Marion Co TOC

NOTE !! This is a compilation of information only, and the reader must allow for errors. Because of past courthouse burnings, a large majority of coker information comes only from stories handed down through families and acquaintances. This genealogy is meant to be used simply as a guide. For additional information on the Cokers, look at the book on Marion County, AR families at the Marion County library.

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SARAH "SALLIE" COKER, dau. of Buck Coker

born abt 1796 in GA

died before 1860 Marion Co., AR

married (1) William W. "Bill" TRIMBLE,

son of Robert & Hannah Trimble;

(2) AR State Representative, Michael YOCUM (b. 1799 TN)

[Yocum is spelled various ways: Yocham, Yockum, et al.]

A descendant of Willliam & Sarah (Coker) Trimble wrote on October 24, 1992:

I doubt if your [relative] killed anyone - or raped women - like so many others in that time frame. Of course, my kin, Wm. Trimble served "time" before he married Sally Coker, and was "killed" because of a rape that he & bro. committed in KY. Plus all the killings that the Coker[s'] did, that was recorded.

This descendant was referring to a story about the Trimble brothers which appeared in Life in the Leatherwoods, by John Quincy Wolf, copyright 1974, revised 1980, pages 68, 69. Here's an excerpt from it:

My second story took place thirty or forty years before I was born, when lawless frontiersman hunted and traded up and down the White River.

In late summer when Jim Grant pulled up to his home on the bank of the Ohio in Kentucky after spending most of the spring and summer on the White, he found his wife in trouble. She said she had been molested by the Trimble brothers, Bill and Watt. James Grant took his wife to the home of his parents and went back to his canoe. Down the Ohio he went, down the Mississippi to the mouth of the White, up the White to a trading post near North Fork, and there he found Bill Trimble. Bill was suspicious and wary, but Grant greeted him in a casual way as though he knew nothing and suspected nothing. "Whur you been at?" asked Trimble.

"New Orleans," said Grant.

"What doin'?"

"Sellin' hides."

"You ain't been to Kaintuck?"

"Nah," said Grant.

"How's the folks in Kaintuck?" asked Trimble.

"Ain't heerd. But I'll be goin' back in a week or two."

Within a few hours the two men had planned a hunting trip down the river. They went in Grant's canoe with Trimble's tied behind it. Jim brought along a keg of whiskey, and Trimble drank, but Grant did not, though he pretended to do so. . . .

. . . .

Up to this time Trimble had carried his rifle, named Sweet Lips, in his hands or rested it across his knees. Now walking unsteadily, he leaned his rifle against the fireplace and sat down in a chair. Grant picked up Sweet Lips and once more walked out the door. When Trimble followed him outside, Grant shot him through the heart with his own gun, Sweet Lips. . . . [Grant] tried to calm the Carter women and told them that the Trimble men had abused his wife in Kentucky. With no more delay he left the house, turned Trimble over to make sure he was dead, and walked down toward the River.

Grant was not heard of again until he reached Watt Trimble's place at the head of Trimble's Island in the lower White. He landed, went up to the house, and found Watt dying of tuberculosis and unable to walk. He told Watt, "I killed your brother Bill up at the Carter women's place and came here to kill you, but your Maker is killin' you fast enough." . . .

Meanwhile some of the settlers living on the upper White took Bill Trimble's body and buried it at the foot of the rock big as a house where old lady Hawthorn had dreamed that the owl swept down dead onto the ground [foretold Bill's death]. . . .

The Arkansas Gazette ran an article on William's murder on May 6, 1820 (Sources: Izard County Historical Society; J.Y. of Sand Springs, OK):

THE MURDER OF WILLIAM TRIMBLE

A horrid and unprovided murder was perpetrated on the night of the 6th of April at the house of John Carter, White River Township, in this territory, on the body of William Trimble, by a man who calls himself Grant. They had traveled together about 60 or 70 miles by water, and had stopped at the above house with the intention of staying all night. Grant got offended by a young woman in the house (Carter's daughter), swore he would not stay in the house, and picked up his gun and went out. The deceased used every argument to pacify him, followed him out of the house and endeavored to persuade him to return. As soon as he had gone out, he received, without the least provocation, two rifle balls in his breast, which in a few minutes terminated his existence. The family immediately fled to the woods, there being no man in the house, it consisted of an old lady, her daughter, and three or four small children.

Grant took from Trimble's saddlebags between 500 or 600 dollars in money and about 60 dollars worth of clothing, including a dark brown superfine broadcloth coat. Grant has with him a neat small bore rifle, with a walnut stock and iron butt.

The said Grant is a dangerous man; he has threatened the lives of two men in this Territory and acknowledges having killed a man at or near the mouth of the Cumberland River. He is a slender spare-made, dark complected [sic] man; about 45 or 46 years of age gray headed and a very sensible man in conversation. He has shown two commissions which he had held, one a majors and the other a colonels. He is now running at large and I hope there is no man in this Territory who is so lost to a sense of duty which everyone ought to feel for the respectability of the country but what will apprehend him, if possible, so that he may be brought to the punishment he so rightly deserves. It is probable he may change his name and, from the course he took after committing the murder, he would do double make for Red River, or the lines by the way of the Arkansas River.

Our correspondent states that he is acquainted with some of the connexions [sic] of the deceased and that they are very respectable.

Even S.C. Turnbo mentions William Trimble's death, in "A Part of an Account of the Coker Family Biographical and Historical:"

Sallie another daughter of Buck Cokers married William Trimble in Alabama and they moved to White River in what is now Marion County, Ark. as early as 1814. . . . Soon after William Trimble was killed on White River Mrs. Sallie Trimble married Mike Yocum . . . .

Mike Yocum appears to have had a somewhat better character. He is discussed in S.C. Turnbo's article, "The Last Hours of Mike Yocum:"

One of the earliest settlers in Marion County, Arkansas, is Mike Yocum whose name we have mentioned so frequently in these sketches. Mr. Yocum had three brothers whose names were Jess, Solomon, and Jake. These four men had crossed the deep blue sea to America from Germany when they were little boys. At the age of 17 Mike was captured by the Indians and held a captive four years. At one time the Indians condemned him to suffer death by shooting him with arrows, but after the warriors had placed him on a block of wood to carry out his execution, the chief interfered in his behalf and saved him from a terrible death by shooting arrows into his body. These Indians had also captured a negro man at the time Yocum was taken. One day while Yocum and the negro were prisoners but were footloose, the negro and one of the Indian men got into a fight and the warrior bit off part of one of the negro's ears. Some years after Yocum and the negro made their escape from the Indians, the latter finally fell in possession of Ewing Hogan [Cal Hogan's father], an early settler of Marion County, Arkansas. . . . As long as Mike Yocum lived he loved old Ben the negro because they had been fellow prisoners and suffered together while in the hands of the red men. . . . In 1850, while Yocum lived at the mouth of Little North Fork and owned the mill there, he was a candidate for representative of Marion County. His opponent was Captain Henry, whose given name is forgotten. Both men were influential and had many friends which made the canvass hot. . . . Mr. Yocum succeeded in defeating Henry and his friends rejoiced at the opportunity of sending him to Little Rock to represent in the legislature. When the war between the states broke out, Mr. Yocum sympathized with the south, but he was too old and feeble to enlist in the army. One day during the fall of 1862, he was arrested for being a southern man and taken to Springfield, Missouri, where he was imprisoned and compelled to suffer from disease and vermin until the following December when he was released. Sick and without money, he left the door of the prison house and walked and crawled all day. At night he found himself at "June" Campbell's four miles south of Springfield. The poor suffering old man was completely exhausted. . . . He and Campbell were friends and when Yocum reached his residence, Mr. Campbell and his family did all in their power to relieve his suffering, but their efforts were unavailing for in a few hours Mr. Yocum entered the great valley of darkness . . . . Mr. Campbell, aided by his family, dug a grave on a knoll on his farm and here the mortal remains of this old pioneer of Arkansas was deposited. Thus passed away one of Marion County's old timers and one among the best of citizens.

Michael and Sarah are found on the 1850 Marion Co., AR federal census:

No. 8 Michael Yokum 51 Tenn farmer

Sarah 54 GA

Winney 14 Ark

Michael 12 Ark

Terry Lorenzo 22 UK [United Kingdom]

SARAH COKER'S KNOWN CHILDREN:

1. REDESSA "DICY" TRIMBLE, born about 1814, Marion Co., AR; married (1) James A. "Jim" WOOD, born abt 1811, died abt 1839, and the son of William & Hannah (Austin) Wood; (2) John "Jack" NAVE, born abt 1817 and son of John & Mary Nave, and bro. to Jake, Elizabeth, Katie, Wm., Abe, Isaac and Dicy Nave. John Nave "died during the war." Dicy, died in 1861 and is buried "in the grave yard at the mouth of Spring Creek on Little North Fork. Dicy and James Wood's children were: Sarah Ann, Mary Jane, and Michael Wood. Dicy & John Nave's children were: Asa, Louisa Elizabeth, Mary Martha, Allen M. and Emiline Nave

2. ALLIN TRIMBLE, born June 15, 1815, died April 13, 1889, Protem, Taney Co., MO. Allin married (1) Elizabeth NAVE, b. abt 1820 in TN and who died August 1857, was a sister of John, Jake, Katie, Wm., Isaac, Abe, and Dicy Nave; (2) Sallie (COKER) Brown, widow of Tom Brown, son of Katie (Coker) Brown. Sallie was the daughter of William & Sarah Coker, Jr. Allin's children by Elizabeth Nave (as shown on the 1850 Marion Co., AR census): Sarah, William "Bill", Lucinda (first engaged to Harve Anderson, who died, then later she married John Walker), Josiah "Joe", Mary M. (who married Yellville Bill Coker, son of William Coker, Jr., then married James King), Milton, John. They also had Redessa (b. 1852) and Malissa (b. 1854). Allin's children by Sallie are yet unknown.

Note: In one of S.C. Turnbo's articles, he refers to "his old friend William Trimble" and "his father Allin Trimble and two small brothers Milton and John Trimble."

S.C. Turnbo mentioned Bill Trimble in "A Part of an Account of the Coker Family Biographical and Historical:" "The following is a biographical sketch of Buck Cokers children and grandchildren as far as we are able to obtain the information, nearly all of which was furnished me by Bill Trimble son of Allin Trimble, the last named was a child of Mrs. Sallie Trimble daughter of Buck Coker. The Coker family belongs to the oldest Pioneer race of people in Northwest Arkansas."

S.C. Turnbo wrote about Allin Trimble in his article, "The Old Allin Trimble Farm and How Allin Trimble and Others Killed Deer."

On the right bank of White River in Franklin township in Marion County, Ark., and just above the mouth of Trimble's Creek is the old Allin Trimble farm where he settled in 1842. William Trimble, father of Allin Trimble, had marked a sycamore tree which stood at the spring 25 years before his son, Allin Trimble, settled here. Mr. Trimble first built a small hut on the point of the hill above the spring and he employed a man by the name of Campbell Stacy to clear the cane off of 6 acres of land in the bottom. The cane stood very thick on the ground and was so tough that Campbell had to use a heavy homemade hoe to cut he cane with. Mr. Trimble had 10 acres of land in cultivation when the big overflow in the river come down in May, 1844, and swept over the field and washed away his fencing and young corn.

Allin Trimble was a great hunter and hunted part of the time from the day he was old enough to carry a rifle until he was feeble with age. . . . [ Mr. Turnbo allegedly quotes Allin Trimble himself as he tells about two hunting incidents, one in 1842 and another in 1845.] The mortal remains of Mr. Trimble lies buried in this graveyard. The following is engraved on a small monumental tombstone at the head of his grave. "Allin Trimble Born June 15, 1815. Died April 13, 1889" Just to the left of his grave lie the remains of his firt wife, Mrs. Elizabeth (Nave) Trimble, who died in August, 1857."

3. MARY JANE TRIMBLE, born abt 1817 or 1820; died after 1880; married Abe NAVE, bro. to John, Jake, Elizabeth, Katie, Wm., Isaac and Dicy Nave. Abe Nave "died in Douglas County Mo. in war times and is buried in a grave yard on Cow Skin Creek." Mary Jane is buried in the graveyard at the mouth of Brattons Spring Creek [S.C. Turnbo says "Jane" is buried in the same cemetery as her sister, Dicy]. Mary Jane & Abe's known children: William, Sally, Michael, James M., Redessa, Winnifred, Isaac, Asa, Elizabeth, and Emeline.

4. ASA YOCUM, born abt 1819, Izard Co., AR; died June 1863, Marion Co., AR; killed during the Civil War. S.C. Turnbo wrote in "A Part of an Account of the Coker Family Biographical and Historical:" "[Asa is] buried in the cemetery on his old farm on White River opposite the Bull Bottom and 3 miles from Peel Ark. The place is known now as the Bill Treadway land. The graveyard is on a beautiful low ridge like formation of land between White River and a little shadow valley of a hollow, and is just across from where the lane was from the old Asa Yocum dwelling . . . ." Asa married Elizabeth "Elize" Denison, [she may have been related to the Nave kids named above, because the mother of the Nave children married a man, Mr. Denison]. Elize Denison was born September 9, 1822, in MO; died March 2, 1906 in Marion Co., AR; buried at Peel, AR. Children: Sarah "Sallie," Michael Dekalb, John D., Jacob D., Harvey Ray "Harve," William, and Nancy Ann Yocham. Asa's widow, Elize, next married Pew C. Anderson.

[There's a ten-year age difference between Asa & William???]

5. WILLIAM YOCUM, born January 12, 1829, married Nancy KEESEE, dau. of Payton & Nancy (Grayham) Keesee. Nancy was born November 11, 1834. They lived on the White River in Marion Co., AR. William died May 1861, Marion Co., AR, and is buried in the Asa Yocum graveyard. Nancy died March 22, 1910, in Blanton, Hill Co., TX. William & Nancy's children: Winnie, Jacob C., Payton T., Michael and Asa M. Nancy married (2) in 1867 to Thomas COPELAND, and they had dau. Matilda Agnes.

6. JACOB "JAKE" YOCUM, born January 12, 1829, Marion Co., AR (twin?); died abt 1898, Port Lavaca, TX; married Emiline DENNISON, dau. of Lewis Dennison. Emiline was born abt 1828 in MO. Jake & Emiline's children: Isabella, Martha Ann, William, George Washington, James M., Eliza Jane, Sarah, and Jacob.

7. HARVEY "HARVE" YOCUM, born abt 1831, Izard Co., AR; died January 26, 1916, Bosque, TX. Harve married (1) Mary COPELAND (b. abt 1832); (2) Rebecca ___? ("Becca" is referred to in S.C. Turnbo's article, "A Womans Dress Saturated with the Blood of Her Dead Husband"); and (3) Elvira Dovey COPELAND abt 1862, dau. of Isaac & Margaret (Boone) Copeland. Harvey and Mary's children were: Allen, Winney, Sarah, Nancy J., Henry, Asa M. and Polly K. Harvey and Elvira's knokwn child was Shirley.

8. SARAH "SALLIE" YOCUM, born abt 1833, AR; married Calvin Columbus HOGAN, born abt 1828 in AR and the son of Ewing & Tabitha Hogan. Cal Hogan's farm was located on White River below the village of Oakland in Marion Co., AR. Sallie & Cal's children were: Polly, Michael, Ewing, McCager, Sarah Ann, Idelia, Josephine, and John C.

9. WINNEY YOCUM, born abt 1836, Marion Co., AR. She married Lorenzo Dow TERRY, born abt 1828 in Gibson Co., TN and who died abt 1865 in Marion Co., AR by bushwackers. Winney and Lorenzo's children: Michael Hiram, Sarah "Sallie" and John Richard Terry.

10. MICHAEL YOCUM, born abt 1838, Marion Co., AR. His wife's name was Elizabeth. Their children were: Michael, born abt 1858, and Asa, born abt 1864.

Leonard Coker (Part 6)