John Alexander Cocke was an American politician who represented Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 as a member of the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

. He was born in Brunswick, Nottoway County, Virginia

Nottoway County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 15,725 people, 5,664 households, and 3,885 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile . There were 6,373 housing units at an average density of 20 per square mile...

 in 1772. He moved with his parents to Tennessee, where he attended the public schools. He studied law, was admitted to the bar

Bar association

A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...

 in 1793, and practiced in Hawkins County

Hawkins County, Tennessee

Hawkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 56,833. Its county seat is Rogersville, Tennessee's second-oldest town....

.

He was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives

Tennessee House of Representatives

The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...

 in 1796, 1797, 1807, 1809, 1812, and again in 1837. He served as speaker in 1812 and 1837. He served in the Tennessee Senate

Tennessee Senate

The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the Tennessee state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators...

 between 1799 and 1801. He served as major general

Major General

Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 of the Tennessee Volunteers in the Creek War

Creek War

The Creek War , also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, began as a civil war within the Creek nation...

 in 1813 and as colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 of a regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 of Tennessee riflemen, under General Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

, at New Orleans.

Cocke was as a Democratic-Republican to the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Congresses, as a Jacksonian Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, and as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth Congress, serving from 1819 to 1827. During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Congresses, he was chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Indian Affairs.

John Cocke engaged in agricultural

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 pursuits, founded a school for deaf mutes in Knoxville, Tennessee

Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

, and again became a member of the Tennessee Senate in 1843. He died in Rutledge, Tennessee

Rutledge, Tennessee

Rutledge is a town in Grainger County, Tennessee, United States. It is the county seat of Grainger County. It is part of the Morristown, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 on February 16, 1854. He was interred

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

 at Methodist Church Cemetery. He was the son of U.S. Senator William Cocke

William Cocke

William Cocke was an American lawyer, pioneer, and statesman. He has the distinction of having served in the state legislature of four different states: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and was one of the first two United States senators for Tennessee.-Biography:William was...

 and the uncle of U.S. representative William Michael Cocke

William Michael Cocke

William Michael Cocke was an American politician who represented Tennessee's second district in the United States House of Representatives.-Biography:...

.

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