Cocklin, Capt. D. E.

COCKLIN, POWELL, JOHNSON

Posted By: mjv (email)
Date: 9/9/2020 at 14:29:02

Capt. D. E. Cocklin is a farmer and stock-raiser, living upon section 7, Marion Township. He is a native of Ohio, born in Wayne County, Dec. 25, 1835, and is a son of Samuel and Mary Cocklin, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, but who emigrated to Ohio at an early day. In 1854, the family came to Washington County, Iowa, and settled on section 8, Marion Township, where the father purchased 220 acres of land, forty of which was improved. The mother died in 1856, but the father is yet living, making his home with his son.

The subject of this sketch was reared upon a farm and received his education in the common schools of his native State. Prior to the breaking out of the war, he taught four terms of public school. In common with every other loyal man, when the South arrayed itself against the General Government, and by force of arms determined to maintain its right to secede, young Cocklin at once determined to join with those who proposed to maintain the Union inviolate. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted as a private in Co. I, 13th Iowa Vol. Inf., and served until the close of the war. Soon after his enlistment he was appointed Corporal, and was made Sergeant shortly after the battle of Shiloh, in which the 13th Regiment bore such an honorable part. The record of the 13th Iowa Infantry is indeed a glorious one. Together with the 11th, 15th and 16th Iowa Regiments, they formed one of the most distinguished brigades in the Army of the Tennessee, and were once accorded the honor of saving that entire army from a terrible defeat. In the winter of 1862-63 the regiment with its brigade returned from Gen. Grant’s march into Central Mississippi to La Fayette, Tenn., and on the 2d of January left for Young’s Point, La., where the regiment worked hard on the celebrated Vicksburg Canal, and until the following September its duties were fatiguing. In the siege and capture of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, the 13th Regiment bore an honorable part. The autumn and most of the winter of 1863-64 were spent by the 13th at Vicksburg, and there the regiment re-enlisted as veterans, though it did not take its furlough until after the march to Meridian. In the Atlanta campaign Sergt. Cocklin was in command of his company, but in November, 1864, was promoted Captain, and as such served until the close of the war. From Atlanta the regiment marched to Savannah, thence to Goldsboro, and on to Washington, where it formed a part of that vast number in the grand review at that place. The regiment was mustered out at Louisville, Ky., and discharged at Davenport, Aug. 12, 1865.

On receiving his discharge, Capt. Cocklin again returned to his home in Washington County, and one month thereafter, on the 12th day of September, 1865, was united in marriage with Miss Hester A. Powell, the daughter of Joseph and Martha (Johnson) Powell. Two children have been born unto them, Charles J. and Samuel, both residing at home. Capt. Cocklin is now the owner of ninety-two acres of land on section 7, Marion Township, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation. He is a self-made man, and enjoys the respect and confidence of all who know him. In politics he is a Republican, and at the same time is a strong temperance man. He and his wife are members the Baptist church at Eureka, of which body he is a deacon.

Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington County, Iowa (1887). Excerpt from Biographical Sketch of Capt. D.E. Cocklin, pages 200-201.