[2] His paternal grandfather, John Cockrill, was a settler in Nashville, and his paternal great-grandfather, John Cockrill, was a Welsh-born planter of Scottish descent.
[3] His mother, Sarah "Sallie" Foster, was the daughter of Senator Ephraim H.
[4] Cockrill graduated from Washington and Lee University with a bachelor of arts degree in 1883.
[1] He raised stock in Warrenton, Virginia from 1890 to 1896, only to return to his Nashville farm.
He was a member of the West Nashville Presbyterian Church, the Knights of Pythias, and the Royal Arcanum.