A history of the Cockayne Family was written for the book, History of Marshall County, West Virginia 1984, published by the Marshall County Historical Society. The anonymous author was probably John Bennett Cockayne, according to Naomi Lowe Hupp, who recalls that John submitted information for the 1984 book. The following is an excerpt from the Cockayne Family history:

"Samuel, the youngest son (1768-1854) came to Ohio County, Virginia in 1798 and settled on a 324-acre tract of land owned by Adam Wolford, and located in the southern part of the present town of Glen Dale. Samuel married Sarah Jones about 1791, and has five sons, William, Samuel, Hiram, Bennett, and Vincent Lowe Cockayne, as well as several daughters. He leased the 324-acre tract until 1816, when he purchased it from Wolford, who lived at Louisville, Kentucky. In 1817, he purchased an additional 100 acres to the north of the original tract (all hill land) from James Riggs. In 1839, his son, Bennett, purchased a 115-acre tract north of the original tract from the Tomlinson family. This tract fronted on the Ohio River, and ran from the present site of 10th Street, Glen Dale, to about the southern boundary of the R-Arms Motel, and included a strip of land between Little Grave Creek and the 100 acre tract. Bennett sold this tract to his father in 1840, so that Samuel Cockayne owned 539 acres at the time of his death in 1854. Samuel kept an "ordinary," or hotel at his home, which is located just north of the Glen Dale Drive-In Theater. This was known as the "Andrew Jackson Inn".

"The oldest son, William, died in about 1857 [21 Feb 1856]. He was the father of Thomas T. Cockayne, who had a well-known orchestra in Wheeling in the late 1800's. Samuel and Hiram, the next two sons moved to Burlington, Iowa in 1840. Bennett Cockayne (1805-1875) and Vincent Lowe Cockayne (1807-1886) divided the 539-acre tract upon their father's death in 1854. Vincent received 236 acres and the original homestead, which he called "Valley Farm." Bennett received 303 acres to the north, including the 115-acre, the 100-acre tracts, and the 88 acres of the original 324-acre tract. He built his residence in about 1850 and a barn (which stood on the present site of John Marshall High School) at about the same time.

"Vincent was the first bank president in Marshall County, serving as president of the Marshall County Bank from 1881 until his death in 1886. He married Louisa Johnson Lynn (1811-1863) in about 1838. By this marriage, he had two sons, William Lynn Cockayne (1839-1871) and John Randolph Cockayne (1843-1864), both of whom died unmarried, as well as a daughter, Alcinda (1841-1927), who married Shepherd McMechen (1827-1874), in 1868. Shepherd inherited the original McMechen homestead from his father, Benjamin McMechen, who died about 1855. The land that Shepherd owned included the present sites of the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation and the West Virginia portion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad yards in Benwood, West Virginia. Their daughter, Mary Lynn McMechen, born in 1869, married Clifford G. Stokes, and lived in Baltimore, Maryland, until her death, without children, in 1931. Vincent remarried in 1864 to Lydia McKee (1825-1907). By this marriage, he had two daughters, Caroline (Mrs. William W. Weightman), (1865-1936), and Emily Vincent (Mrs. William Martin Riggs), (1868-1948), both of whom died childless."