William C. Cochran Family Papers, 1839-1936 | Oberlin College Archives

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Subgroup I.  Files Relating to William Cochran (father), Jacob Dolson Cox (stepfather), and Extended Cochran Family

Series 1.  Letters Received and Sent by William Cochran, 1839-1846 (0.2 linear feet)

Consists of correspondence received and sent by William Cochran, arranged  alphabetically and thereunder chronologically, as well as two files containing miscellaneous material.  Correspondence includes six letters sent to Charles Grandison Finney in 1846 and two letters from James H. Fairchild dated 1839-1840.  A review, dated 1846, written by Finney in which he endorses Oberlin's faculty governance or the "Finney Compact" is also included, as well as a Cochran document reporting on his resignation from teaching at Oberlin (1846), and his diploma from the Oberlin Collegiate Institute dated 1839.

Series 2.  Letters Received and Sent by Jacob Dolson Cox, 1859-1898 (0.6 linear feet)

Consists of 155 letters received and sent by Jacob Dolson Cox.  Of significance in this series are the ten original letters from William Tecumseh Sherman, dated between 1875 and 1882, in which he details his 1864 march through Georgia and provides his analysis of battles and individuals from the Civil War.  Other individuals that wrote to Cox include a letter, dated 1869, from William Seward, several letters (1876-1882) from General Emerson Opdyke, and correspondence, dated 1881 to 1897, from Captain Thomas Speed, among others.  Files are organized alphabetically and thereunder chronologically.  An index of these letters was prepared by the archives staff, and is found in the front of the box.

Series 3.  Letters Received from William Tecumseh Sherman to Jacob Dolson Cox, 1875-1891 (transcriptions)                       (1 folder)

Comprises of transcriptions prepared by Ellen MacDaniels Speers, in 1994, granddaughter of William C. Cochran, of 23 General William Tecumseh Sherman letters sent to Jacob Dolson Cox that detail events from the Civil War.  Included are ten original letters which are located in Series two.  The remainder of the A.L.S. originals were divided among the Miller and Speers families.  The transcriptions are in chronological order.

Series 4.  Letters Received from Jacob Dolson Cox to Helen Finney Cochran Cox, 1861-1865 (transcriptions) (1 folder)

Consists of a notebook containing the transcriptions prepared by Helen Finney Cochran Cox of 213 previously unseen letters sent to her by husband Jacob Dolson Cox during his Civil War service.  Only 26 original letters survived, of which six are included in Series two and twenty in the Jacob Dolson Cox papers (30/3).  In 1994, Ellen MacDaniels Speers, granddaughter of William C. Cochran, transcribed the letters contained in the notebook, creating a wordproccessing document of them.  A printed copy is located within the series.

Series 5.  Miscellaneous Correspondence Held by the Cochran Family, 1829-1864 (0.1 linear feet)

Comprises of miscellaneous letters predating young Cochran's 1869 graduation from Oberlin College, which were in the family's possession.  Included are letters received by Charles Grandison Finney and his daughter, Helen Finney Cochran Cox.  Especially noteworthy is the letter written by Helen Finney Cochran Cox's mother, Lydia Root Andrews Finney, days after Helen's marriage to William Cochran.

Subgroup II.  Files relating to the William C. Cochran Family

Series 1.  Correspondence relating to William C. Cochran and Family (mostly incoming to William C. Cochran), 1860-1936     (1.6 linear feet)

These documents, as bundled and received, are separated into six subseries (according to family relationship): 1. Letters Received from Jacob Dolson Cox (stepfather), 1860-1875, 14 items;  2. Letters Received from Helen Finney Cochran Cox (mother), 1860-1911 (bulk 1860-1878), 178 items;  3. Letters Received from Rosa Dale Allen Cochran (wife), 1878-1923 (bulk 1881-1888), 47 items;  4. Letters Received From Children (primarily addressed to Rosa Dale Allen Cochran), 1907-1925, 275 items;  5. Letters Received from other Family Members, 1864-1931, 297 items;  6.  Letters Received and Sent by the Cochran Children, 1902-1936, 1977, 10 items;  7. Letters Received and Sent by Extended Cochran Family Members, 1866, 1905-1933, 6 items;  8. Letters Received from Persons not related to the Cochran Family, 1862-1931, 101 items; and, 9. Correspondence relating to Allen Deane Cochran, 132 items.  In this series, individuals who wrote to Cochran include letters (1864-1900) from his uncle Samuel D. Cochran, correspondence (1870-1923) from half brother Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr., letters (1907-1935) from half sister Hope Cox Pope, a small amount of correspondence (1871-1872, 1880) from James H. Fairchild, and a letter (1870) from William Tecumseh Sherman.  One letter written by Allen Deane Cochran to brother William S. Cochran in 1919 is the only document in the collection related to Cochran's oldest son.  The files are in alphabetical order and thereunder chronologically.

Series 2.  Outgoing Correspondence of Mr. and Mrs. William C. Cochran,  1860-1928 (0.2 linear feet)

Comprises of a small number of letters sent by William and Rosa Dale Allen Cochran and is divided into two subseries: 1. Letters sent by William C. Cochran, 142 items, most which Cochran sent to his mother between 1862 to 1876, including his 1870-1871 trip to Europe, and letters (1878-1925) to his wife Rosa Dale Allen Cochran;  2. Letters sent by Rosa Dale Allen Cochran, dated 1860, 1872, 1895, and 1907, six items.  Letters Cochran wrote to his wife Rosa Dale are located in Series 3.  The files are organized alphabetically and thereunder chronologically.

Series 3.  Letters Received by Rosa Dale Allen Cochran, 1889-1925 (0.2 linear feet)

Consists of 54 letters written to Rosa Dale Allen Cochran from members of the Allen and Cochran families, including 16 letters, dated, 1883 to 1925 from her spouse William C. Cochran (other letters addressed to Rosa Dale Allen Cochran are included in Series 1), and divided into two subseries: 1. Letters Received by Rosa Dale Allen Cochran from the Cochran Family, 1883-1925, 17 items;  2. Letters Received by Rosa Dale Allen Cochran From Extended Family, 1889-1925, 37 items.  The correspondence is organized alphabetically and thereunder chronologically.

Series 4.  Miscellaneous Historical Materials Relating to William C. Cochran, 1863-1901 (0.6 linear feet)

Important miscellaneous documents included here are calling cards (n.d.), a journal written while in Colorado between 1880-1881, membership cards dated 1874-1891, photographic cards (n.d.), and an index of books read between 1869-1873, as well as his last will and testament, dated 1931.  A scrapbook (1 vol.) created by Cochran consists of clippings and programs mainly relating to musical and political events in Cleveland and Cincinnati between 1868-1890.  A few Oberlin items are included in the volume.

Series 5.  Publications Belonging to William C. Cochran, 1819-1935 (1.2 linear feet)

Comprised of a wide range of cultural, religious, and organizational publications collected by Cochran, they are divided into two subseries:  1. Cultural publications, 1883-1919, consisting of printed works such as the Cushing Manual (n.d.),Protoplasm and Life (1890), and a publication regarding the death of his friend, William Brett, (d. 1918), as well as organizational publications from the Literary Club of Cincinnati (1908), Ohio Chess Association (1887?, 1889-1893), and the Cincinnati Bar Association (1892);  2. Religious publications mainly comprises of publications from the Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church, including important information regarding the Woman's Missionary Society (1894-1921) and lists of members, officers, and organizations (1872, 1892-1893, 1924).  Oberlin College publications, 1848, 1900s-1930s, consisting of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine, as well as other Oberlin College related materials.  A late accretion yielded a copy of Bibliotheca Sacra (July 1900) and a copy of an address by Frederick Allen.

Series 6.  Miscellaneous Materials Relating to the Cochran Family, 1841-1976 (0.8 linear feet)

Organized into four subseries (1. Family records, 1880-1972, n.d.; 2. Family notebooks, 1841-1906; Miscellaneous material file, 1850s-1919; and, Miscellaneous material relating to Allen Deane Cochran, 1909-1976), this series contains files relating to the Cochran family.  The first subseries consists of a bound volume containing the genealogy of the Cochran-Allen families begun by William Cochran in 1882, biographical essays, and obituaries.  A photocopy on acid-free paper is housed with the original.  The second subseries includes three diary-style notebooks, belonging to Samuel D. Cochran (uncle), 1841-47, Helen Finney Cochran Cox (mother), 1849-52, and one of unknown authorship (possibly William C. Cochran), 1870.  The notebook of Helen Finney Cochran Cox records events in William C. Cox's formative years.  The notebooks were originally filed with the George Nelson Allen Papers (30/67).  The third subseries comprises of miscellaneous materials relating to the extended family, including son Allen Deane Cochran, dated 1917 to 1919, and uncle Samuel D. Cochran between 1869 and 1905.  Files relating to Allen Deane Cochran, which include financial documents, a passport, and certificates, are contained in subseries four.

Series 7.  Non-Textual Materials and Photographs, 1862-1923 (0.6 linear feet)

Comprises of non-textual materials and photographs of the Cochran-Cox-Allen families.  Divided into five parts: individual portraits; group portraits; residences, landscapes, and buildings; photo albums; and prints.  Several photographs, dated 1898 and 1912, of William C. Cochran, Jacob Dolson Cox, dated 1862 and 1865, and the Cochran children are present, as well as group photographs of the Cochran, Cox, and Allen families, dated between 1884 and 1923.  This series contain snapshots of homes of J.D. Cox in Cincinnati (1890) and Charles Grandison Finney in Oberlin (1890), and a photo album, dated 1886, of William C. Cochran.  Photos of Finney Chapel, Peters Hall, and Carniege Library (Oberlin, Ohio, n.d.), taken by William. C. Cochran, are also included.  Nine signed prints from Kenyon Cox given to William C. Cochran are included, as well as photographs of paintings by Allen Deane Cochran.

Series 8.  Scrapbooks, c. 1870s-1979  (0.2 l.f.)

Scrapbook compiled by Ellen Spears.  Photographs, newspapers clippings, letters, and miscellaneous items regarding the Cochran-Cox-Allen-Rudd families.

Subgroup III.  Research Files and Writings of William C. Cochran

Series 1.  Research Files of William C. Cochran, c.1900-36 (5.8 linear. ft.)

Mainly typescript notes taken by Cochran from various newspapers and histories.  The excerpts primarily focus on newspaper accounts of Jacob Dolson Cox's military and political service.  The notes and extracts were mainly used to compile his writings on Cox and to support his other writings and research interests.  Arranged in two subseries: 1. Newspaper Extracts and  2. Miscellaneous Extracts and Notes.

Series 2.  Writings, 1900-36 (2.6 linear. ft.)

The writings of William C. Cochran deal mainly with the life and career of his stepfather, Jacob Dolson Cox.  Two large unpublished manuscripts ("Political Correspondence of Major General Jacob D. Cox," 1922 and "Political Experiences of Major General Jacob D. Cox, c.1936) comprise the bulk of the series.  The series also contains a bound copy of the latter work which includes appendices not found in the manuscript.  Arranged in two subseries: 1. Writings About Jacob Dolson Cox  and  2. Other Writings by William C. Cochran.

William C. Cochran (1848-1936, A.B. 1869), lawyer, scholar, and college trustee, was born in Oberlin, Ohio, on March 29, 1848.  Cochran represented the convergence of a number of remarkable family lines.  He was the son of Professor William Cochran (1814-1847, A.B. 1839), a fervent abolitionist, and Helen Finney Cochran (1828-1911, L.B. 1846), the eldest daughter of Oberlin College President and evangelist Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875).  William C. Cochran's father, William Cochran, studied theology after graduating from the Oberlin Collegiate Institute in 1839.  Upon completion of his course work in 1842, Cochran was elected professor of logic and adjunct professor of Intellectual Philosophy.  After resigning from his appointments over a salary dispute, William Cochran married Helen Finney in May 1846.  Cochran's wife was two months pregnant with William when he died in 1847.  By 1849, Helen Finney Cochran married Oberlin student Jacob Dolson Cox (1828-1900, A.B. 1851).  Cochran's stepfather, Jacob Dolson Cox, went on to serve as a Civil War General, Governor of Ohio, Congressman, and Secretary of the Interior during the Grant Administration.

Cochran, who was raised as a member of the Cox family, grew up with five other children: Helen Finney (1850-1936), Jacob Dolson (1852-1930), Kenyon (1856-1919, hon. 1912), Charles Norton (1858-1907), and Charlotte Hope (1871-1937).  Cochran attended public schools in Warren, Ohio, where his stepfather was the superintendent. Upon completing his public education, Cochran worked as a store clerk, first in Warren (1863-64) and later in Quincy, Illinois (1864-65). Using the money he saved, Cochran entered Oberlin College in the fall of 1865. He was awarded the A.B. degree in 1869 and elected class president.  When the Oberlin chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1907, Cochran was one of two men elected to this honorary body from the class of 1869.

Following his graduation from Oberlin College, Cochran joined the family in Washington, D. C,  and was appointed as a Trust Fund clerk in the Department of the Interior. At the time, Jacob Dolson Cox, was serving as Secretary of the Interior under President Ulysses S. Grant. In December 1870, after the resignation of his stepfather, Cochran left his clerkship. For the next ten months, he studied and traveled in Europe with Oberlin College President James Harris Fairchild (1817-1902, A.B. 1838, B.D. 1841).

Upon his return to the United States in 1871, Cochran moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and he studied law. Cochran was admitted to the Ohio Bar the following year.  During his legal career, Cochran focused on corporate and patent law, refusing to handle criminal or divorce cases. Cochran also served on the Ohio State Board of Examiners for Admissions to the Bar from 1901 to 1903. Cochran retired in 1914, but later that year agreed to serve as Clerk of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. He resigned from the Circuit Court in 1919 to focus his energies on historical writing

In 1878, William C. Cochran married Rosa Dale Allen (1851-1926), a 1873 graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music.  She had attended Oberlin's Conservatory of Music, between 1868 and 1872, and, subsequently, taught vocal music there from 1874 to 1876. Rosa Dale was the daughter of former Oberlin College Professor George Nelson Allen, one of the founders of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (1812-1877, A.B. 1838), and Mary Caroline Rudd (1820-1892, A.B. 1841), one of the first three women in the United States to receive a bachelor of arts degree.  Five children were born of the Cochran-Allen marraige, four of whom attended Oberlin: Mary Rudd (1881-1982, A.B. 1903), William Samuel (1883-1964, A.B. 1906), Helen Finney (1885-1923, A.B. 1906), Allen Deane (1888-1971) and Frances Ermina (1891-1986, A.B. 1912). All the children married, except for Mary Rudd Cochran, and led successful lives of their own.

Additionally, the Cochrans gave of themselves to serve on boards and community-based groups.  In 1901, Cochran was elected to the Oberlin College Board of Trustees.  In filling the vacancy caused by the death of his stepfather in 1900, Cochran was doubly honored.  From 1906 until his resignation in 1931, he served on the Committee on Nomination of Trustees as a member and chair.  Cochran was also a trustee of the Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church and the Miami Medical College, both located in Cincinnati.  In 1919, he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Oberlin College.  Outside the family, Mr. and Mrs. Cochran held many personal interests.  Both enjoyed music and belonged to several choirs, which included the Harmonic Society and the May Festival Chorus in Cincinnati.  William C. Cochran belonged to other organizations such as Associated Charities, the U.C.D. Club (Utile Con Dulce), the Literary Club, the Ohio Bar Association, and was a founding member of the Ohio Chess Association.  Rosa Dale Allen was involved with the Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church, participating in many activities which included the Woman's Missionary Society and president of the Sewing Society.

From the start of the 20th century until his death in 1936, Cochran was engaged in serious historical work.  He was devoted to the preservation of state and local history, as well as committed to research and scholarship (he was a life member of the Western Reserve Historical Society and the Mississippi Valley Historical Association).  During his retirement from 1914 to his death, he worked to produce a biography of his stepfather, Jacob Dolson Cox.  His extensive research resulted in two unpublished manuscripts, "The Political Correspondence of Major General Jacob D. Cox," (1922) and "The Political Experiences of Major General Jacob D. Cox," (1936).  These two works added significantly to his earlier published articles on Cox.  Included among his writings about Cox were "The Early Life and Military Service of Jacob Dolson Cox" (1901) and "Jacob D. Cox - The Scholar in Action" (1915).  His scholarship was not limited to the career of his stepfather, however.  Cochran was also the author of Students' Law Lexicon  (1888, 2nd 1892, revised 1924), "Labor Legislation" (1900), "Charles Grandison Finney" (1908), "The Dream of A Northwestern Confederacy" (1917), and "The Western Reserve and the Fugitive Slave Law," (1920).  Cochran was also a frequent contributor to the Oberlin Alumni Magazine.  Included among the articles written for the Alumni Magazine are "What Has Cincinnati Had To Do With Oberlin?" (1907) and "The Oratoria of St. Paul--The Musical Union" (1929).  He also authored several pieces on athletics: "Historical Sketches of Athletics at Oberlin: In the Sixties" (1914), "Antiquity of Football" (1925), and "Early Baseball at Oberlin" (1925).

William C. Cochran was the "official" historian of the extended family.  He worked to collect material pertaining to the career of his stepfather Jacob Dolson Cox as well as other family lines such as the Allens, Rudds, and Coxes.  Cochran compiled a family record.  Much of the information used to create the extensive genealogy by Cochran was gleaned from the mass of family letters and memorabilia that he had acquired by him over several generations.  Upon his death in 1936, Cochran donated $100,000, his large collection of law books and Civil War material, and the Jacob Dolson Cox papers to Oberlin College.  But a large body of family papers, which documented other family lines and members, were left to his oldest daughter Mary Rudd Cochran.  Over the next four decades, Mary Rudd Cochran presided over the family records, disposing of small lots on the way to Oberlin College, until her death in 1982.  After Mary Rudd Cochran's death and the death of Mr. Laurence and Mrs. Frances Cochran MacDaniels in 1986, granddaughters of Cochran, Ellen MacDaniels Speers and Carolyn MacDaniels Miller (d. 1994), inherited the family papers.  Between 1992 and 1996, Speers and Miller donated much of this voluminous historical material to the Oberlin College Archives.  (Some historical material may have been dispersed to other family members)