(By Stephen Kelley from the Peoples Defender, 1981)
Joseph Randolph Cockerill was the oldest child of General Daniel and Esther Craven Cockerill. At the age of 19 he moved with his parents to Adams County in 1837. He probably assisted with the construction of his father and mothers’ new brick house near Mt Leigh in Scott Township (southeast of present-day Seaman). Joseph had received an adequate education back in his native Louden County, Virginia and found himself qualified to teach in Ohio. This he did from 1837 to 1840. During this time, he met Ruth Eylar, daughter of Associate Judge Joseph Eylar. This relationship culminated in their marriage in 1840. There years after marrying, they bought lot 27 in Urban Cannon’s new village of Locust Grove in Franklin Township and built a log house on it. This was their home until 1850 when they erected a substantial brick house on Main Street in West Union. Their old log house stood the test of time until it was torn down apparently sometime between 1900 and 1924.
During his years in Locust Grove, Joseph continued to teach school as well as serve as county surveyor and Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas. Like his father, he proved to be popular among the populace and was elected to serve Adams County in the Ohio House of Representatives during 1852-53. After this term in office, he began the study of law and was admitted to the bar. His popularity among voters continued to soar and he was elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives 1857-59.
At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Cockerill was approached by John T. Wilson, wealthy Tranquility merchant and good friend of the Cockerills, about raising a local regiment of volunteers. Without hesitation Cockerill agreed. As a result of his political prominence, he was commissioned colonel of the newly organized 70th Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Ohio Governor David Todd.
Cockerill proved to be a born leader and soldier. Unlike many politically appointed officers who were inept on the battlefield. Cockerill led his men heroically and was commended for his actions by General William T. Sherman and Ulyesses S. Grant. Both Grant and Sherman recommended the colonel several times for probation to general but due to political chicanery in Washington D.C., Cockerill was not given the title until after he resigned this commission in 1864.
After returning home from the bloody battlefields of the South, General Cockerill returned to his law practice. Adams County voters once again showed their confidence in him by sending him to the Ohio House of Representative from 1868 to 1872, General Cockerill died in 1875 at the premature age of 57, but as historian Emmons B. Stivers wrote, his life was in deeds, not in years.
Patriotism and duty to country ran in the blood of the Cockerills. As we mentioned last week, Joseph Cockerill’s father, Daniel, Served as an officer in the War of 1812 and then as general in the Ohio Militia. Two of Joseph’s brothers served as officers in the Civil War. The four of Joseph and Ruth’s children who reached maturity also contributed to the defense of the Union. Their oldest child, Armstead T.M. Cockerill, at age 20 helped organize the 24th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and rose in rank in that unit from captain to colonel by age 22. The Cockerill’s second child, Esther Elizabeth married John Campbell of Tranquility who served as a captain in the 70th OVCI. The Campbell’s son, Joseph Randolph Campbell, was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and was commissioned as ensign before his premature death by typhoid fever in 1898 during the Spanish American War. The Cockerill’s third child, Joseph Daniel Albert Cockerill, served under this brother as a drummer in the 24th OVI. We will tell you more about him next week. Joseph and Ruth’s fourth child, Sallie, married William R. Stewart who served as a second lieutenant in the 70th OVI. Incidentally, William was raised at Cedar Mills and was the nephew of William K. Stewart who we related to you a few weeks ago was the co-owner and manager of the Brush Creek Furnace at Cedar Mills. Sallie Cockerill Stewart died in 1872 at the age of 24 just 13 days after giving birth to a son, John A. C. Stewart, John went into the study of navigation and was swept overboard during a violent storm at Cape Horn and lost at sea at the young age of 20.
Another miliary connection to General Joseph Cockerill’s family was Oliver H. Eylar, brother to Ruth Cockerill. Oliver served as a second lieutenant in the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Calvary.
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