When Nancy Cockerham was born about 1775, in South Carolina, United States, her father, John Cockerham Sr., was 42 and her mother, Elizabeth Bramley, was 27. She married Westley B. Tarver in Barnwell, Barnwell, South Carolina, United States. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 3 daughters. She died in January 1845, in Amite, Mississippi, United States, at the age of 70.