Mark R. Cockrill

Mark R. Cockrill (1788-1872) was an American cattleman, horse breeder and planter. He was the owner of a large farm in Davidson County, Tennessee and a cotton plantation with 300 slaves in Mississippi. He won many prizes for his sheep-rearing both nationally and internationally, and he became known as the "Wool King of the World". He was a multi-millionaire prior to the American Civil War, and he loaned gold to the Confederate States of America during the war.

Mark Robertson Cockrill
BornDecember 2, 1788
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedJune 27, 1872
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Resting placeMount Olivet Cemetery
OccupationCattleman, horse breeder, planter
Spouse(s)Susan Collingsworth
Children3
Parent(s)John Cockrill
Anne Robertson Johnson Cockrill
RelativesJohn Cockrill (paternal grandfather)
James Robertson (maternal uncle)
Felix Robertson (cousin)
James Collinsworth (brother-in-law)
Benjamin F. Cockrill Jr. (grandson)
Edward Saunders Cheatham (son-in-law)

Early life

Mark R. Cockrill was born on December 2, 1788 in Nashville, Tennessee.[1] His father was John Cockrill,[2] the son of Welsh-born planter John Cockrill. The Cockrills were of Scottish descent. His mother was Anne Robertson Johnson Cockrill.[2] His parents owned a farm in modern-day Centennial Park.[2] His maternal uncle, James Robertson, was an explorer and the co-founder of Nashville.[3]

Career

Cockrill raised cattle and bred horses on his 5,600-acre farm on Charlotte Pike in Nashville called Stock Place.[3] He also raised swine and sheep.[4][5] As early as 1815, he purchased merino sheep from William Jarvis for his farm.[3] Additionally, Cockrill purchased the 1,000-acre Tulip Grove from Andrew Jackson Donelson for US$53,000 in 1854.[6]

Cockrill won many prizes at the Middle Tennessee Fair and the Tennessee State Fair, two agricultural fairs.[4] Additionally, he won a prize for the finest wool on exhibition at the 1851 World's fair in London, England.[4][7] He was also the recipient of a gold medal from the Tennessee legislature "as a testimonial of distinguished merit and unrivaled success in wool-culture, and other agricultural pursuits" in 1854.[2] He was featured in De Bow's Review for the superior wool of the sheep he raised.[4] Additionally, he considered building cotton mills with four other planters in his county.[8] He became known as the "Wool King of the World".[3]

Cockrill was the owner of a cotton plantation in Mississippi, with 135 African slaves at one point.[8] Prior to the American Civil War of 1861-1865, Cockrill sold the plantation and 240 slaves he owned; he retained 60 slaves and brought them to Tennessee.[9] By then, he was worth an estimated US$2 million, and he was the richest Tennessean.[3]

Cockrill was a supporter of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He loaned US$25,000 in gold to the CSA,[3] and he gave them wool to make Confederate uniforms.[9] When the Union Army invaded, they took his land and stole his cattle.[3] Cockrill was arrested and sent to jail for his Confederate support.[9]

Personal life, death and legacy

Cockrill married Susan Collinsworth, the daughter of Edward Collingsworth, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812,[9] and the sister of James Collinsworth, who served as the 1st Chief Justice of Texas from 1836 to 1838.[1] They had three sons: Benjamin F. Cockrill, who married Sallie, the daughter of Senator Ephraim H. Foster; James Robertson Cockrill, who married his cousin Mary Cockrill; and Mark Stirling Cockrill, who married Mary Hill Goodloe.[9] They also had three daughters: Julie, who married Edward S. Cheatham, the son of Congressman Richard Cheatham; Jane, who married William Watkins; and Henrietta, who married Albert Gallatin Ewing,[9] a Confederate veteran who served under Nathan Bedford Forrest during the war.[10]

Cockrill died on June 27, 1872 in Nashville, Tennessee.[1][7] He was buried at the Mount Olivet Cemetery. His cattle was inherited by his son Mark S. Cockrill and his horses were inherited by his other son, Benjamin F. Cockrill.[9] His daughter Henrietta inherited his house on Charlotte Avenue surrounded by 4,000 acres.[9]

Cockrill was inducted into the Tennessee Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1944.[11] The same year, a bronze plaque in his honor was installed at the Tennessee State Capitol.[3]

Further reading
  • Ewing, Katherine W. (1941). Career of Mark Robertson Cockrill: Wool King of the World. OCLC 10968295.

References
  1. Cockrill Henning, Johnnie (October 10, 1950). "Mark R. Cockrill Introduced Sheep Raising Into Tennessee". The Jackson Sun. Jackson, Tennessee. p. 6. Retrieved April 16, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Williams, Samuel C. (June 1944). "Ann Robertson: An Unsung Tennessee Heroine". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 3 (2): 150–155. JSTOR 42620838.
  3. Moore, Wayne C. (December 25, 2009). "Mark R. Cockrill". The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Tennessee Historical Society & University of Tennessee Press. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  4. Winters, Donald L. (1994). Tennessee Farming, Tennessee Farmers: Antebellum Agriculture in the Upper South. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. pp. 176–177. ISBN 9780870498602. OCLC 30624508. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  5. Bergeron, Paul H. (1979). Paths of the Past: Tennessee, 1770-1970. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 9780870492747. OCLC 5008369. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  6. Ballard, Michael B.; Cheathem, Mark R. (2013). Of Times and Race: Essays Inspired by John F. Marszalek. Oxford, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. p. 18. ISBN 9781621030522. OCLC 793991524. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  7. "Death of an old Citizen". Nashville Union and American. June 28, 1872. p. 4. Retrieved February 10, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Collins, Herbert (August 1946). "The Southern Industrial Gospel before 1860". The Journal of Southern History. 12 (3): 398–399. doi:10.2307/2198222. JSTOR 2198222. A more systematic and detailed method for inaugurating cotton mills was formulated by Mark R. Cockrill, a large-scale sheep raiser in Tennessee who worked one hundred and thirty-five slaves on a cotton plantation in Mississippi.
  9. Zollicoffer Bond, Octavia (November 28, 1909). "The Cockrill Family". The Tennessean. p. 34. Retrieved April 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. In anticipation of the ruin to Southern interests that his keen vision foresaw, he sold his large Mississippi plantation, to which he was in the habit of going every winter [...]. He also sold the 300 slaves on the plantation with the exception of about sixty selected "hands", whom he brought to Tennessee to watch and care for his sheep.
  10. "Albert G. Ewing, Sr., Will Be Buried Today". The Tennessean. May 22, 1924. p. 16. Retrieved April 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Tennessee Agricultural Hall of Fame". Tennessee Agricultural Museum. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
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