Cockayne Digital Collections

Sam Cockayne’s World War II Letters

During the Second World War, Sam Cockayne served in the Signal Corps and often wrote home to his parents and brother. He was stationed at Camp Crowder, MO from 1942-1943, before being sent to the Pacific Theater for the next two years. His letters capture a personal side of military service during WWII, and document the Cockayne’s Marshall County farm during that era.

Photograph Collection

The Cockayne collection includes hundreds of photographs of the Cockayne family, their farm, and the surrounding area. These photographs document Marshall County throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Beulah Smith and Alexander “Zan” Cockayne Letters

The letters in this collection were sent between Beulah Smith and Alexander “Zan” Cockayne from 1903-1916. Beulah and Zan married in 1919 after courting for almost twenty years! Beulah’s studies at West Virginia University and her desire to pursue a career as a school teacher in McMechen, WV, may have contributed to this delay, as in those days women teachers were expected to be unmarried. The couple finally married after Beulah left the teaching profession at age 38. Zan was 45 years old. However, in their letters to each other it is evident that Beulah and Zan loved each other very much and that their marriage was well worth the wait.