Capt. Thomas Cocke

Captain Thomas Cocke, Sr.

• Born 10 Dec 1639 in Bremo, Henrico, Virginia Colony
• Died before 1 Apr 1697 in Malvern Hill, Charles City County, Virginia Colony
• Son of Richard Cocke and Temperance Bailey
• Husband of Agnes (Powell) Cocke — married about 1663 in Henrico County, Colony of Virginia
• Husband of Margaret (Unknown) Cocke — married about 1687 in Henrico County, Colony of Virginia

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Family

Children were by 1st wife

• Thomas Cocke II, THOMAS COCKE, (JR.)(3) (Captain), (son of Thomas Cocke) born c. 1662; died 1707 (at age 45); married first, about 1687 Mary Brazier (Brazure, Brashear, Brasier, Brassieux, Brashure) of Nansemond; married second Frances
• Stephen Cocke, Married 1) Sarah Marston 2) Martha Batte
• James Cocke, married Elizabeth Pleasants
• Temperance (Cocke) Harwood,
• William Cocke born 1674 in Henrico , Virginia, and died Jun 1712 in Henrico , Virginia. Married 1) unknown 2) Sarah Perrin
• Agnes (Cocke) Harwood

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Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cocke-70

flag of the Jamestowne Society Thomas Cocke Sr is a Qualifying Ancestor of the Jamestowne Society U.S. Southern Colonies Project logo Thomas Cocke Sr was a Virginia colonist.

Thomas Cocke (1639-by 1697)[1]

Sheriff: Of Bremo, and Malvern Hills; known as Captain Thomas Cocke, Sr., of Henrico; Sheriff, 1680-1688; member of County Court at various times, and otherwise prominent in the affairs of the colony; his will dated, 1689; probably died soon after.[2]

Thomas Cocke was elected to the House of Burgessess from Henrico County, Virginia, for the session assembled 10 October 1677.[3]

Death & Legacy

The will of Thomas Cocke was entered for probate on 1 April 1697 in Henrico County, Virginia. Some biographers state he died at the end of 1696, perhaps December, but his death more likely ocurred closer to the April probate date. I have not yet located a copy of his will online, but one history of the Cocke family gives a list of some of the bequests in it:[4]

• Thomas owned two tanneries and he leaves one of his tanners to son James
• He leaves to his son Stephen a mechanic, Jack Long, whom he owned
• To daughter Agnes Harwood, he leaves a mulatto girl with a weaving loom
• Left 1000 pounds of tobacco to purchase a bell for the church
• His wife and son James are named executors

Research Notes

1 Jan 1687, Thomas Cocke Sr of county and parish of Henrico to his son Thomas Cocke Jr of same. Love and affection, 200A part of a dividend at Malvern Hills, where sd Thomas Jr now lives, next to Turkey Island Crk, sd Thomas Jr, Stephen Cocke, second son of Thomas Jr, next to John Lewis and Thomas Cocke Sr, John Aust the shallop landing on creek. recorded 1 Jun 1687. Wife Margaret relinquishes dower. Henrico Co VA Deeds, 1677-1705, Weisiger, p 42.

"Thomas Cocke (1639-97) built the first house at Malvern Hill. Rebuilt entirely of brick around 1690-1700, the house was sold in the late 18th century to Robert Nelson, brother of Thomas Nelson of Yorktown, signer of the Declaration of Independence. The house burned in 1905."

The Burton Chronicles, by Francis Burton Harrison, 1979, Ch. 10, pg. 147, attributes Thomas Cocke's children to Margaret Wood, saying "In 1663 he married Margaret Jones, a widow and the mother of Major Peter Jones the founder of Petersburg." However, we note that Margaret's previous spouse, Peter Jones Sr. is said to have died about 1725. Moreover, if Margaret were born about 1641, she would have had to have 10 children by Peter Jones before age 22, then another 6 children by Thomas Cocke. If we assume her spouses were in the reverse order, and she married Thomas Cocke about 1663, and remained married to him until his death in 1689, then she would have had the 10 children by Peter Jones commencing at her age 48.

!By another account, all of Thomas Cocke's children were by a first wife, Agnes Powell. We do not have Agnes' death date. If we assume she died shortly after the last child, say 1673, and Thomas then married Margaret Woods before Thomas' death in 1689, then Margaret's 10 children by Peter Jones could have been between, say, her age of 18 and her age 40 or so. That's a far more reasonable scenario, but would imply that, having 10 young children, she left Peter Jones Sr. well before his death date of about 1725, which seems an unlikely event. However, this seems to be supported by another reference that states the book Peter and Richard Jones, by Augusta Fothergill, 1924, pp. 12-13, asserts that the children Abraham and Peter Jones are mentioned in the will of Thomas Cocke of Malvern Hill. We have not examined that book. So, we show Thomas' children to have been by his first wife Agnes Powell, and that Margaret (Woods) Jones was his second wife, by whom he had no children.

!We note that Francis Burton Harrison cites Southall's genealogy of the Cocke family, published in the Virginia Magazine of History, Vols. III and IV, which we have not examined.

https://alliedfamilies.wordpress.com/early-virginia-jones-families/

After Peter Jones death, Margaret ( likely the step-daughter of Abraham Wood) married Thomas Cocke of Malvern Hill, a wealthy and influential resident of Henrico County. His first wife appears to have been Agnes Powell, and she was the mother of his children. Margaret and Thomas Cocke made a deed in 1687. Thomas Cocke was member of the House of Burgesses. The will of Thomas Cocke, was filed in 1697. Thomas Cocke was the brother of Richard Cocke, and the father of William, Thomas, Stephen, James, Agnes, and Temperance. Richard Cocke married Mary Aston and they were the parents of John, William, Edward and Richard, Jr. Cocke. (see The Cockes )

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References

• James P. C. Southall. “Origins of the Cocke Families of Virginia.” The William and Mary Quarterly 9, no. 1 (1929): 49–59. https://doi.org/10.2307/1920377.
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=a5-oneped...
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5557700
• http://roglo.eu/roglo?lang=en;i=2401113

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• Reference: WikiTree Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 17 2021, 0:30:36 UTC