Our research focus is on the unidentified parents of Nancy Cochran [1], spouse of Isaiah Pickett. Several families with the name Cochran/Cockerham/Cockrum lived near the Pickett family in Rutherford County, North Carolina and in Greenville District, South Carolina about the time (c 1812) that Isaiah Pickett and Nancy Cochran eloped across the North Carolina - South Carolina border. Descendants of some of these families have DNA matches with Robert and with other descendants of Nancy Cochran and Isaiah Pickett, suggesting that they might share a common ancestor.
Many of the Cockerham families of the mid-Atlantic region (Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia) might descend from the family of William Cockerham of Dorset, England, who published the pedigree in 1623. The pedigree is shown in image and outline version below. William Cockerham (person 4.1 in the outline) migrated to Virginia in 1639 on the ship Robert Eley from the Isle of Wight, England. William aquired land in Surry County, Virginia in 1663. William received more land in 1666 for transporting 17 persons to Virginia, including John and Marty Cockerham. William Cockerham married again in Virginia to Ann Spencer. William named a son by Ann Spenser as his "eldest son and heir". William Cockerham has two sons, William II (1659-1707) and Thomas. William II had a son William III.
1. George Cockerham of Hunington in Devonshire.
2.1 George Cockerham of Collumpton in Devonshire
2.2 William Cockerham of Purbeck in Dorset and Mary daughter of Burley of Stepleton in Dorset.3.1 Robert Cockerham of Purbeck in Dorset and Ann daughter of Thomas Covell of Wichampton in Dorset.
4.1 William Cockerham son and heir (age 30 in 1623) and Anne daughter of Wm Wall
5.1 Catherine Cockerham daughter age 6 in 1623
5,2 Mary Cockerham daughter age 4 in 16234.2Dennis Cockerham son age 22
In addition to William Cockerham I, mentioned above, records have been found for other early Cockerham immigrants to the Mid-Atlantic region including
1) Matthew Cockerham, a tenant farmer,
2) John of Lunenburg, and
3) Joseph of ?.
The existence and nature of any relationship among these early immigrants is not known. Conflicting hypotheses about possible relationships among Cochran immigrants to America have been published in the books listed below. Y-DNA studies of male-line Cockerham descendants has shed some light on the matter.
Although we have no documentary evidence about if or how the three men shown here as siblings were related, it is very plausible that one or more of them could be an ancestor to our Nancy Cockerham. We show them as siblings in order to organize our notes about them as part of our research into potential collateral Cochran lines of Nancy Cochran Pickett. Our arrangement of them as siblings is not intended to suggest in any way that they were, in fact, brothers.
A Cockerham Y-Dna study has the following summary [2]:
George Cockerham of Devonshire, d. 31 Jan 1576, had two sons, George & William. George, the son, married Edith and stayed in Devonshire. Names from this line match with names from the Daniel Cockerham, Sr. line [3]. In any case, the Daniel Cockerham line & the John Cockerham, Sr. line [4] do not have a MRCA for about 450 years back in history. [The the lines of Daniel and John are plausibly descendants of William and Matthew, respectively, as we show. Despite the disparity in Y-DNA for these two lines, we show William and Matthew as sibling children of this 'Research Ancestor', for the purposes of organizing our notes.]
George's son William Cockerham married Mary Burley from Dorsetshire and moved there. It is from this line that Capt. William Cockerham descended. John Cockerham, Sr. and William Winn Cockerham probably came from this line via Capt. William Cockerham and the John Cockerham that Capt. William brought to Virginia in 1666.
More and more it seems that John Cockerham, Sr. (b.1735) is John Cockerham, Jr. of Lunenburg County, Virginia. His father is called John Cockerham of Lunenburg and was born in 1704 in King William County, Virginia. It is strongly possible that this John Cockerham is descended from the John and Mary Cockerham brought to Virginia by Capt. William Cockerham in 1666. I think that this John may have been son of Capt. William’s younger brother, Denis, who lived on the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorsetshire, or even the son of Capt. William. The MRCA for the John of Lunenburg line and the William Winn Cockerham falls a generation or so before Captain William Cockerham and could easily be his father in Dorset. John Cockerham of Lunenburg could have been the grandson or great-grandson of the John & Mary Cockerham that came over in 1666.
If John Cockerham, Sr. is the son of John Cockerham of Lunenburg he would have had five brothers and two sisters: Philip, Benjamin, William, Moses V., Minor Young, Letty and Mary. He also would have three wives: Candace, Brambley and Elizabeth. Children with his first wife are Olive, Andrew, Allen and David. [We show John Cockerham, spouse of Elizabeth Bent Brambley, as a different person, a son of William Cockerham and Mary Wynne. [5]]
Another bit of genetic knowledge we’ve picked up is the linage of the John Cockerham that married Sarah Cockerham, daughter of John Cockerham, Sr. (b. 1735) [6]. The John Cockerham that married Sarah Cockerham in Amite County, Mississippi on 12 June 1809 was from the Daniel Cockerham, Sr. line. Shortly we should also be able to tell where the William Cockerham came from that married Brambly Tarver, the grand-daughter of John Cockerham, Sr. At this time it appears that this William Cockerham is either from the William Winn Cockerham line or from another branch of the John Cockerham (b. 1735) line.
A Cockerham biosketch reports [7]:
John Cockerham [8] of Lunenburg County, Virginia was related to the Cockerhams of Dorset, England and Surry County, Virginia. Although not documented, it is quite certain that this John is a descendant of either the John Cockerham who was brought to Virginia in 1666 by Captain William Cockerham 1 [9] or from a tenant farmer named Matthew Cockram of Norfolk, Virginia [10].
William Cockerham, born 1593, married Anne, daughter of William Wall. They had two daughters, Catharine Cockerham (born 1617) and Mary Cockerham (born 1619). In 1639, he immigrated to Virginia aboard the Robert Eley. Obviously his wife was deceased, because he and his daughters were the only Cockerhams aboard. On February 27, 1656, "Lieutenant William Cockerham" patented 1230 acres of land on the southwest side of the James River in Surry County, Virginia. Included in this was an agreement to pay 1100 acres to William Spencer which was due for marrying Ann Spencer, daughter of William [Spenser]. He [William Cockerham] served as Lieutenant of Militia and rose to Colonel of the Surry Regiment. On May 14, 1666, William Cockerham and Charles Barnham patented 850 acres for the transportation of seventeen persons, including a John Cockerham and Mary Cockerham. On or about May 13, 1669, Colonel William Cockerham died. At this time, Robert Spencer and others gave bond for the guardianship of William's orphans, William and Thomas.
William Cockerham, II (1659-1707) was married twice: (1) Hannah - and (2) Mary - He had one son: William, III. Thomas Cockerham [son of William Cockerham I] died in 1717. He was married to Elizabeth -. He had a grandson named Samuel Benson, and children named Timothy, Ann, and Priscilla.
John Cockerham of Lunenburg County was living in King William County, in 1743. At this time he and his brother Henry were selling land together. In 1758 he transferred land in Lunenburg County to his son Philip. It is unknown who his wife was, but he did have several children. His six sons were Phillip, John Jr, William, Moses V., Benjamin, and Minor Young Cockerham. Daughters were Letty and Mary.
Phillip Cockerham died in 1776 in Lunenburg County. He named in his will wife Anne and children Minor, Philip Jr., Charles, Henry, Matthew, Obedience, Mary, and Nanny.
John Cockerham, Jr. died at a young age in Lunenburg Co. His wife was named Candace, and they had four children: Olive, Andrew, Allen, and David. Andrew Cockerham was a Tory in the Revolutionary War, and was forced to move to Barren County, Kentucky. This is where his will was probated on September 8, 1821, and thus we get his siblings; names: Samuel, James, Sally, Rachel, and Molly.
William Cockerham migrated to Surry County, before the Revolutionary War. When called for military duty he hired his nephew David, son of his deceased brother John Jr., as his substitute. He died in Morgan County, Georgia. The only child whose name is definite is son Matthew Cockerham.
Moses V. Cockerham (see separate article).
Benjamin Cockerham was born ca. 1750 in Lunenburg County. He died sometime between 1815 and 1818 in Morgan County, Georgia, as a widower. His children were John, Benjamin II, Banister, James, Frances wife of Samuel Paschall, Sally wife of Marvel Kelly, Pheobe wife of Robert Brooks, and Elizabeth wife of Jordan Brooks.
Minor Young Cockerham was married, but died young. His wife was named Mary/Maryan. John Cockerham Sr. deeded him 150 acres of land. John Sr deeded Minor Young's children three cows. The children's names were Cuzzy, Penelopy, and Candish.
Letty Cockerham.
Mary Cockerham's will was probated in September 1805 in Lunenburg County, Virginia. She willed all her estate to her brother John Jr's heirs. This will is recorded in Lunenburg County, Virginia Will Book 6, page 125.
Based on the date of this deed, there was a Benjamin Cockerham of Lunenburg born before 1735, perhaps in the generation of Matthew, William, and John.
1755 Peter Jones, of Amelia County, (for and in consideration of his contract with Robert Wade Sen'r of Hallifax County and his obligation for the performance of the same) sold land to Benjamin Cockerham, of Lunenburg County. Peter Jones had purchased the land from Robert Wade. The 120 acre tract was by Jarrats? corner, Irby/Toby's line, and Reedy Creek. Deed dated November 20. [11]
Several Researchers have published genealogical studies of the Cochran/Cockerham families of Mid-Atlantic America with some attempts to link them back to the family of William Cockerham I and other early immigrants.
4. Emmett E. Cockrum, A History and Genealogy of the Cockrum Family in America (1979) follows descendants of brothers John and Henry of Lunenburg. [12]
5. James E. Cockrum, The Ancestral Lines of James Edwin Cockrum … (1987) states that John (of Lunenburg County, Virginia), Henry, and Joseph were sons of Matthew (tenant farmer) and that John was the father of William (died in Morgan County, Georgia with son Matthew). [13]
2. George T. Goforth, Cockerham Genealogy states that Henry and John (of Lunenburg) were brothers and follows a descent through John's son John Jr and his wife Candace and their son David (born 1763 in Lunenburg). [14]
1. Paul B. Murff, Cockerham Family History follows descendants of Henry Cockerham (will dated 1754 in Lunenburg County, Virginia) and wife Elizabeth through their son William Winn Cockerham (born 1748 in Lunenburg County, Virginia). Suggests that Henry (died 1754) was a son of William Cockerham III and Mary Winn. [15] [16]
3. Nancy Chambers Underwood Fifty Families A History (1977) follows descendants of Henry Cockerham (will dated 1754 in Lunenburg County, Virginia) and wife Elizabeth. [17]
Y-DNA Cockerham links:
big-Y: https://pbase.com/daveb/cydna
ftdna: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/cockerham/about
Cockerham-Cochran Revolutionary War veterans: [18]
[1] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Cochran, father of Nancy Cochran Pickett, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[2] familytreedna.com website, (September 2023), [URL].
[3] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Daniel Cockerham (1697-1767), Perhaps the Y-Dna site refers to this family as the Daniel Cockerham Sr line, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[4] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for John Cockerham (died in Lunenburg), The Y-Dna site suggests that this John Cockerham of Lunenburg might be the father of the John Cockerham Sr. line, as we show, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[5] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for John Cockerham (1735-1843) spouse of Elizabeth Brambley, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[6] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Sarah Ann Cockerham (1769-1845), We show this John Cockerham as a spouse of Sarah, daughter of John Cockerham and Elizabeth Brambley, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[7] Hester Bartlett Jackson, ed. The Heritage of Surry county North Carolina, Vol. 1 (1983) 111, "The Cockerhams".
[8] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for John Cockerham of Lunenburg County, Virginia, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[9] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Captain William Cockerham 1, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[10] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Matthew Cockerham, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[11] Lunenburg County, Virginia Deed 4-278, [FamilySearchImage].
[12] Emmett E. Cockrum, A History and Genealogy of the Cockrum Family in America, (1979), 7, [FHLBook].
[13] James E. Cockrum, The Ancestral Lines of James Edwin Cockrum and Phyllis Beaumont-Mills, (Self-published, 1897), 2, [FHLBook].
[14] George T. Goforth, Cockerham Genealogy, (self-published), 2, [FHLBook].
[15] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Henry Cockerham of Lunenburg County, Virginia, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[16] Paul B., Murff, Cockerham Family History, (self-published), 3, [FHLBook].
[17] Nancy Chambers Underwood, Fifty Families A History (1977), 430, [FHL Library], [GoogleBooks].
[18] Virginia State Library, page 70, [URL].