Shown are the above ground stone crypts of Esther and Danile Cockerill in the Mount Leigh Cemetry just north of Seaman. These vaults are uncommon for this area. They apparently represent another unique custom practiced by the more affluent Virginians and carried into Ohio by the early Virginian settlers.
(By Stephen Kelley from the Peoples Defender, 1981)
In Carroll County, Ohio is the McCook House State Memorial. Preserved as a museum in Carrollton, the old brick home commemorates the fighting McCooks, a highly patriotic and militaristic family from whom fourteen members served with distinction in the Civil War Adams County’s equivalent of the fighting McCooks, I believe, can be found in the history of the Cockerill family.
It began when Daniel Cockerill (1792-1864) emigrated from Loudon County, Virginia in 1837. Selecting a piece of land near Mount Leigh in Scott Township to live on, Daniel and his wife, Esther, Built the brick home pictured. Daniel had been born in Loudon County and was a carpenter by trade. He served in the War of 1812 achieving the rank of lieutenant and of captains. After settling in Ohio Daniel gave up carpentry and made his living by farming. He proved to be popular among Adams Countians and was elected by them to two different terms in the Ohio House of Representatives. During his second term in 1848-49, by joint resolution of the Ohio House and Senate, he was brevetted a Major General of the 8th Division of the Ohio Militia.
of Daniel and Esther’s four sons, three served in the Civil War. The eldest son, Joseph Randolph, served as Colonel of the 70th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. We will tell you more about Joseph and his family’s military prowess next week. Daniel and Esther’s son, Giles Jackson, served as 1st Lieutenant and Captain in the 1st Ohio Light Artillery. Giles’ brother Daniel Talmage, served in the same regiment achieving the rank of captain and later, major.
Daniel Cockerill’s old home, now unoccupied for almost two decades, is what is recognized architecturally as a Virginia “I” house. This type of country home can be observed all over Adams County, the style originating in Virginia and brought into the area by the earliest Virginia settlers. Although General Daniel Cockerill pursued farming after moving to Ohio, it is quite probable he helped construct his new brick house in the wilderness of Adams County using his skills of carpentry learned in his native state. He more than likely erected his home using blueprints he had used many times over in Louden County. General Cockerill lived here for 27 years until his death at age 72. His wife continued to live here until 1872, just one year before she passed away at age 73.
