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I will give you another story about Archibald "Arch" Cockerell born December 24, 1824 near Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Baldy and Selah Pridgen Cockrell. Arch married Mary Minerva Hittson April 20, 1832 in Itawamba county, Mississippi and the couple came to Texas in about 1850 and first settled in Rusk county, Texas with Mary Minerva's father Alexander Hittson, who had received a land grant from the Republic of Texas. Arch and Mary Cockerell moved to Kaufman county, Texas where Mary Minerva died September 4, 1875, and is buried in the Beard Cemetery in Van Zandt county, Texas.
Arch Cockerell then married Van Burena Rush on July 9, 1878 in Tyler, Smith county, Texas. It was their son, Dr. Lonnie Lee Cockerell, born June 4, 1879 that was my grandfather. As Arrch was getting older, they lived in a community called Lawndale, Texas. The town became Mabank, Texas in about 1902, and that is where I grew up.
The story is that one day Arch Cockerell could not find his gold, which he hid in a coffee can. In those days, people buried their gold for safety from theft. Apparently Arch got very angry because he could not find his gold, which he thought was buried under the front porch. Apparently, Arch set the porch on fire to get it out of the way so he could find his gold! Vannie, as his 2nd wfie was called, came running out with the coffee can containing the gold, and they hurried to put out the fire before the house was destroyed. It was apparently Arch Cockerell who added the extra "e" to the name, and since he had at least 16 children by the two wives, there are a lot of Cockerells living in and around Texas!