Major John Cockrill (December 19, 1757 - April 11, 1837) was an American settler.
[1][2] His father, John Cockrill, was a Welsh-born immigrant of Scottish descent who served in the French and Indian War of 1754-1763 and became a large planter in Richmond County, Virginia.
[1] Cockrill served in the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, first under Colonel William Russell and later under Brigadier Lachlan McIntosh.
[2] In 1779, he was one of 13 explorers who went down the Cumberland River to modern-day Nashville alongside James Robertson.
[1] Cockrill built the first brick house in Nashville, on Cedar Street (now Charlotte Avenue).