Thomas Cockey ^{1 2 3 4 5}

  Research Notes:

From Inhabitants of Baltimore County 1763-1774, pp. 5-6:

"BACK RIVER UPPER HUNDRED, 1763"
[Among those listed are:]
Cockey, Edward
Cockey, Thomas
Cole, William (Britton Ridge)
Cole, Samuel
Cockey, John
Cockey, Joshua
Cockey, William
Deye, Penelope
Deye, Thomas Cockey
Owings, Samuel
Owings, Beal
Owings, Bazil
Ridgley, Charles Sr.
Ridgley, Charles Jr.
Talbot, Edward
Wells, Francis

Ibid., pp. 27-41:

"SIGNERS FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE COUNTY SEAT TO BALTIMORE TOWN (1768)...

"...Thomas Cockey...Joshua Owings...Charles Ridgely... Samuel Owings... John Cockey... Benjamin Wells, Charles Wells... George Wells... Caleb Warfield, Nathaniel Stinchcomb... William Coale...Christopher Randall, Jr.... J. Cockey Owings... William Wells, Jr.... William Wells...Edward Talbott... Edward Cockey... Benjamin Talbott... Charles Ridgely (son William)... Elisha Dorsey... Alexander Wells, Nathaniel Owings...Nathaniel Stinchcomb, Sr....Lott Owings... Anthony Arnold... Richard Owings... William Cockey... John Talbott (son Edward)... Richard Owings... William Slade... Edward Talbot... Vachel Dorsey... Christopher Owings, Richard Owings... Edward Dorsey (son John)... Lancelott Dorsey, Charles Dorsey (son Nathan), Ely Dorsey... Henry Dorsey...Samuel Dorsey, Jr.... Joshua Owings, Jr.... Samuel Owings... John Wells... Thomas Owings... Henry Butler... George Dorsey.

Ibid., pp. 50-54:

"A LIST OF TAXABLES IN BACK RIVER UPPER HUNDRED IN 1773 TAKEN BY WILLIAM HUTSON"

[Among households and garrisons(?) listed are:]

Cockey, John; Thomas Webster; Thomas Hersy; Thomas Draper; Edward Night; William Collins; Negro Nan

Cockey, William; Edward Flannagan; Rowland Bates; Negroes: Jack, Sam, Ja, Bett

Cockey, Edward, Joshua Cockey; Negroes: Easter, Juday

Cockey, Thomas Sr.; Thomas Cockey; James Space; Negroes: Jonathan, Boson, Burnam, (unclear), Haly(?), Cook, Jack
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From FindaGrave.com Find A Grave Memorial# 63745997 (Thomas Cockey, Sr.):
Thomas was the son of Capt. John Cockey, Sr., (1680-1746) and Elizabeth (Slade) Cockey Baker (c.1685-1780). Thomas was bequeathed his father's gold watch and six silver spoons in his father's will, in addition to his share of his father's personal estate.

Thomas is mentioned in the will of his uncle, Col. Thomas Cockey (1678-1737): "Nephew Thomas, son of brother, John, and male heirs, residue of real estate."

Thomas married Prudence (Gill) Cockey (born 6 Feb 1727) on 15 May 1753 at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, Owings Mills, Baltimore County, Maryland. Prudence and Thomas had signed a marriage contract on 14 May 1753, and it was witnessed by Stephen and Elinor Gill.

Prudence was the daughter of Stephen Gill and Elizabeth (Haubert/Hubbard/Hubbert) Gill, and she was baptized at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church.

On 29 Aug 1752, Thomas Cockey was the highest bidder for 400 acres of "Melinda" and 30 acres of "Addition to Melinda" at a public auction of the estate of the late, Col. William Hammond (1702-1752), held at William's house in Baltimore Town. William Rogers was the auctioneer. This land had previously been up for auction on 1 Aug 1752, but there were no bidders. In Dec 1752, Thomas Cockey received the deed from Col. Hammond's widow and executrix, Sarah Hammond. He paid 141 pounds sterling money of Great Britain. The land lay on the north side of the Patapsco River in the woods at a place called Newfoundland [Batson's Forest]. The deed says that "Melinda" bore a patent date of 10 Oct 1707. [Liber TR D, Folio 528]

In 25 June 1764, Thomas Cockey, planter, and wife, Prudence, sold 45 acres of "Begrudged" to Charles Gorsuch, planter, for 15 pounds current money. The tract adjoined "Grove" surveyed for Col. John Smith. [Liber B N, Folio 288]

On 26 Aug 1774, Thomas Cockey, planter, purchased 1,000 acres of "Prospect" from William Fenston, gentleman, of Philadelphia, PA, for 2,000 pounds current money. The tract is adjoining "Melinda." [Liber AL L, Folio 454].

In the 1783 Assessment for Baltimore County, Thomas Cockey, Sr., owned 400 acres of part of "Poor Jamaica Man's Plague," "Selsed," 27 acres of part of "Spring Garden" (at the head of the Piney Run of the Great Falls of the Gunpowder River), 350 acres of part of "Stansbury's Plains," 400 acres of "Melinda," 59 acres of "Cockey's Delight," 1,000 acres of "Prospect," and 225 acres of "Young Richard" in the Middle River Upper and Back River Upper Hundred.

Thomas Cockey's plantation in the Worthington Valley was called "Melinda's Prospect," and it was near Glyndon, Baltimore County, Maryland.

Thomas and Prudence had a very public spat, details of which were published in the Baltimore Gazette. A family file at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore details what was going on. In 1779 three years after Prudence left Thomas, she charged that he had, among other atrocious acts, cruelly whipped and cut with a knife one of his Negro men, and shot another; that he had stabbed his son John with a knife, badly wounding him; that he had accused his son Thomas of stealing his gold watch; that he had offered his "favorite" daughter Achsah £1,000 to poison her mother; and that he had pointed a loaded pistol at Prudence and ordered her to leave immediately or be killed. Prudence left, even though it was night, and took refuge in a neighbor's house.

Thomas Cockey, Sr., wrote his will on 6 Aug 1784, and it was probated on 9 Feb 1785. It mentions that his eldest son, Thomas Cockey, Jr., (1754-1813), was to receive "one shilling and it is my desire that he never enjoy any portion of my estate by the death of any of my children." Thomas' son, Charles Cockey (1762-1823), received parts of "Selsed" and "Addition to Poor Jamaica Man's Plague," and all of "Land's End," and the home place. His son, John Cockey (1758-1824), received the remainder of "Addition to Poor Jamaica Man's Plague," among other lands. Thomas' sons, Stephen Cockey (1764-1797) and Caleb Cockey (1768-1800), inherited properties in the Worthington Valley.

According to Thomas' grandson, Mordecai Gist Cockey, Thomas had some stipulations about who could be buried on the family property called "Melinda's Prospect." However, when the property left the Cockey family, Thomas, Prudence, and Thomas, Jr., all ended up together at a cemetery. Mordecai said you could hear the bodies rolling.

Mordecai Gist Cockey (1802-1872) was the son of Thomas Cockey, Jr., and Ruth (Brown) Cockey.

Written in 1966 - "The Cockey family cemetery in the Worthington Valley was on the estate known as "Melinda's Prospect." In March 1930, the bodies and markers were removed by the Cockey family to the graveyard of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, at Owings Mills, Baltimore County. Here a plot, located in the old section, against a north wall, they were re-interred and the original markers remain in place to this day."

r, and formerly wife of John Cockey, aged 95, died Aug. 5th, 1780."

  Birth Notes:

FindaGrave.com has b. 24 Dec. 1724. Another source has 13 Dec 1724.

  Burial Notes:

From FindaGrave.com:
Written in 1966 - "The Cockey family cemetery in the Worthington Valley was on the estate known as "Melinda's Prospect." In March 1930, the bodies and markers were removed by the Cockey family to the graveyard of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, at Owings Mills, Baltimore County. Here a plot, located in the old section, against a north wall, they were re-interred and the original markers remain in place to this day."

Thomas married Prudence Gill, daughter of Stephen Gill and Elizabeth Haubert, on 17 May 1753 in St. Thomas Anglican Church, Garrison, Baltimore, Maryland, (United States). (Prudence Gill was born on 6 Feb 1727 in Baltimore Co., Maryland, (United States), christened in St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Owings Mills, Baltimore, Maryland, (United States), died in Greenspring Valley, Baltimore, Maryland, United States and was buried in St. Thomas Episcopal Church Cemetery, Owings Mills, Baltimore, Maryland, (United States) ⁷.)