William Cocke Young

Colonel William Cocke Young (May 7, 1812 – October 16, 1862) was an American jurist and Confederate States Army colonel.

Biography Young was born on May 7, 1812, in Davidson County, Tennessee, to Daniel Young and Peggy Branch. In 1837, he moved near Pecan Point, Texas. He served as the first sheriff of the county in 1837. On February 5, 1844, Sam Houston appointed him district attorney of the Republic of Texas' Seventh Judicial District.

Young served under Edward H. Tarrant in the Battle of Village Creek, and helped bury John B. Denton afterwards. He served as a representative from Red River County during the Convention of 1845, which resolved the Texas Revolution.

During the American Civil War, after consulting with Jefferson Davis in Montgomery, Alabama, Young organized the 11th Texas Cavalry Regiment. In May 1861, he and his army crossed the Red River, stopping possible invasions from the north. He fell ill in 1862 and returned to his home in Cooke County, Texas, where he selected the jury to the trials of the Great Hanging at Gainesville.

During a hunting trip on October 16, 1862, Young was murdered. Following his death, nineteen more Unionists were hanged.