1832 May 7 Jeremiah Vardaman Cockrell raised born at Warrensuburg - CSA Commander of and Wounded at the Battle of Lone Jack MO - Son Founded the SMU School of Law

Col. Jeremiah Varadaman Cockrell, CSA,
born at Warrensburg MO

Jeremiah Vardaman Cockrell, also known as Vard Cockrell, (May 7, 1832 – March 18, 1915) was a U.S. Representative from Texas, after having served as a field commander in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Jeremiah Cockrell was born near Warrensburg, Missouri, to Joseph Cockrell (the sheriff of Johnson County) and Nancy (Ellis) Cockrell. He attended the common schools and Chapel Hill College in Lafayette County, Missouri. He was the older brother of Francis Marion Cockrell, who also served as a Confederate officer and later as a US Senator from Missouri. As a young man, Cockrell went to California during the Gold Rush, where he was a miner and a merchant near the Bear River. Cockrell returned to Missouri in 1853, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits, studied law, and, for a time, was a minister in the Methodist Church. 

Battle of Lone Jack, Col. Jeremiah Cockrell, CSA

 When the Civil War began Cockrell entered the Missouri State Guard and Confederate States Army as a lieutenant and served throughout the Civil War, in which he attained the rank of colonel.

  "Through the summer of 1862, the Union militias battled the Confederate recruiters for control of the state. Some of the more successful Confederate recruiters were MSG Col. Jeremiah Cockrell, who raised a large force in the Jackson County area, and MSG Brig. Gen. Jeff Thompson, who commanded a brigade-size force in southeast Missouri."  Atlas of Prices Missouri Expedition

Col. Cockrell was the CSA commander at the 1862 Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri. He was later wounded so severely in 1864 that he could not return to field duty. At the close of the war, Cockrell settled with his family first at Dallas and then Sherman, Grayson County Texas, where he practiced law. He became Chief Justice of Grayson County, Texas, in 1872 and served as delegate to the Democratic state conventions in 1878 and 1880. He and his family moved from the North Texas to Abilene, Jones County, Texas where he was appointed judge of the Thirty-ninth judicial district court in 1885. He was elected to the position in 1886 and re-elected in 1890. In 1892, Cockrell was elected as a Democrat to the US Congress, where he served until 1897. He returned to engage in farming and stock raising in Jones County. Cockrell died in Abilene, Texas, on March 18, 1915 at the age of 82. He is interred in the Masonic Cemetery. His son, Joseph E. Cockrell, founded the Southern Methodist University School of Law.

Born 7 May 1832 Warrensburg, Johnson County, Missouri
Died 18 Mar 1915 Abilene, Jones County, Texas
Buried Masonic Cemetery Abilene, Jones County, Texas
Father Joseph Cockrell, b. 8 Jun 1784, Russell County, Virginia
Mother Nancy Ellis, b. 1 Jan 1803, Floyd County, Kentucky d. 23 Nov 1883, Johnson County, Missouri
Married 8 Jan 1818 Floyd County, Kentucky d. 3 Apr 1837, Johnson County, Missouri