Cochran, John M.

COCHRAN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/28/2021 at 23:40:46

History of Warren County, Iowa; Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns & Etc., by Union Historical Company, 1879, p.627
COCHRAN, JOHN M., carpenter and builder, White Breast Township, P. O. Lacona; he lives in Lacona; he was born September 6, 1827, in Highland county, Ohio; parents moved to Benton county, Indiana, in 1845; came to Iowa and settled in this township in 1855; he enlisted August 7, 1861, in Co. G, Tenth Iowa Infantry, as a private; he was promoted to Sergeant Major, September 8, 1861, and to Second Lieutenant Co. G, July 14, 1862, to First Lieutenant, February 9, 1863, and to Captain, November 8, 1864, and to Major, August 7, 1865, and was honorably discharged September 5, 1865; he was in the battles of Champion's Hill, Vicksburg, Corinth, Mission Ridge, Iuka, and all the others in which the Tenth Iowa participated; he was married September 12, 1848, to Mary, daughter of Charles Johnson, of Benton county, Ohio; they have had eight children: Elizabeth E., Martha, Sarah J., Nancy E., Lealine L., Wm. J., Mary, John F.; Martha and John F. are dead.

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.936

JOHN M. COCHRAN
While Captain John M. Cochran is now living retired, for he has passed the eighty-first milestone on life's journey, he was for a number of years well known as a contractor and builder of Lacona. Moreover, he is entitled to mention in this volume from the fact that he was a loyal defender of the Union during the darkest hour in our country's history and has ever been a citizen whose support of patriotic and progressive movements has been of marked benefit to the community in which he has lived. He was born Sep­tember 6, 1827, in Highland County, Ohio, and in 1845 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Benton County, Indiana. His life has largely been passed on the frontier, for in 1855 he removed to Iowa, taking up his abode in White Breast Township, Warren County.
At the time of the Civil war Captain Cochran put aside all business and personal considerations and offered his services to the government, enlisting on the 7th of August 1861, as a private of Company G, Tenth Iowa Infantry. His valiant services led to promotion to the rank of sergeant major September 8, 1861, and he was successively promoted to second lieutenant of Company G, July 14, 1862; to first lieutenant. February 9, 1863; to captain, February 8, 1864, and major, August 7, 1865. He continued at the front for four years or until honorably discharged September 5, 1865, when he returned home with a most creditable military record. He had participated in the battles of Champion's Hill, Vicksburg, Corinth, Mission Ridge, Iuka and various others in which the Tenth Iowa participated. He never faltered in the per­formance of any duty whether it called him to the lonely picket line or sta­tioned him in the place of danger on the firing line.
On the 12th of September 1848, Captain Cochran was united in marriage to Miss Mary M. Johnson, a daughter of Charles Johnson, of Benton County, Indiana. They became the parents of the following children: Elizabeth E., the wife of Samuel Oxenrider, of Lacona; Martha, Sarah J., the wife of Z. H. Mumford, of Vona, Colorado; Nancy E., the wife of J. M. Shupe, of Lacona; Lealine L., who was the wife of J. M. Bradford, of Nebraska, but is now deceased; William J.; Mary H., the wife of A. P. Ross, of Des Moines, Iowa; John F., of Indianola, Iowa; and Martha and William J., who died in infancy. The wife and mother passed away February 9, 1891, and in September, 1893, Cap­tain Cochran was again married, his second union being with Miss Elizabeth Baldwin, with whom he is now living in Des Moines, Iowa.
For a number of years after the war, Captain Cochran followed the occu­pation of contracting and building and led a busy, useful life, but at present writing he is living retired, enjoying a well earned rest. He is well known in Lacona, where several of his children still reside, and it is with pleasure that we present his record to the readers of this volume.