeant. His services were rendered in the vicinity of Baltimore and Washington. He was brought up to the trade of carpenter. Just before the War of 1812, he built a meeting house for the Quakers, called "Goose Creek." Owing to the embargo act at the commencement of the war and the rise in prices after he made the contract, he lost one thousand dollars in completing the meeting house. The congregation, on hearing of his loss, made it up to him.
He had four sons and two daughters. His sons were, Joseph Randolph, who has a separate sketch herein, Giles Jackson, Daniel Talmage, and John Craven Calhoun. Daniel T. was Captain and Major in the First Ohio Light Artillery, and is now at the State Soldiers' Home at Sandusky. Giles J. was First Lieutenant and Captain in the same regiment, and is now residing at Wynwood, Indian Territory. His wife was Belle Dunbar, daughter of James Dunbar, who formerly owned the Stephen Reynolds place near Peebles, Ohio. He has a son, Ceran D. Cockerill, now a resident of Portsmouth, Ohio.
John C. C. married a daughter of Isaac Martin, of Mt. Leigh. He died about frve years since at Metropolis, Ill. A daughter, Rebecca, married Alfred Eylar, and moved to Pontiac, Illinois, where she and her husband died, leaving two sons and one daughter. One son, D. C. Eylar, has a separate sketch herein.
General Daniel Cockerill's daughter, Lydia Jane, married Levin Cannon, and both are deceased. They had five children, Daniel Cannon, of Lovett's Postoffice; Urban Cannon; Mrs. Anna Hamilton, of Locust Grove; Mrs. Flora Hughes, of Lovett's Postoffice; and Mrs. J. F. Wickerham, of Peebles.
General Cockerill devoted himself entirely to agricultural pursuits after removing to Adams County. He was not a member of any church. He was an old-time Democrat until Fort Sumter was fired upon. The jar of that firing displaced all the Democracy in him, as he stated, and from that time until his death on May 10, 1864, he was an enthusiastic Republican and a most ardent supporter of the war measures. He thought the Southern States were not justified in secession, and he wanted to see them thoroughly whipped into submission.
He was a citizen of great public spirit, and believed in doing his full part in public affairs. He represented Adams and Pike Counties in the lower house of the Legislature in 1845 and 1846. In 1848 and 1849 he again represented the same counties in the lower house of the Legislature. At this session, by a joint resolution, he was made a Maior-General of the Eighth Division of the Ohio Militia.
From the time of his location in Adams County, he was a man of influence and was always held in public esteem. Among his virtues, charity and hospitality were the most prominent. In the practical exercise of these virtues he found great delight. He cherished great love for his native state, Virginia, but lost all patience with her when she seceded from the Union. It was his pride and pleasure to maintain hospitality as his Virginia ancestors had done before him. Everything he undertook to do, he endeavored to do with the best of his ability. He was for this reason a model farmer.
If any one characteristic of his should be emphasized, it was his loyalty and patriotism. Three of his sons went into the federal army, and his youngest son would have gone had not his defective eyesight prevented. He would have gone himself had not his age and infirmities prevented. As it was. he was an ardent friend of the Union, and gave its cause all the support possible for his circumstances and condition. His wife survived him until 1873. He and she lie side by side in the Mt. Leigh Cemetery. Of him it may be said that no more loyal heart ever beat in human breast, and he transmitted these qualities to his descendants, as the pages of this work will abundantly testify.
From "History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time" - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900