Listed as being born in Red Dirt, Bates County, MO by his son William.

Came to Sonoma County, California in 1853 when he was one year old, as a member of the Hagans-Cockrill Wagon Train.

In the 1880 Census for Sonoma Co., CA, he is listed living in the Town of Bloomfield, dwelling #41, as B. J. Cockrill, a 25 year old Musician (unemployed 6 months), born in Missouri (father bp. SC, mother bp. KY). His wife is enumerated as Mattie (a. 22, bp. Canada, father bp. Ireland, mother bp. Canada, "Keeping House), and two children are also listed: Wm. A. (a. 2, bp. CA) and Sara (a. 4 months, bp. CA).

From Rebecca Aileen Cockrill:

Bruce Travis COCKRILL was 1 year and 3 months old when the wagon trail left for California on April 1, 1853. Bruce Travis Cockrill was appointed Judge of the Analy Township of upon the death of his father Larkin Davenport Cockrill in 1886, and held the office for some 20 years or more. He became a Physician and Surgeon in middle life and was considered a very successful medico, having a large following in Western Marin and Sonoma Counties up to the time of his death.

Bruce lived in Bloomfield most of his life, except for two years between 1878-1879 when he “was a prison guard during the Stoneman administration.” He was a farmer as well as involved in the mercantile business for a period of time. From one of his obituaries it states, “He was an accomplished musician and in the early days played in orchestras that furnished the dance music at many of the frolics of the countryside.” He completed his medical training in 1892 and practiced medicine “as far away along the coast as Cazadero” for 30 years until his death at 72.

From Dirt Roads and Dusty Tales: A Bicentennial History of Bloomfield, Sonoma County, California, by Hannah M. Clayborn (Cleone Publishing Company, Santa Rosa: 1976), p. 18:

L. D. Cockrill's son, Bruce Travis Cockrill, succeeded his father as Judge of Analy Township, and held that office until he became a physician and surgeon, Bloomfield's first and only after Dr. Blume. 'Doc Cockrill', as he was known, delivered babies and otherwise bandaged the citizens of Bloomfield for forty years before his death.

Bruce T. Cockrill is listed in a History of Sonoma County, by J. P. Munro-Fraser (San Francisco, 1880), as being a member of the Valley Ford Lodge No. 191, I. O. O. F., which was moved to Bloomfield March 9, 1875:

Its present membership is fifty-six, and it is in a most flourishing condition. During the past year it has erected a building at a cost of three thousand dollars, the lower story of which is used for mercantile purposes, while in the upper one there is an elegantly furnished lodge room.

Bruce T. Cockrill is also listed as being a charter member of the Bloomfield Encampment No. 61., I. O. O. F. which was organized 10 January 1877.

From the Sonoma County Deed Index:

From Index and Abstract of Wills - Sonoma County, California 1850-1900 (Sonoma Genealogical Society, May 1985), p. 26:

Caseres, Cero F. Bodega Tnsp. Saloon Keeper Age 54. Bk. F, Pg. 299 #2448. Written: 19 Jul 1894; Died: 25 Jul. 1894; Rec.: 17 Aug. 1894. Bequest to: S. W. Stump, Mrs. Susan C. Stump Executors: Daniel Dumilin, O. H. Hoag Witnesses: Bruce T. Cockrill, M. D.; Jno. Murray.

Cero F. Caseres died July 26, 1884 and is buried with members of the Stump and Wagner families in the Bloomfield Cemetery. Perhaps a patient or friend of Dr. Bruce Cockrill. The Doctor's name also appears on several birth certificates in the area.

Fisherman Neil Sullivan was also a school teacher in San Francisco.

Dr. Cockrill and his wife had a long relationship with the Francis Drake Trosper family, and visted the family many times at the Trosper Lodge in Cazadero. The husband of the Doctor's cousin, Eliza Cockrill, had an aunt, who was married to Francis Drake Trosper's father. This connection, vague as it might be, was probably known by both parties, also the wives of both men were Canadians from Ontario.

Gary Rodgers, an Adams/Trosper family source and the webmaster of The Cazadero, California Website, has shared with me several items about Dr. Cockrill and the Trosper family:

Talked to my father, John Trosper Rodgers [a name given in respect to Francis Drake Trosper and not by any direct family lineage]... today and he said he knew Doc Bruce Cockrill. He said he always wore a derby hat (see photo) and was best known for setting bones in Cazadero. He was often paid in chickens. After a good day's work he would return home in Bloomfield with a crate of chickens. Dad said he was quite a colorful person...

...more about his recollections of Doc Cockrill. He said he delivered two of my cousins (Bob Rodgers Dec. 31, 1916 & Florence Rodgers Sept. 13, 1923 -- Doc Cockrill died Dec. 23, 1923, so he was delivering babies until his death; maybe Florence was among, if not his last), and probably most of Cazadero's babies at the time. He was also my Grandfather's (Harold F. Rodgers Sr.) family Doctor. When asked what he remembered most about him, he said "Doc Cockrill always carried a round dark brown medicine bag with him which contained various bottles of medicine. He used to mix the medicines on the spot for whatever symptoms he recognized. He was also the only doctor to serve the area."

I told dad that there was some question as where Cockrill got his medical degree and he commented. "Didn't make any difference as he was effective." He said he may have studied under another doctor which many doctors did at the time (learned as an apprentice). Dad then said, "Hell, Drake Trosper pulled a lot of folk's teeth and he had no medical degree in dentistry. A bottle of whisky and a good technique was what it took to get his patients. Doc Cockrill had no 'snake oils' and his medicines worked. He cured your grandfather of an arthritis flare up once."

...he said Doc Cockrill spent most of his hunting time on the William King ranch north of the Trosper house. He said his two sons were quite noisy and were always in mischief. They ran Doc's Dodge over a bank on the King ranch and had to block & tackle it with mules to get it back on the road. The Dodge's steering wheel only had a couple of spokes in it and was hard to steer with.

Gary Rodgers also relates the story that on July 31, 1910, Dr. Cockrill and his son, William A., was to meet at the Kendall home in Cazadero to go hunting. Finding the home empty, they suspected foul play, and notified their hosts at the Trosper Lodger. Francis Drake Trosper also happened to be the Justice of the Peace for the area, and he notified the Santa Rosa Sheriff. A posse (which also included Drake's brother, Arthur Trosper, a deputy sheriff ) was sent out, and the brutally murdered and dismembered bodies of the Kendall family were later found (c.f. Q10 by VS: What were/are the two unsolved Cazadero murder cases?)

Is Bruce Travis Cockrill's middle name from Mary Travis, wife of Walter Anderson? The Travis Family connection with the Cockrills is unknown at this time. There was also a William Travis, a single man, who was a member of the 1853 Hagans-Cockrill immigration to California.

Newspaper obituaries for Dr. Bruce T. Cockrill from a family collection of clippings are available here.