Biographical Sketch of William R. Cockefair, Johnson County, Missouri >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** William R. Cockefair, proprietor of the "Lakeview Dairy," is one of Johnson county's finest young men and most progressive citizens. He was born June 4, 1882, in Knox county, Missouri, the son of E. A. Cockefair, Sr. and Maria L. (Taylor) Cockefair. E. A. Cockefair, Sr., was born in New Jersey and in 1909, with his family, came to Johnson county, Mo., where he located in Warrensburg for two years and then went to Moulton, Iowa where his death occurred in 1916. His widow, Maria L. Cockefair, is a present residing in Albert Lea, Minnesota. E. A., Sr., and Maral L. cockefair were the parents of the following children: E. A., Jr., who is the farm adviser in Greene county, Mo.; William R., the subject of this reveiw; Laura, who is the wife of L. L. Moore, Alberta Lea, Minnesota; and L. I., who is associated with L. L. Moore in the management of a large estate of 2500 acres of land in Albert Lea, Minnesota. William R. Cockefair attended school at Unionville, Mo. He is a graduate of the Unionville High Schhol and of the Missouri State University, at Columbia, where he specialized in the study of agriculture. He was a member of the class of 1908. After completing his work in the State University, Mr. Cockefair assumed charge of the land owned by Blackwater Farm Company, a tract of 2,000 acres in Johnson county, which the company was endeavoring to reclaim for cultivation by irrigation. Fox six years, Mr. Cockefair was in the employ of this company and during that time assisted in developing, improving, and selling several farms in the district in which he now resides. In 1914, William R. Cockefair resigned his position with the Blackwater Farm Company to engage in farming and later, in the dairy business. At the time of this writing, in 1917, Mr. Cockefair has the lease of the J. C. Christopher place, comprising 140 acres of land in Johnson county, which farm he is developing into a first class dairy and truck farm. In 1911, William R. Cockefair was united in marriage with Caroline B. Benton, the daughter of R. H. and Alice (Johnson) Benton, both of whom are natives of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Benton are honored pioneers of Lafayette county, Mo. The farm, which R. H. Benton now owns, located near Higginsville, was entered from the government by his father. R. H. Benton is a Confederate veteran and for many years was superintendent of the Confederate Soldiers' Home at Higginsville. Mr. and Mrs. Benton are the parents of five children: C. R., of Kansas City, Mo., who is superintendent of the passenger department of the C. & R. Railway Company; Mrs. Harriet B. Stanwood, who resides in Kansas City, Mo.; Mrs. William R. Cockefair, the wife of the subject of this review; Mrs. E. L. Lusk, Roswell, New Mexico; and R. H., Jr., who is the specialist in beef cattle employed by the Louisiana State Agri- cultural College. To William R. and Caroline B. (Benton) Cockefair have been born two children, one son and one daughter, William R., Jr. and Harriet Benton. Mrs. William R. Cockefair is a highly intellectual and splendidly educated lady of winning personality and excellent attainments. She is a graduate of University of Missouri, Columbia, from which institution she has three degrees, the Bachelor of Arts, the Bachelor of Science, and the Master's. Mrs. Cockefair was president of the Homemaker's Club, a county organization, for two years, until 1916 and at the present time she is a member of the Ladies' Council of De- fense of Johnson county. The "Lakeview Dairy" is one of the best and most sanitary in the State of Missouri. Mr. Cockefair has at the pre- sent time 21 Jersey cows, 19 of which he is milking. The milk is re- tailed in the city of Warrensburg, delivered in paraffine paper in individual containers and on ice. One delivery is made each day, starting at 7:30 a.m. The product of the "Lakeview Dairy" is emphati- cally A grade and the milk will keep sweet, under ordinary conditions, two days, because of the perfect, sanitary methods employed in obtain- ing and caring for the milk. Within five minutes after the milking, the milk is reduced in temperature to fifty degrees and twenty-five minutes later it is forty-five degrees. The milkroom is constructed of concrete and over it is a large water tank, kept filled with cold water pumped by a gasoline engine from a spring. The milk barn is 22 x 44 feet in dimensions, with an individual stanchion for each cow, concrete floor, which is thoroughly cleansed daily by the use of hose attached to a water pipe, and all the interior walls are whitewashed. The room is kept scrupulously clean and at milking time is an attractive place. Milk is not the only product of the "Lakeview Dairy," as 60 pounds of cottage cheese have been sold weekly besides gallons of excellent buttermilk. Sixty acres of the farm Mr. Cockefair has in bluegrass and sixty acres in meadow, with the remaining 20 acres devoted to corn raising and truck gardening. In the garden, are grown tomatoes, beets, carrots, salsify, and corn, besides the berries grown on the place, one acre being given to strawberries and a half acre to blackberries. Mr. Cockefair produces on the farm almost all the feed he uses in the dairy, feeding the stock clover hay and alfalfa in the summer time and the same in winter, except that the feed is modified with cottonseed meal, silage and bran. He is planning the erection of a silo this season, 1917. William R. Cockefair began life for himself without any capital except a splendid mind and a strong will. He made his own way through the State University and is now getting a splendid start in the busi- ness world, solely through his own energetic efforts and with the noble assistance of his wife, who has always willingly and cheerfully given her support and encouragement in all that Mr. Cockefair has attempted to do. He firmly believes that there are just as great opportunities for the young man of today as there ever were and that all one needs to make a success in life are a willingness to take advantage of the opportunities offered and a strong determination not to fail, and he is certainly proving the truth of his hopeful theory. There is no more worthy, better, upright, young man in Missouri than William R. Cocke- fair and he deserves every bit of success which in the future will undoubtedly attend his efforts as it has in the past. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: <> Penny Harrell ====================================================================