SIXTH GENERATION

535. Mary Minerva Hittson was born on 20 May 1832 in Virginia. She died on 4 Sep 1875 in Van Zandt County, Texas. She was buried in Baird Cemetery, Van Zandt County, Texas.

She was married to Archibald C. Cockerell Jr. (son of Archibald Cockerell and Sarah Pridgen) on 9 Apr 1846 in Itawamba County, Mississippi. Archibald C. Cockerell Jr. was born on 24 Dec 1822 in Georgia. He appeared on the census on 28 Jul 1860 in Prairie Beat, Van Zandt County, Texas.⁽⁶³⁹⁾ He appeared on the census on 18 Aug 1870 in Precinct #3, Van Zandt County, Texas. ⁽⁶⁴⁰⁾ He died on 13 Feb 1910 in Van Zandt County, Texas. He was buried in Elm Grove Cemetery, Van Zandt County, Texas. See this link for more on Arch Cockerell:

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~pridgen/stories/fam003.htm

and

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/COCKRELL/1997-09/0875247723



Archibald Cockerell

I will give you another story about Archibald "Arch" Cockerell born December 24, 1824 near Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Baldy and Selah Pridgen Cockrell. Arch married Mary Minerva Hittson April 20, 1832 in Itawamba county, Mississippi and the couple came to Texas in about 1850 and first settled in Rusk county, Texas with Mary Minerva's father Alexander Hittson, who had received a land grant from the Republic of Texas. Arch and Mary Cockerell moved to Kaufman county, Texas where Mary Minerva died September 4, 1875, and is buried in the Beard Cemetery in Van Zandt county, Texas.

Arch Cockerell then married Van Burena Rush on July 9, 1878 in Tyler, Smith county, Texas. It was their son, Dr. Lonnie Lee Cockerell, born June 4, 1879 that was my grandfather. As Arrch was getting older, they lived in a community called Lawndale, Texas. The town became Mabank, Texas in about 1902, and that is where I grew up.

The story is that one day Arch Cockerell could not find his gold, which he hid in a coffee can. In those days, people buried their gold for safety from theft. Apparently Arch got very angry because he could not find his gold, which he thought was buried under the front porch. Apparently, Arch set the porch on fire to get it out of the way so he could find his gold! Vannie, as his 2nd wfie was called, came running out with the coffee can containing the gold, and they hurried to put out the fire before the house was destroyed. It was apparently Arch Cockerell who added the extra "e" to the name, and since he had at least 16 children by the two wives, there are a lot of Cockerells living in and around Texas!

Mary Minerva Hittson and Archibald C. Cockerell Jr. had the following children:

+1117 i. John Alexander Cockerell.
+1118 ii. Jessie Thomas Cockerell.
+1119 iii. William A. Cockerell.
+1120 iv. Sarah A. Frances Cockerell.
+1121 v. Mary Eliza Cockerell.
+1122 vi. Elizabeth Ann "Bettie" Cockerell.
+1123 vii. Charles Morton Cockerell.
+1124 viii. Martha Minerva "Mattie" Cockerell.
+1125 ix. Laura Cockerell.
+1126 x. Elisha Edward Cockerell.