DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now settle in, because this one's got land, war, commerce, fire, tragedy, and one woman who just flat refused to let Dallas fall apart. That's a lot of story for one marker, so let's take it from the top.
Alexander Cockrell arrived in the Dallas area in 1845 — before most folks had even decided whether the place was worth stayin' in. He went off and served in the war with Mexico, eighteen forty-six to forty-seven, then came back, filed on six hundred and forty acres in the Peters Colony, and on September 9th, 1847, married Sarah Horton. The man had a plan, and he was movin' fast.
He ran a freight line — Houston, Jefferson, Shreveport — kept that going until 1852, when he made what you might call a consequential purchase. He bought the remainder of the Dallas townsite from one John Neely Bryan, born 1810, died 1877, and known to history as the Father of Dallas. That's a name that carries some weight, and Cockrell took the baton and ran with it.
Through the mid-1850s, he built a brick factory, a sawmill, and a bridge across the Trinity River — replacing a ferry he'd already bought from Bryan. He was stackin' one enterprise on top of another, and Dallas was growin' right along with him. But here's where the pace of the story changes.
On April 3rd, 1858, Alexander Cockrell — born June 8th, 1820 — met an untimely death in an altercation over an unpaid debt. Just like that, at thirty-seven years old, his influence on Dallas' prosperity was over. And the bridge across the Trinity?
It collapsed that same year of 1858. Now some stories end there. This one doesn't.
Sarah Horton Cockrell was born January 13th, 1819, and she had no intention of letting everything her husband built just dissolve into the Texas dust. She became the first woman in Dallas to exert economic influence outside the home — and that's the marker's own words, not mine. She completed the unfinished St.
Nicholas Hotel. Then, on July 8th, 1860, fire took it. She rebuilt it.
When the bridge went down in 1858 and there was no way across the Trinity, she operated the ferry — kept it running until a new span was erected in 1872. Fourteen years. She also added a flour mill and other businesses to the community.
When you add it all up, the enterprises of Alexander and Sarah Horton Cockrell played a vital role in establishing Dallas as an early regional trade center. One man arrived in 1845 with ambition and six hundred and forty acres. One woman carried it forward through death and fire and flood — all the way to 1892, when she passed on April 26th, having outlasted just about every obstacle Dallas could throw at her.
The city that grew up around all that work? It still stands.
What the marker says
Alexander Cockrell (June 8, 1820 - April 3, 1858) Sarah Horton Cockrell (Jan. 13, 1819 - April 26, 1892) Alexander Cockrell came to Dallas area in 1845. After serving in the war with Mexico (1846-47), he filed on 640 acres in the Peters Colony, and married Sarah Horton on Sept. 9, 1847. Cockress operated a freight line to Houston, Jefferson, and Shreveport until 1852, when he purchased remainder of the Dallas townsite from John Neely Bryan (1810 - 1877), the "Father of Dallas." Cockrell promoted growth of the village in the mid-1850s by building a brick factory, a sawmill, and a bridge across the Trinity River, replacing a ferry he had bought from Bryan. Cockrell's influence on Dallas' prosperity ended April 3, 1858, when he met an untimely death in an altercation over an unpaid debt. Sarah Horton Cockrell became the first woman in Dallas to exert economic influence outside the home. She completed the unfinished St. Nicholas Hotel, and rebuilt it after the fire of July 8, 1860; operated the ferry after the bridge collapsed in 1858 until a new span was erected in 1872; and, added a flour mill and other businesses to the community. The Cockrells' enterprises played a vital role in the establishment of Dallas as an early regional trade center. (1973)