When John W. Cockrill was born on 8 July 1781, in Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States, his father, John Cockrell Jr., was 23 and his mother, Ann Robertson, was 24. He married Elizabeth Bibb Harding in 1803, in Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 5 daughters. He died on 12 August 1841, in Tuscumbia, Colbert, Alabama, United States, at the age of 60.