Sarah Johnson Cocke (born Johnson; later named Hagan after her first marriage and Cocke after her second marriage; February 7, 1865 – January 20, 1944) was an American writer and community leader. She was also involved in several women’s organizations. Cocke wrote Southern fiction books, including Bypaths in Dixie, Master of the Hills, and Old Mammy Tales from Dixie Land. A memoir titled A Woman of Distinction: From Hoopskirts to Airplanes, a Remembrance was published after her death.
Early life and education
Sarah Cobb Johnson was born in Selma, Alabama, on February 7, 1865, but grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Both of her parents came from well-known Southern families. Her father was Dr. John Milton Johnson of Paducah, Kentucky. He led the Atlanta Academy of Medicine and was the head of the department of physiology and pathological anatomy at Atlanta Medical College. Her mother was Mary Willis (nee Cobb) Erwin Johnson of Athens, Georgia. Mary was the daughter of John Addison and Sarah Robinson (Rootes) Cobb. She was also the sister of Howell Cobb, who held the positions of Speaker of the House of Representatives and Secretary of the Treasury. John A. Cobb’s mother was Mildred Lewis, a descendant of General Robert Lewis six generations later. In the Lewis family line, Cocke was also a descendant of the Warner and Reade families. Through her grandmother, Sarah Robinson Rootes, Sarah Cobb Johnson was a descendant of the Jacquelin family and the well-known Virginia family of Cary. One ancestor in the Cary line was Colonel Miles Cary, who was a descendant of William Cary, mayor of Bristol, England, in 1492. She was also a descendant of Ambrose Cobbs and Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb. Sarah graduated from the Lucy Cobb Institute in Athens, Georgia.
Career
During her time living in Atlanta, she was part of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and was the vice-president general in 1890. She was on the Board of Directors and led the ways and means committee for the woman's department of the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta in 1895. She was also one of the first members of the Atlanta Woman's Club.
After moving to Roanoke, Virginia, Cocke was just as active. She was the president of the Civic Betterment Club of Roanoke in 1904. She was part of several groups, including the National League of American Pen Women, the National Arts Club of New York City, the Woman's Club of Richmond, Virginia, the Colonial Dames Club of Washington, D.C., the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Order of the Crown. She also led the Roanoke Committee of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Virginia.
Cocke wrote many stories and often contributed to periodicals, including The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, and The Country Gentleman. She wrote in African-American and "cracker" dialects, showing the cleverness and knowledge of the people she portrayed. She wrote stories such as "The Test of the Rooster and the Wash Pot" and "Phillis Sketches." She also wrote books, including Bypaths in Dixie (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1911) and Master of the Hills (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1917). Old Mammy Tales from Dixie Land was a 1926 reprint of Bypaths in Dixie. Her memoir, A Woman of Distinction: From Hoopskirts to Airplanes, a Remembrance, was published after her death in 2002.
Personal life and legacy
On October 26, 1887, she married Dr. Hugh Hagan (1863–1898) from Atlanta. Through this marriage, they had two sons: Hugh Johnson Hagan and Willis Cobb Hagan.
On October 30, 1903, she married Lucian Howard Cocke (1858–1927) of "Cockspur," Orchard Hill, Roanoke, Virginia. They did not have any children.
After a long illness, Sarah Johnson Cocke passed away at her home in Roanoke on January 20, 1944. She was buried in the Cocke family cemetery at Hollins College (now Hollins University). Her second husband had served as vice-president and part owner of the school.