Saturday, August 23, 2008

New Information on Henry Cockrum

New information has been sent by a Cockrum descendant.
A big thanks for sharing!!

Also included in this post is a copy of the 1860 census for Henry Cockrum, the 1870 Census & 1900 Census for Elizabeth Cockrum.
According to a family descendant, Henry's full name was: William Henry Cockrum

Family Story sent by descendant: "My husband grew up hearing the story from his Grandmother of this hanging. She had been raised by her grandmother, Amanda, who had witnessed her father being hung... William Henry Cockrum (called by Henry) was my husband's 3rd great grandfather. His wife, Elizabeth, is buried in Oklahoma.

My husband's family descends through Amanda Cockrum Meler's daughter, Alice. Alice was quite a person in her younger years. As a result Amanda raised Novva Cockran (one of Alice's marriages was to William Cockran-no relation). This is my husband's grandmother. She lived to be 100 years old.

Amanda had told her that she watched her father hang and Novva passed this story down to the family. I have corresponded with a few Meler relatives and a few Elliot relatives so I know there are many descendants out there.

The information on Preston, Isom and some on William Henry comes from "A History of the Cockrum Family in America" by Emmett Cockrum. There is a family that is posted on Ancestry that has a different ancestry for William Henry. I have not done enough research on this family to know which I think is correct.

I have a copy of the marriage certificate for William and Elizabeth Jones. Given that there were children in the census named Peters and Jones, it is possible that Elizabeth was married before. The certificate does not identify her as Mrs. Jones. They could have been taking care of others children also.

Elizabeth is buried in Box X Cemetery, Pontotoc County, OK. Amanda and Frank Meler are buried in El Reno, OK. I have copies of the records from the Cooke County Courthouse regarding the property left by William Henry. William Henry filed for land in Fannin County. William Henry, Elizabeth and family are in the Fannin County census in 1850 and Jacks Fork, Indian Territory census in 1860."

Census Records for the Cockrum Family:

The 1850 Census for the Henry Cockrum family in Fannin County, Texas is in an earlier post on this blog.

1860 Census, Choctaw Nation, Indian Lands, Arkansas
(note by gengals: There seems to be several families combined on this census, perhaps Henry & Elizabeth are caring for other children also. The Malinda listed in 1860 may be the Malinda Petell listed in the 1870 census.)


1870 Census, Mt Pleasant Township, Lawrence, Missouri. (Note by gengals: Petell children are living with Elizabeth -- the 1850 census also had Petel children in the household. Who is the Petell/Petel family and how are they related to the Cockrums?)



1900 Census, Township 4, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, page 40, hh 734
Elizabeth (Lizzy) is living with her grand-daughter, Annie McCurry, the daughter of Lucinda Cockrum Jones. Elizabeth states that she gave birth to 6 children and 4 were still living.

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