Wesley Cochran

COCHRAN, HAMLIN, STEELS, TUCKER

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 9/19/2004 at 18:11:33

“The History of Madison County, Iowa”
Union Historical Company, Des Moines, 1879
page 589

Wesley Cochran is a Grand River township farmer and stock-raiser living on Section 24, P.O. Macksburg. He was born in Athens county, Ohio, in 1843, and came to this county first in 1851, and then moved to Illinois. He afterward returned to this county and presently owns 730 acres of land. He has held school offices. He married Miss Elizabeth Hamlin in 1861 who was born in Ohio. They have seven children: Katie C., John H., Willie, Frank, Walter, Forrest Lee, and a baby.
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“History of Madison County Iowa and Its People”
Herman A. Mueller, Supervising Editor
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1915

Wesley Cochran gained an unusual measure of success as an agriculturist, accumulating nineteen hundred and twenty-five acres of land in a body. He was born in Perry county, Ohio, on the 14th of November, 1834, and when but a child was left an orphan. In 1851, when a youth of seventeen, he accompanied his uncle, M. D. Martin, to Madison county and in that year entered eighty acres of land in Grand River township. He then returned to Illinois and worked for two years, carefully saving his money. He then came again to Madison county and purchased a piece of timber land, after which he went back to Illinois and worked there in order to earn money with which to improve his land. As soon as he had saved sufficient capital he returned to Madison county and established his permanent home here.

His first residence was a log cabin, which remained the family home for nine years. At the end of that time he purchased an adjoining eighty acres, on which was a frame house. He removed the building to the site of his original residence and nine years later built the commodious frame house which still stands. Although the land which he originally purchased was totally unimproved when he settled thereon, it was not long before he had it under cultivation and from the first he found farming a profitable occupation. From time to time he bought other land and eventually held title to nineteen hundred and twenty-five acres of fine land all in a body. Although he was such an extensive landowner, he never purchased land to speculate on, but only for the use of his family. Before his death he gave each of his children a good farm and they are well known and prosperous agriculturists of this county.

Mrs. Cochran still lives upon the homestead, which is excellently improved. Not only are the buildings commodious and well adapted to their respective uses, but there are also a good orchard and a beautiful grove, which add both to the value and beauty of the place, while the fields are enclosed with strong, durable fencing. She has resided there for more than fifty-three years and takes a personal pride in the farm, as it was but a tract of wild prairie land when she and her husband first located on it and as its development was accomplished by their work and planning. Although she endured many hardships in the early days, she is still in good health and takes a keen interest in all that is going on.

When she and Mr. Cochran came to this county a half century ago the conveniences that are now taken as a matter of course were not thought of and it was necessary to work long hours and to endure many discomforts. However; there were compensations, as the wild prairie land was rich and productive and when brought under cultivation yielded bountiful crops, and the early settlers had the satisfaction of knowing that they were not only developing properties that would insure them of material prosperity but that they were also contributing to the progress of the state as a whole.

On the 14th of November, 1861, Mr. Cochran married Miss Elizabeth Hamblin, who was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, on the 20th of March, 1842, of the marriage of Simeon and Eleanor Hamblin, who in 1854 became residents of Monroe township, Madison county. Both passed away in that township. To Mr. and Mrs. Cochran were born nine children. Kate became the wife of J. T. Steele and died August 26, 1896, leaving two sons, Jay and Ed, the younger but an infant. They have made their home with their grandmother since their mother's demise. J. H. married Estelle Polk and resides in Winterset. William is a banker of Lorimor, Iowa, and Frank, the next in order of birth, died when twenty-one years of age, October 29, 1892. Walter L., Forrest Lee and Fred are represented elsewhere in this volume. F. W. is the next in order of birth, and Mattie, the youngest of the family, is the wife of J. Ira Tucker.

In his early manhood Mr. Cochran was a member of the Methodist church, but at length his sincerity and honesty revolted against what he believed to be hypocrisy and he withdrew his membership. His conduct always measured up to high standards of morality and he never took advantage of a fellow man or cheated anyone out of even the smallest amount. His political belief was that of the Democratic party and he took a commendable interest in the public welfare. His demise, which occurred on the 15th of March, 1912, was sincerely regretted by many and his memory is still cherished by those who knew him intimately.
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The Winterset Madisonian
Thursday, June 4, 1931

A Madison County Pioneer Wesley Cochran
By E. R. Zeller

Among the successful pioneers of Madison County, there are none more deserving of a place in this roll of honor than Wesley Cochran. He was born in Perry County, Ohio, in 1834 and went to Illinois in 1850, where he met the Bertholfs and began a friendship with those early Madison County pioneers and with them came to Madison County, Iowa, the following year. He worked at prairie breaking and cutting wood and at any other labor he could find. There was very little money in circulation and he could get nothing for his work except farm products and being without a family he could not survive on such wages. He was satisfied that there was a fortune in these prairies and that he might have money to invest, he sold his Sunday pantaloons for a little cash to make the trip back to Illinois. Of course, walking was good and he went on foot, but he needed a little cash for food on the way. He arrived in a few weeks at a flourishing village called Mendota, where he found profitable wages in the best coin of the realm which was gold.

He returned to Madison County in 1860, but did not sell his clothes for in the meantime he had accumulated considerable personal property which invoiced as follows two yoke of oxen, three colts and $175.00 in gold. He first anchored his fleet near Clanton Creek on ground which afterwards became the Shore Callison ranch, which was the home of the latter until a few years before his death. The land just described had been bought "by some speculators, possibly some of the Callisons, as they resided in Illinois
and at least two of them were in the army.

Mr. Cochran was not looking for deeded land, but government land at $1.25 per acre and he found such a location in Grand River Township and bought 80 acres of It and built a cabin to which he took his young wife. Miss Elizabeth Hamblin. He had doubtless heard the old proverb, "A rolling stone gathers no moss," and he was seeking moss in the form of fertile land. California, Pike's Peak, Florida and Dakota had no charms for him. He liked to work on the farm and raising crops and dealing in stock were his business; he knew it and stayed on the job.

On that eighty-acre farm he erected three different buildings for a home: first a log cabin, then a board building and finally a commodious and comfortable dwelling which was his pride and joy during the remaining days of his life. While all three of the residences were located on the original eighty acre farm, the eighty acre patch was but a nest egg. His acres widened out and his lands lengthened out until he eventually controlled most of the land in the vicinity and before he died he was gratified to see all the members of his family owners of their own homes.

The family consisted of nine children as follows: Katherine, John, William, Frank, Walter, Lee, Fred, Fields and Mattie. Before her marriage, Kate was a school teacher and one of the most successful ones in her day. She married John Steels, but for her there was an untimely death. Mattie, now Mrs. Tucker, presides over a farm household near the place of her birth. Frank died early In life. John and Will, after retiring from their farms, lived in Winterset until their death. The other four sons own farms near the old homestead and spend their time working instead of complaining. They are all prosperous, enterprising and contented citizens of Grand River Township. Mr. Cochran died in 1912 and Mrs. Cochran passed away in 1929.

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