Cochran, James [1]
Cochran, James
1761–13 Apr. 1817
James Cochran, planter and congressman, was born in or near the community of Mount Tirzah, Orange (now Person [3]) County. He attended local schools and engaged in farming near the present Timberlake. At the time of his death he owned over six thousand acres of land. He represented Person County [3] in the House of Commons in 1802–6 and in the senate in 1807. Elected as a Democrat [4] to Congress, he served from March 1809 until March 1813. He was elected in 1814 and in 1815 to a seat on the council of state.
On 14 Jan. 1793, Cochran married Annis McNeill; they were the parents of Susanna, who married William A. Lea; Annis, who married John Dobbin and was the mother of James Cochran Dobbin [5], secretary of the navy from 1853 to 1857; and Addison, a minor at the time of his father's death, who entered The University of North Carolina [6] in 1820.
Cochran died intestate, perhaps unexpectedly, and was buried in the cemetery at Lea's Chapel west of Roxboro. An obituary notice in the Raleigh Register [7]of 25 Apr. 1817 referred to him as Major James Cochran, indicating perhaps a rank in the local militia.
References:
Biog. Dir. Am. Cong. (1971).
Cochran Estate Papers, Person County Records (North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh).
Additional Resources:
"Cochran, James, (ca. 1767 - 1813)." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Washington, D.C.: The Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000564 [8] (accessed May 1, 2013).
1 January 1979 | Powell, William S.