Born in Wake County, Virginia, Ann Robertson moved to the Watauga settlement. In July 1776, when Fort Caswell, near the present site of Elizabethton, came under Indian attack, she mobilized the women to pass caldrons of boiling water to her position overlooking the palisades. Although she sustained several injuries, Robertson continued at her post until the Indians retreated.
When her husband, a justice of the peace in the Washington District of East Tennessee, was killed in an accident, she and her three small daughters joined Colonel John Donelson and a group of pioneers including her sister-in-law Charlotte Robertson in the migration to the Cumberland settlements. During the journey by flatboat, she taught the children, according to tradition, by making small wooden boxes, filling them with river sand, and drawing letters and numbers in the sand.
When the flotilla reached the confluence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, the flatboats had to navigate against the rain-swollen current to reach the mouth of the Cumberland. Some members decided to turn south to Natchez, Mississippi. Ann Robertson took a man's place as the pilot and steered the boat near the bank so the remaining men could pole upstream.
In the fall of 1784 Robertson married John Cockrill, and they had eight children. They established a home at Cockrill Springs at the present site of Centennial Park, where today there is a monument to her memory. She is buried in the Nashville City Cemetery.
2nd Cousins 1x Removed with Gov Patrick Henry. (See mothers page)
Born in Wake County, Virginia, Ann Robertson moved to the Watauga settlement. In July 1776, when Fort Caswell, near the present site of Elizabethton, came under Indian attack, she mobilized the women to pass caldrons of boiling water to her position overlooking the palisades. Although she sustained several injuries, Robertson continued at her post until the Indians retreated.
When her husband, a justice of the peace in the Washington District of East Tennessee, was killed in an accident, she and her three small daughters joined Colonel John Donelson and a group of pioneers including her sister-in-law Charlotte Robertson in the migration to the Cumberland settlements. During the journey by flatboat, she taught the children, according to tradition, by making small wooden boxes, filling them with river sand, and drawing letters and numbers in the sand.
When the flotilla reached the confluence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, the flatboats had to navigate against the rain-swollen current to reach the mouth of the Cumberland. Some members decided to turn south to Natchez, Mississippi. Ann Robertson took a man's place as the pilot and steered the boat near the bank so the remaining men could pole upstream.
In the fall of 1784 Robertson married John Cockrill, and they had eight children. They established a home at Cockrill Springs at the present site of Centennial Park, where today there is a monument to her memory. She is buried in the Nashville City Cemetery.
2nd Cousins 1x Removed with Gov Patrick Henry. (See mothers page)
Family Members
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MAJ Charles Sterling "Buffalo" Robertson
1740–1805
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GEN James Randolph Robertson
1742–1814
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John Randolph "Jonathan" Robertson Jr
1743–1780
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William Cash Robertson
1745–1857
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Julius Caesar Robertson
1750–1818
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Sarah Eliza "Sallie" Robertson Cash
1751–1803
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COL Elijah Robertson
1752–1797
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Capt Mark Claiborne Robertson
1759–1787
See more Johnston Cockrill or Robertson memorials in:
- Nashville City Cemetery Johnston Cockrill or Robertson
- Nashville Johnston Cockrill or Robertson
- Davidson County Johnston Cockrill or Robertson
- Tennessee Johnston Cockrill or Robertson
- USA Johnston Cockrill or Robertson
- Find a Grave Johnston Cockrill or Robertson