The entire direction of William Cocke’s life changed with the outbreak of the War of 1812. A phase of that war in the South was the Creek Indian War of 1813-1814.

What began as a civil war between two different factions of the Creek Nation spread across the eastern side of the Mississippi Territory when territorial militia took sides. The Red Stick Creek faction, inspired by a visit of Tecumseh, the great Shawnee leader, came under British influence. A party of Red Sticks who had traveled to Pensacola to receive arms and munitions from the British in July 1813 were ambushed by territorial militia as they were returning to their village in what is now south-central Alabama. The Red Stick Creek response was to attack and burn Fort Mims, killing more than 250 American militia, settlers and friendly Creeks who had gathered there for protection. Frear gripped the entire Mississippi Territory. Andrew Jackson and Tennessee governor William Blount called out the Tennessee Militia and sent it south to protect the Mississippi settlements.

Cocke, who had recently been elected to the Tennessee Legislature, though 65 years old and at odds with Jackson, enlisted as a private under Jackson. Cocke was soon promoted by Jackson to Colonel and on Jan. 19, 1814, Jackson wrote Cocke a letter praising him for his conduct and bravery. “The patriotism which brought you into the field at your advanced age, which prompted you on with me to face the enemy in the late excursion to the Tallapoose river, the example of order, and your admonition to strict subordination throughout the lines, and lastly, the bravery you displayed in the battle of Enotochopco, by re-crossing the creek, entering the pursuit, exposing your person, and thereby saving the life of Lt. Moss, and killing the Indian, entitle you to the thanks of your General and the approbation of your country.”

By the end of January 1814, Jackson was losing men, as many had only enlisted for three months and were suffering from a lack of supplies, including food and ammunition. Jackson dispatched Cocke to Tennessee to recruit and obtain supplies for his army. In early April Cocke wrote Jackson, “… it is with much pleasure that I now announce to you that the waters have risen and the boats are descending the rivers Holstein, French Broad & Tennessee, so that we shall be able to land from three to five thousand barrels of bread stuff, from thirty to fifty thousand weight of bacon, and other necessary supplies at Fort Deposit within eight or ten days in addition to what you now have, which will more than realize your best expectations. It is a high gratification for me to assure you that the best exertions to aid me in all things necessary have been cheerfully afforded by my fellow citizens in all parts of the state as well as in the county of Madison in the Mississippi Territory. May glory and conquest still attend you.”

Jackson defeated the Red Stick Creeks on March 27, 1814, at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, which all but ended the fighting. The U.S. had been aided and reinforced in the war by hundreds of Chickasaw, Choctaw and friendly Creek warriors who fought alongside U.S. troops. Cocke’s role was not forgotten, for in 1814, President James Madison appointed him U.S. Indian agent for the Chickasaw Nation, which then was centered in what is now northeast Mississippi. In 1816 at the treaty of St. Stephens, the Choctaws ceded their land east of the Tombigbee, which included the present site of Columbus.

In September of 1817, the survey of Andrew Jackson’s Military Road from Nashville to New Orleans was completed and construction began with its Tombigbee ferry crossing to be located where Columbus now sits. About the time the ferry site was confirmed, Cocke learned his term as Chickasaw agent would be ending early in 1818. In 1817, Tomas Cheadle was employed by Cocke as a carpenter at the agency. He left the agency around Sept. 2, 1817,which is about the time Cocke would have learned of the Tombigbee ferry’s location and when the first house at Columbus would have been built. When the new agent arrived at the agency in June of 1818, he was informed that Cocke and his family had moved and settled on the Tombigbee River. Cocke shows up at the site of Columbus by 1819 and it was probably where he had moved in 1818. His house in Columbus stood next to the cabin that had been built in the fall of 1817.

Columbus was first officially recognized as a town by the Alabama Legislature on Dec. 6, 1819. It was not until Jan. 3, 1821, that Mississippi Gov. George Poindexter announced that a tract of land on the east side of the Tombigbee which had been attached to Alabama was actually in Mississippi. Columbus was chartered as a town by the state of Mississippi on Feb. 10, 1821, and Franklin Academy was established. Commissioners, including Cocke, were appointed to lay out the town of Columbus and to effectively serve as the town’s first governing body. Cocke was elected president, which made him the first chief executive of the town of Columbus. The commissioners became the Trustees of Franklin Academy. Cocke corresponded with Thomas Jefferson, an old associate from Virginia, about education and Franklin Academy. In an 1825 letter to Jefferson, he mentioned that there were “upwards of 60” scholars attending Franklin Academy. Cocke was president of the board until his death in 1828 and exemplifies the farsighted citizens who in 1821 realized the importance of public education and founded the first free public school in Mississippi.

Cocke’s home in Columbus was a two-story, cross hall dogtrot log house that stood about where the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center is now located. He was granted the first license to operate an inn or tavern in Columbus. It was to operate in his house. Cocke was elected to the Mississippi Legislature, making it the fourth state legislature he had been elected to serve in.

Among Cocke’s children, his stepson, Barlett Sims, was sheriff of Marion County, Alabama, in 1819 (when Columbus was believed to be in Alabama) and then in 1821 of Monroe County, Mississippi. In Columbus, his son, Stephen, was clerk of the county court and his stepson, Matthew Sims, was the deputy clerk. William Cocke died in Columbus on Aug. 22, 1828, and would have been buried in the old Tombigbee Graveyard next to Kissiah Sims, his second wife, who had died in 1820. The cemetery was located on the north side of the block on which Riverview is located. Their remains were later moved to Friendship Cemetery.

William Cocke’s role in American History is almost unbelievable. He served in the Revolution, traveled with Daniel Boone, knew Thomas Jefferson, was a sometimes friend, sometime foe of Andrew Jackson, helped draft Tennessee’s constitution, was one of Tennessee’s first two U.S. senators, at age 65 was a hero of the Creek War, was appointed Chickasaw Indian agent by President Madison, was the president of the trustees of Franklin Academy, the governing body of Columbus in 1821, served in the legislatures of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi and Cocke County, Tennessee is named for him. Cocke not only lived the founding of America he was a leader of the westward expansion.

Thanks to Carolyn Kaye for helping with research.

Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].

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