Quick Facts
Biography
William Willets Cocks (July 24, 1861 – May 24, 1932) was an American politician from New York.
Life
Born in Old Westbury, Long Island, he attended private schools and Swarthmore College. He engaged in agricultural pursuits.
He was elected Commissioner of Highways of the Town of North Hempstead in 1894, and was re-elected in 1896 and again in 1898. He was a member of the New York State Senate (2nd D.) in 1901 and 1902; a member of the New York State Assembly (Queens and Nassau Co.) in 1904; and a delegate to the 1908 Republican National Convention.
Cocks was elected as a Republican to the 59th, 60th and 61st United States Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1905 to March 3, 1911.
William Cocks was a member of the board of managers of Swarthmore College and was president of the Friends Academy in Locust Valley. He was vice president of the Roslyn Savings Bank and was a director of the Bank of Westbury and the Bank of Hicksville. Cocks was President of the Village of Old Westbury from its incorporation in 1924 until his death there in 1932; interment was in Friends Cemetery, Westbury.
Congressman Frederick Cocks Hicks was his brother.